Athletics
The Athletic Department at Colorado State University Pueblo offers 21-varsity intercollegiate sports. The ThunderWolves compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as part of NCAA Division II. The RMAC consists of 15-member institutions throughout the states of Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Utah.
CSU Pueblo offers 11 women's sports, including basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track & field and volleyball. The Thunderwolves compete in 10 men's sports, including baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, indoor and outdoor track and field and wrestling. Cheer and dance team opportunities are available to men and women as well.
Pack Athletics boasts some of the finest facilities in all of NCAA Division II. Since 2008, the commitment to the athletic facilities by the University and private donors has ushered in a new era for ThunderWolves Athletics. CSU Pueblo touts the addition of the 6,500-seat ThunderBowl (2008), renovation of the 4,300-seat Massari Arena (2008), construction of the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium (2016) and the renovation of the Rawlings Baseball and Softball Complexes (2020). The highly anticipated indoor training center, The ART (2021), will open in the summer 2021. All athletic facilities are used mainly by the 580 Pack student-athletes, but are available to student and public use upon request.
The ThunderWolves have won two team national championships, over 85 RMAC championships, over 100 national tournament appearances, won eight regional tournament championships and over 40 top ten team finishes. CSU Pueblo has also crowned over 300 All-Americans and 30 individual national champions, which includes 150 All-Americans and 20 national championships in the last 10 years.
For more information, please visit the CSU Pueblo athletics website at www.gothunderwolves.com.
Rawlings Outdoors Sports Complex
Rawlings Sports Complex houses Pack baseball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s lacrosse programs.
The Rawlings Sports Complex features a 2,500-seat baseball facility, Rawlings Field, and the four-diamond Rawlings Softball Complex, as well as the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer/Lacrosse Complex. The areas are used by sports teams for training and for use by student and public groups upon request.
In 2021, the new indoor training center, The ART, was constructed in memory of Arthur Henry Gonzales, one of Pack Athletics biggest supporters. The 32,000-square foot building will be used for all indoor sporting activities throughout the year.
ThunderBowl
The ThunderBowl is one of the premier football and track and field facilities in NCAA Division II.
The ThunderBowl is unique in that it was built completely with external funds raised by "Friends of Football", a collection of Pueblo community members and University alums, totaling over $13 million and allowing for the return of football, wrestling and women's track and field to CSU Pueblo in 2008. In 2021, the Friends of Football gifted the ThunderBowl to the CSU Pueblo Foundation.
The ThunderBowl features 6,500 seats, synthetic turf field, nine-lane all-weather track (resurfaced in 2020), throwing, jumping and pole vault areas, as well as a 27,000-square-foot field house, which includes a 2,700-square-foot athletic training room, equipped with a 12-seat cold plunge and an underwater rehab treadmill and team meeting areas, student-athlete study-areas and lounges, and track and football coaches' offices
The stadium is also home to the Leomiti Warrior Center, a 10,000-square-foot strength and conditioning complex for all 21 varsity sports. The roof of the new weight room features an observation deck to provide opportunities for special events and pre-game hospitality.
Added in the summer of 2017 to the ThunderBowl was the ThunderTron video board, which lights up the north end of the stadium.
Massari Arena
Massari Arena seats 4,300 fans and is the home of Pack men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling and volleyball programs and is considered one of the finest indoor facilities in the RMAC and one of the top Division II arenas in the nation. The arena includes one section of premium chair back seating and a luxury box overlooking the arena, dubbed “The Wolf Pack Room”.
Massari Arena re-opened in 2008 following a a two-year, $12 million renovation that expanded not only the arena, but the Sam Jones Sports Center, which includes a wrestling room, aerobics room, strength-training facility, racquetball and squash courts, swimming facility, athletic department offices, and classrooms for the University's Exercise Science department.
The arena is also connected to CSU Pueblo Student Recreation Center, which includes two gymnasiums, a climbing wall, indoor running track, and access to racquetball courts, cardio/weight room, and more. Membership to the Recreation Center is free for all CSU Pueblo full-time students.
In 2020, Massari Arena was renovated once again. CSU Pueblo installed a 55-foot video board, the largest in the RMAC. A new sound system and LED video tables along press row were also installed, adding to the multimedia fan experience of indoor events events, including annual Convocation and Commencement ceremonies. New curtains were added in the summer of 2020.