DENTON, Texas – Four Chadron State women's wrestlers punched their ticket to the national tournament while the Eagles finished in fifth place as a team out of 11 competing programs at the NCWWC Region VIII Championships in Denton, Texas, hosted by Texas Woman's University.

The regional tournament featured brackets at 10 weight classes, with the top four finishers from each weight qualifying for nationals on March 7-8 in Coralville, Iowa. 

Esther Peters led the way for Chadron State with a second-place finish at 207 pounds. Also qualifying for nationals were third-place finishers Brianna Vollendroff at 103 pounds and Rylee Balcazar at 110 pounds, and fourth-place finisher Ella Shevlin at 180 pounds. 

It is the first-ever national qualification for all four CSC wrestlers, three of which (Peters, Balcazar and Shevlin) are freshmen. Peters, Vollendroff and Shevlin all equaled their finishes from the RMAC championships while Balcazar qualified for nationals by outperforming her fifth-place conference tournament placing.

Two Eagles – 2024 national qualifier Mana Chanthasone at 103 and Sicily Frates at 180 – came agonizingly close to qualifying but finished fifth in the bracket to miss out by one place.

Esther Peters continued her breakout freshman season with a 3-1 day, earning 10-0 tech falls in each of the first two rounds. As luck (and the bracket) would have it, Peters's semifinal and final were both rematches of the RMAC tourney. 

The McKinney, Texas freshman earned a pin at 6:00 over CMU's Isabeau Shalack in the semi, Peters's third win this season over the former All-American. That earned Peters another crack at Simon Fraser's Julia Richey, who had pinned Peters in the RMAC Championship final. The bout went the distance this time, but Richey prevailed in a 5-2 decision to claim the regional championship. 

Vollendroff and Balcazar each went 3-1 on the day while losing only to the eventual regional champion. At 103 pounds, Vollendroff tangled with Colorado Mesa wrestlers in three of her four matches, beating Maddison Heinzer twice while losing to eventual champ Jennesis Martinez. Heinzer beat Mana Chanthasone in a crucial consolation semi to take fourth and push Chanthasone down to fifth. 

Balcazar earned two of her three wins on the day by fall. She lost in the semifinals to RMAC Wrestler of the Year and eventual champ Austria Holland of Adams State, but rebounded to pin Pacific University's Zoe Vickers and defeat Fort Hays State's Josiah Ortiz 7-6 to take third place. 

Chadron State was at the center of the action at 180 pounds. Sicily Frates won her first two matches before losing to Colorado Mesa's Alison Evans in the semifinal. Ella Shevlin lost in the quarterfinals to Fort Hays State's Isabella Renfro, but battled back to win two consolation matches, both by pin. 

That set up a consolation semifinal between the two Eagles in what was essentially a qualification eliminator. Shevlin prevailed by pinning her teammate 4:31 into the match and advanced to a rematch with Renfro for third place, which the Fort Hays wrestler won again. Frates advanced out of the fifth-place match due to a medical forfeit, but Shevlin's head-to-head win over Frates gave her fourth place and the final qualification spot.

Frates finished 3-2 on the day while Chanthasone, the other fifth-place finisher, was 2-2. Among non-placers, Regan Rosseter (2-2 at 131) and Karstin Hollen (2-2 at 145) won multiple matches while Estrella Vasquez Gutierrez won once at 207. Shania Wear (117), Trona Bates (124), Maddox Gehlhausen (124), Hattie Baldwin (138), Alissa Dubois (160) and Maria Arellano (160) went 0-2. 

In team scoring, Colorado Mesa won the regional title with 192 points, beating out Fort Hays State (167) and Simon Fraser (138.5) on the podium. William Jewell finished fourth with 118.5 points with the Eagles in fifth with 98.5 points. Chadron State finished ahead of (in order) Schreiner, Texas Woman's, Adams State, Minot State, Pacific and Linfield. 

Eagles Make Good Use of Last Chance Meet

CHADRON, Neb. – Numerous Chadron State College track and field athletes made the most of the first Golden Eagle Last Chance Meet in the Nelson Physical Activity Center on Saturday by posting marks that greatly improved their chances of qualifying for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships this coming Friday and Saturday at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

CSC Coach Jake Gruver said his athletes had at least 22 season-best marks and he believes many of them were substantial enough to rank among the top 18 in their events, thus earning them a ticket as a conference showdown qualifier. 

"We had some really good performances today from a lot of people," Gruver said.  "We won't know the full extent of the gains we made until Monday afternoon after all of the coaches have declared their athletes they believe have qualified. But we know quite a few of our Eagles made big enough gains today to earn a trip to the meet."

The Golden Eagle Meet was a three-team affair, and Chadron State racked up enough team points to win both competitions. The CSC women tallied 174 points while Black Hills State had 140 and South Dakota Mines 59.  The CSC men scored 204 points, Black Hills State 163.5 and Mines 137.5.

The Chadron State men won eight events while each of the South Dakota schools had three winners. Black Hills won six of the women's events, while CSC had five, but the Eagles' depth allowed them to outscore the Yellow Jackets in the team standings. The South Dakota Mines women had two first place finishers. 

Chadron State had the meet's only double winners. Shantae Morgan, a senior from Jamaica, won both of the women's 60-and 200-meter dashes, and Chadron product Chayton Bynes romped to victory in both of his specialties. He won the long jump, going 24-feet, 5 ½ inches, and the triple jump, where he hit 50-8, breaking the Nelson Physical Activity Center arena record that previously was set by Marty Molina of Nebraska-Kearney in 2011. 

Chadron State also had another triple jump highlight Saturday, when freshman Camila Salvucci won that event by going 12.04 meters, or 39-5 ¾, to come within eight inches of Emily Volkmer's school record that was set in 2006. Salvucci is now third on the RMAC triple jump chart. Other Chadron State women who won their events Saturday were Eva Nitschke in the 60 hurdles and Kailey Klein in the high jump.  

The CSC men besides Bynes who were victorious were Esosa Iyengunmwena in the 60-meter dash, Ryan Clapper in the 200, Wyatt Bly in the 3000, Creighton Trembly in the 60 hurdles, Christopher Jennings in the weight throw and Keaton Mills in the high jump.

The Eagles' biggest gains in conference meet qualifiers were in the men's sprints and the throws by both men and women. While Iyengunmwena and Clapper had already qualified in the races they won, Tommy Thomas is believed to have earned an RMAC ticket in both the 60 and 200, running the former race in 6.88 seconds to give the Eagles two runners under 6.9 in Thomas and Iyengunmwena. 

Freshmen Casey Miller and Quade Jordan appear to have qualified in the men's shot put while Morgan Ekwall, Sydney Alles and Kailey Forbare all improved their 20-pound weight throws by nearly three feet to put them in contention for a trip to Colorado Springs. In addition, Ashlyn Tapio added 2 ½ feet to her previous best and is poised will join Ekwall in the shot put lineup at the conference meet.

Full placings follow:
Women's Events
Team Score—1, Chadron State, 174 points; 2, Black Hills State, 150; 3, South Dakota Mines, 59.
              60 meters—1, Shantae Morgan, CSC, 7.95; 2, Riley Wiese, CSC, 8.26; 3, Addisyn Gruver, unattached, 8.26; 4, Cassie Wulff, CSC, 8.63.
              200—1, Shantae Morgan, CSC, 26.81; 2, Eva Nitsche, CSC, 26.95; 3, Cassie Wulff, CSC, 28.65; 4, Addisyn Gruver, unattached, 28.77.
              400—1, Sarava Afrank, BHSU, 1:00.50; 2, Laynie Goertz, CSC, 1:04.71; 3, Makinley Fuller, CSC, 1:05.41.
              800—1, Katelyn Krieger, BHSU, 2:21.10; 2, Norah Entzi, BHSU, 2:23.69; 3, Brooklyn Brooks, BHSU, 2:30.45; 5, Addison Smetana, SDM, 2:30.45; 6, Kyndall Carnahan, CSC, 2:33.74.
              Mile—1, Allyson Heiden, SDM, 5:23.47; 2, Laine Mannes, SDM, 5:38.0; 3, Emma Smith, BHSU, 5:44.18; 4, Kadence Baun, BHSU. 5:56.74;  5, Payton Sheehan, BHSU, 6:18.09; 6, Katelyn Fredrickson, CSC, 6:18.09.
              3000—1, Abigail Robberson, BHSU, 11:00.97; 2, Samantha Rodewald, CSC, 11:08.87.
3, Gracie Craig, BHSU, 11:23.15.
              60 hurdles—1, Eva Nitschke, CSC, 9.18; 2, Alivia Weathers, BHSU, 9.53; 3, Riley Wiese, CSC, 9.63; 4, Lauaryn Bennett, BHSU, 10:40; 4, 5, Kailey Klein, CSC, 10.64; 6, Abby Krumpus, SDM, 10:71.
              Shot put—1. Adisyn Schenck, SDM, 40-8 ¾; 2, Morgan Ekwall, CSC, 39-11 ¼; 3, Ashlyn Tapio, CSC, 39-10; 4, Isabell Higgins, BHSU, 38-7; 5, Cassidy Goddard, BHSU, 36-7 ¾; 6, KyleeJo Symonds, BHSU, 36-5.
              Weight throw—1, Isabell Higgins, BHSU, 53-10 ½; 2, Morgan Eckwall, 47-5; 3, Sydney Alles, CSC, 46-9; 4, Cassidy Goddard, BHSU, 43-11 ¾; 5, Ashlyn Tapio, CSC, 45-5 ¾; 6, Kailey Fobare, CSC, 43- ¼.
              Long jump—1, Sophie Louderback, BHSU, 16-11 ½; 2, Emily Hubmer, SDM. 16-8 ½; 3, Emily Novak, SDM, 16-5 ¾; 4, Abby Krumpus, SDM, 14-6 ½.
              Triple jump-1, Camila Salvucci, CSC, 39-5 ¾; 2, Mataya Ward, CSC, 35- ½; 3, Sophie Louderback, BHSU, 34-8 ½.
              High jump—1, Kailey Klein, 4-9 ½
              Pole vault—1, Brekkan Lockhart, BHSU, 10-6; 2, Emily Hubmer, SDM, 16-8 ½; 3, Madison Clause, CSC, 10-0; 4, Hope Bryant, BHSU, 9- ¼; 5, Lauryn Bennett, BHSU, 8-6 ¼; 3, Cassie Wulff, CSC, 8- ½. 

Men's Events
Team Scores—1. Chadron State, 204; 2. Black Hills State, 163.5; 3. South Dakota Mines, 137.5. 
              60 meters—1, Esosa Iyengunmwena, CSC, 6.87; 2, Tommy Thomas, CSC, 6.88; 3, Mason Sartain, BHSU, 7.09; 4, Ryan Clapper, 7.12; 5, Eddie Johnson, SDM, 7.16; 6, Dylan Sup, CSC, 7.18.
              200 meters—1, Ryan Clapper, CSC, 22.06; 2, Esosa Iyengunmwena, CSC, 22.49; 3, Tommy Thomas, CSC, 22.58; 4, Dylan Sup, CSC, 22.97; 5, Creighton Trembly, CSC, 23.07; 6, Chris Cormier, CSC. 23.08.
              400—1, Aiden O'Leary, BHSU, 50.58; 2, Kadin Perez, CSC, 50.77; 3, Flynn Johnson, BHSU, 51.04; 4, Jacob Jefferson, CSC, 51.48; 5, Diego Perez, CSC, 52.73; 6, Sam Knudson, SDM, 52.92. 
              800—1, Caden Strasser, BHSU, 1:58.88; 2, Jonah Rigg, BHSU, 1:59.51; 3, Drew Lehman, BHSU, 2:01.65; 4, Blaine Johnson, CSC, 2:05.39; 5, Carmelo Avala, CSC, 2:07.11; 6, Dante Cabrera, SDM,  2:16.79.
              Mile—1, Jaxson Straus, BHSU, 4:24.67; 2, Owen Hansmann, SDM, 4:25.21; 3, Zach Hentschel, SDM, 4:26.00; 4, Marcos Valerio, BHSU, 4:30.79; 5, Joran Lamoreaux, SDM, 4:32.58; 6, Owen Johnson, SDM, 4:32.58.
              3000—1, Wyatt Bly, CSC, 8:53.55; 2, Landrum Wiley, BHSU, 8:59.72; 3, David Standish, BHSU, 9:02.10; 4, Turner Christians, BHSU, 9.08.27; 5, Marcos Valero, BHSU, 9:20.33; 6, Wyatt Ostler, BHSU, 9:31.20.
              60 hurdles—1, Creighton Trembly, CSC 8.14; 2, Taegen Wells, 8.61; 3, Jayden Curtis, BHSU, 8.68; 4, Merek Rastrom, SDM, 8.84; 5. Dom Giggee, SDM, 8,96; 6, Bridger Anderson, BHSU, 9.24.
              4x400 relay—1, South Dakota Mines (Sam Knudson, Dante Cabrera, Owen Johnson, Lane Thomas), 3:41.41. 
              Shot put—1, Cooper Stevens, SDM, 47-5 ¾; 2, Quade Jordan, CSC, 47-5; 3, Casey Miller, 46-11 ¾; 4, Matt LoFaso, BHSU, 46-11 ½; 5, Christopher Jennings, CSC, 46-7 ½; 6, Aidan Thompson, SDM, 44-8 ¾. 
              35-pound weight throw—1, Christopher Jennings, 60-4 ½; 2, Parker Gonser, CSC, 59-2; 3, Augustus Fink, SDM, 58-11 ½; 4, Ryan Baker, BHSU, 55-7; 5, Isaiah Thurman, SDM, 50- ½; 6, Anthony Rosenstrauch, BHSU, 49-5 ¾. 
              Long jump—1, Chayton Bynes, CSC, 24-5 ½; 2 Bridger Anderson, BHSU, 22-3 ½; 3, Javin Walker, BHSU, 20-9 ¾; 4, Seth Wilson, BHSU, 20-9 ¼; 5, Malachi Swallow, CSC, 20-5 ¾; 6, Aidan Thomas, SDM, 19-5 ¼.  
              Triple jump—1, Chayton Bynes, CSC, 50-8  (PAC record); 2, Weston Pierce, SDM, 43-7 ¾; 3, Jayden Curtis, BHSU, 41-5 ¼;  Keaton Mills, CSC, 40-11; 6, Casin Willson, BHSU, 40-1 ½. 
               High jump—1, Keaton Mills, CSC, 6-0; 2-3, Michael Thompson, SDM, and Conor McGraw, BHSU, 5-10; 4, Ethan Norris, CSC, 5-8; 5, Kaden Dower, CSC, 5-6.
               Pole vault—1, Cole Storlie, SDM, 15-1; 2, McKalester Johns, BHSU, 14-7 ¼; 3-4 tie, Zach Vanicek, SDM, and Shane Karajanais, 14-1 ¼; 5-6 tie, Elias Halan, SDM, Trevor Fredenburg, SDM, and Seth Pinkelman, SDM, 12-6. 

Men's Basketball Falls In Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY – Chadron State had a cold shooting night out west as the Eagle men's basketball team lost 69-54 to Westminster University in CSC's final regular season road game of the season on Saturday afternoon in Utah. 

Jalen Thomas scored 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting to lead the Eagles, but no other CSC player tallied more than John Jenkins's eight points. Julio Phipps had a game-high seven rebounds to pace CSC in that category.

At 13-13 overall and 9-9 in the RMAC standings, Chadron State is still in playoff position but has yet to clinch a spot entering the season's final two games. The Eagles hold eighth place at 9-9 and are two games ahead of three programs (Westminster, Adams State and Colorado Christian) tied for ninth at 7-11. 

The Eagles trail seventh-place UCCS (10-8) by one game, but CSC would lose a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Mountain Lions if the teams finished with even records. Three programs (Colorado Mesa, Fort Lewis and Black Hills State) are knotted at 11-7 and hold spots 4-6 as things stand, two games ahead of the Eagles.

The loss also means that Chadron State concludes the regular season with a 4-9 road record. The Eagles are 8-3 at home this season, with the final two regular-season games next week coming inside the Chicoine Center. Westminster, which improved to 13-13 overall and 7-11 in the RMAC with the win, has similar splits as they are now 8-5 at home and 4-7 on the road, including an earlier loss to the Eagles in Chadron.

The Eagles, who are now 0-8 in program history in the Behnken Field House at Westminster, had their second-lowest point total, third-lowest field goal percentage and second-lowest three-point percentage of the season. This season, Chadron State's four lowest point totals, six lowest field goal totals and eight lowest three-point totals have all come in road games. 

Chadron State finished 35.5 percent from the floor, 17.6 percent from three and 63.6 percent from the line. The host Griffins shot 46.3 percent from the floor, 23.1 percent from deep and 88.9 percent from the line. Westminster had four players in double figures, led by Chase Potter's 17 points, and also outrebounded the Eagles 39-33. 

The lead changed hands six times with five ties in the first half. Thomas scored 10 of his 16 points before halftime, including six of CSC's first eight points on the night. John Jenkins also went to work in the first half, with a personal 5-0 run turning a 13-11 Griffins lead into a 16-13 Eagles advantage with 10:56 to go in the first half. 

Unfortunately, that would be Chadron State's largest lead of the night. A 5-0 Westminster run gave the Griffins the lead back, and although Thomas hit back-to-back buckets to put CSC up 20-18, Westminster's Simon Akena answered with a layup plus the and-one free throw to give the Griffins a 21-20 lead and the Eagles would trail the rest of the game. 

Chadron State takes the court next against Fort Lewis on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Chicoine Center before the Eagles face Adams State on Saturday at 3 p.m. to close out the regular season. 

Chadron State— Jalen Thomas 16, John Jenkins 8, Jaylen Davis 7, Zy Wright 6, Julio Phipps 4, Trey Ballard 4, Zach Smith 4, Dalton Petersen 3, Darrius Miles 2. Totals: 22-62 FG, 3-17 3PT, 7-11 FT. 54 points, 33 rebounds, 8 assists, 13 turnovers.

Westminster— Chase Potter 17, Simon Akena 15, Boston Painter 12, Donaval Avila 11, Ryan Rubenskas 6, Jack Jamele 5, Sam Martin 2, Tommy Ball 1. Totals: 25-54 FG, 3-13 3PT, 16-18 FT. 69 points, 39 rebounds, 18 assists, 15 turnovers.

Late Scoring Run Pushes Griffins Over Eagles

SALT LAKE CITY. – In a game that featured three major scoring runs, Westminster University produced the decisive one to defeat Chadron State women's basketball 69-66 at the Behnken Field House in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon.

After Westminster raced out to an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, Chadron State responded by outscoring the Griffins 24-9 in the second quarter to take a six-point lead into halftime. The Eagles led 65-60 with two-and-a-half minutes to play, but Westminster ended the game on a 9-1 run and scored the last seven points of the contest to take the win. 

The result drops Chadron State to 5-19 overall and 4-14 in RMAC play. Westminster, which entered the game with an identical conference record to CSC, is now 6-20 and 5-13. 

Megan Counts led the Eagles with a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double in addition to a block and a steal. Counts, who scored all 12 of her points in the second half, shot 6 of 11 from the floor for the game and was 6 of 8 after halftime. 

The Eagles hit 11 three-pointers as a team, their second-highest total in a game this season. Camren Morris and Liberty Line hit three triples apiece on the way to finishing with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Kylie Krise and Jordyn Stokes each hit two three-pointers while Kyra Tanabe sunk one.

Tanabe finished with a game-high seven assists while Stokes had a CSC career-high three steals on the defensive end. The Eagles finished with 17 assists as a team, tied for their third-most in a game this season, while committing only 15 turnovers to have a positive assist/turnover ratio for the second time this season.

In the loss, the Eagles shot 39.1 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from three and 83.3 percent from the line. Westminster shot 42.6 percent from the field, 25 percent from deep and 85.7 percent from the stripe. 

The Eagles struggled to a 3-18 start from the floor in the first quarter, but really turned it on in the second period. Chadron State took the lead with an 11-2 scoring run with threes from Line and Morris, a Tanabe jumper and another Morris three to put CSC up 25-23. 

After Westminster answered with a bucket to tie the score, the Eagles got a Line three and an Ashayla Powers layup in quick succession to take a five-point lead. Line punctuated CSC's 24-point quarter with her third three of the period with four seconds left in the half to put CSC up 33-27 at halftime. 

Although Westminster tied the score a few times in the second half, the home team didn't take the lead until 14 seconds left in the game on a fastbreak layup by Abby Conlee that made it 67-66 as part of that game-ending 9-1 run. Krise missed a basket on the other end and the Griffins were able to add two points to their lead at the line before Jordyn Stokes's halfcourt heave at the buzzer rimmed out. 

Chadron State will return home for the final two games of the season, facing Fort Lewis on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Adams State on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Chicoine Center.

Chadron State— Megan Counts 12, Camren Morris 12, Liberty Line 11, Kyra Tanabe 9, Jordyn Stokes 8, Ashayla Powers 8, Kylie Krise 6. Totals: 25-64 FG, 11-29 3PT, 5-6 FT. 66 points, 32 rebounds, 17 assists, 15 turnovers.

Westminster— Za'kkria Robinson 17, Maunayia Harrigfeld 15, Teuila Nawahine 12, Abby Conlee 8, Marli Reed 5, Kayla Javillo 4, Nisa Ellis 4, Maia Rhay 3, Olivia Tausinga 1. Totals: 26-61 FG, 5-20 3PT, 12-14 FT. 69 points, 43 rebounds, 20 assists, 19 turnovers.