COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Chadron State scored seven runs in the first three innings but then didn't score for the next three across a doubleheader at UCCS, with the host Mountain Lions rallying to win game one 8-7 and game two 10-0 as the two teams began a four-game RMAC softball series.

Lauren Zimmerman hit two home runs in game one for the Eagles (7-7, 4-6 RMAC), giving her five in a three-game stretch dating back to last Monday against New Mexico Highlands. The Eagles went deep four times in game one, tied for their most long balls in a game this season.

UCCS (9-9, 4-6 RMAC) trailed 7-2 but used a five-run fourth inning to take an 8-7 lead as both teams were scoreless for the final two-and-a-half innings. Then, in game two, the Mountain Lions scored five runs apiece in the second and third innings to build a 10-0 lead and end the game after five via the run rule.

Tori Haug took the loss in the circle in game one, allowing seven runs (five earned) on nine hits in 3.1 innings despite six strikeouts. Reigning RMAC Pitcher of the Week Belle Akins came on in relief and shut down the Mountain Lions, pitching 2.1 innings of one-run ball while allowing four hits. 

Game one got off to a perfect start for the Eagles offensively. With one out, J'lyssa Martinez doubled to right-center field before Zimmerman left the yard to straightaway center to give CSC a 2-0 lead after three batters. 
Not to be outdone, cleanup hitter Ashland Baca walked before five-hole hitter Jazlyn Arvizo went yard to make it 4-0 in the top of the first, Arvizo's second home run of the season.

The Eagles added on with three home runs in the third on a pair of homers. Again, Martinez got on base with a single in front of Zimmerman, who homered for the second time in as many at-bats on the day to make it a 6-2 ballgame. This time, Baca wasted no time in going back-to-back, hitting her second blast of the year to center and giving CSC a 7-2 cushion. 

Unfortunately, those would be the final runs of the day for the Eagles. UCCS chipped away, earning a run back in the third and chasing Haug in the fourth. After a leadoff home run, the Mountain Lions hit three singles and a double with one out before another two-out double drove home the go-ahead run as the home team pulled ahead, 8-7.

The Eagles went down in order in the fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh and final frame, CSC got two runners on base for the heart of the order with one out, but Zimmerman grounded out and Baca struck out to end the game. 

In game one, Kenzi Garner took the loss, allowing eight runs (five earned) in 2.1 innings. Freshman Destrie Greiman finished out the game, pitching the final 1.2 innings and giving up two runs on two hits and a walk. 

Offensively, the Eagles were limited to two hits in the second game of the day, with J'lyssa Martinez and Sophia Brennan finishing with a single apiece. Hannah Hunt pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout with four walks and six strikeouts for UCCS.

The two teams will face off again tomorrow to conclude the series. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. on Sunday with game two at approximately 1 p.m.

Eagles Eclipse 100 Against Adams, Will Be No. 8 Seed

CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State shot 51 percent from the field, made 13 three-pointers and scored its most points of the RMAC season in a 105-86 victory over Adams State to conclude the 2024-25 regular season.

In a final game that seemed to have a celebratory mood, the Eagles won again at home, finishing 10-3 within the Chicoine Center this season. Chadron State finishes the regular season at 15-13 overall with an 11-9 record in the RMAC. 

Despite the win, Chadron State remained in eighth place in the conference standings due to other results around the league. The Eagles will be the No. 8 seed in the RMAC Tournament for the second straight year and will face off against top-seeded league champions Colorado School of Mines in an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal this upcoming Tuesday, March 4 at 7 p.m. in Golden, Colorado.

In a poetic twist, Chadron State had five double-figure scorers, who just so happened to be the night's five Senior Day honorees. The Eagles received a CSC-career high 23 points from Julio Phipps and 21 points from Zy Wright, with the Georgia guard going over 20 for the second straight game. 

Jalen Thomas finished with 11 points and 12 assists, a season-high which broke his own team single-game record for the season and was also the Texan's first double-double of the season. Dalton Peterson finished with 14 points while John Jenkins had 10.

Phipps finished 9 of 12 from the floor and added six rebounds, a steal and a block. Most notably, Phipps shot 4 of 5 from three-point range after having made just 10 threes in the previous 27 games. Wright (9-16), Jenkins (4-8), Trey Ballard (4-7, eight points) and Darrius Miles (3-6, seven points). 

As a team, Chadron State shot 51.2 percent from the field, including a smoldering 61.5 percent in the second half. The Eagles were 43.3 percent (13-30) from long distance, making the second-most threes in a game this season as a team behind their 107-point explosion against Central Christian on December 16. 

The Eagles racked up a season-high 30 assists and had only seven turnovers, tied for their second-fewest total of the year.

The game featured 10 lead changes, five in the first half and five in the first three minutes of the second half, but Chadron State used a barrage of threes to break the game open. Leading 56-52 with 14:20 to go, the Eagles hit five consecutive field goal attempts with a Peterson three, back-to-back Wright threes, and two Wright layups sandwiched around a pair of Jaylen Davis free throws. 

The 15-2 run turned a two-basket game into a 17-point Eagles lead, and a mini 6-0 run featuring five points from John Jenkins soon put the Eagles up by 20 or more for the first time at 77-56 with 8:56 to play. 

Thomas fed Phipps and Wright for alley-oop dunks before Phipps finished off another slam on an assist from Zach Smith. Scottsbluff native Jasiya DeOllos entered the game late and drained a three-pointer to lift CSC over 100 points before hitting a floater on the Eagles' last possession.

Jude Tapia, who entered the week as the RMAC's joint-leading scorer with 17 points per game, scored 28 on 10 of 20 shooting to lead the Grizzlies.

Chadron State will look to reverse its fortunes against Colorado School of Mines on Tuesday, as the Orediggers went 18-2 in the RMAC this season, including two wins over the Eagles. Should the Eagles beat the Orediggers on Tuesday, the RMAC semifinals and finals will take place Friday and Saturday at the highest remaining seed.

Chadron State— Julio Phipps 23, Zy Wright 21, Dalton Peterson 14, Jalen Thomas 11, John Jenkins 10, Trey Ballard 8, Darrius Miles 7, Jaylen Davis 6, Jasiya DeOllos 5. Totals: 42-82 FG, 13-30 3PT, 8-11 FT. 105 points, 41 rebounds, 30 assists, 7 turnovers.

Adams State— Jude Tapia 28, Luke Williams 24, Wyatt Helming 13, Cameron Kimble 10, Ta'Veus Randle 7, Alex Hurr 4. Totals: 31-71 FG, 12-38 3PT, 12-17 FT. 86 points, 40 rebounds, 22 assists, 14 turnovers.

Eagles One Point Shy In Season Finale

CHADRON, Neb. – After getting off to an excellent start and leading for 26 of the 40 minutes, the Chadron State College women's basketball team was one point short when time ran out, falling to Adams State 68-67 in the final game of the season at home on Saturday afternoon. 

Both senior Ashayla Powers and junior Megan Counts finished with 12 points to lead the Eagles in scoring, but 11 total Chadron State players scored. Counts led CSC in rebounding with nine, missing her third double-double in four games by just a single rebound. 

The Eagles end the season at 6-20 overall with a 5-15 record in the RMAC. Adams State improved to 19-10 overall and 14-6 in conference with the win.

Coach Travis Brewster said the loss was disappointing, but noted Adams State had defeated his team 82-59 when they played January 16 on the Grizzlies' court and said the Eagles improved as the season evolved.

"We executed our game plan really well today and have improved so much that they wanted to win this one against a really good team," Brewster said. "Our team has ended the season with great compatibility."

While the Eagles jumped out to a 19-11 first quarter lead and were ahead by as many as 13 points early in the second period, neither team ever led by more than four points during the final 15 minutes. It appeared that the team which had the ball last would win, which seemed to favor the Eagles.

The Eagles had closed out each of the first three quarters with the last basket in the fleeting seconds. Forward Megan Counts ended the first period by making a layup with four seconds left, giving the Eagles their eight-point lead. Guard Kylie Krise nailed a 3-pointer as time was expiring at halftime, putting CSC ahead 36-33.  And the third quarter ended when guard Jordyn Stokes drove for a layup that knotted the score at 52-52.

In the fourth, Chadron State had the ball off an inbounds play with six seconds remaining in regulation, but didn't get off a shot before the final buzzer blared.

Adams had a pair of players who were hard to stop.  Six-foot freshman post Taejhuan Hill finished with a season-high 29 points while making 7-of-15 field goal shots and drawing 11 fouls that allowed her to go 15-of-18 at the free throw line. She also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

In addition, Kiiyani Anitielu, a 5-7 junior, added 18 points while only four other Grizzlies scored and none of them more than seven.  This wasn't Anitielu's big game of the season, but she was still a force. Two weeks ago she poured in 52 points during a 98-45 win over Westminster to set the RMAC all-time scoring record.  

Overall, Adams State was 20 of 58 (34.5 percent) and CSC was 23 of 61 (37.7 percent) from the field Saturday. Both teams had six 3-pointers, but Hill's free throw bonanza allowed the Grizzlies to go 22-29 at the line while the Eagles were 15-19.

Behind Powers and Counts, Liberty Line was CSC's third-leading scorer with seven points while seniors Kadyn Comer and Olivia Waufle had six points apiece. Comer, Waufle and Powers, who were all honored pregame for Senior Night, were all in the starting lineup, with Comer and Waufle each playing a season-high in minutes. 

Adams State—Taejhuan Hill 29, Kiiyani Anitielu 18, Ri'Ahana Davis 7, Cristiabel Longe 6, Mykaila Pickard 6, Brooke Rodgers 2. Totals: 20-58 FG (6-28 3PT) 22-29 FT. 68 points, 41 rebounds, 12 assists, 14 turnovers.

Chadron State—Ashayla Powers 12, Megan Counts 12, Liberty Line 7, Kadyn Comer 6, Olivia Waufle 6, Kylie Krise 6, Jordyn Stokes 5, Bati Assefa 5, McKenzi Petersen 4, Kyra Tanabe 2, Camren Morris 2. Totals: 23-61 FG (6-22 3PT) 15-19 FT. 67 points, 42 rebounds, 12 assists, 17 turnovers.

Gehlhausen Wins Title, Three Qualify At Regionals

GUNNISON, Colo. – Keegan Gehlhausen finished atop the 184-pound bracket to give Chadron State men's wrestling a regional champion for the third straight year as three Eagle wrestlers qualified for nationals with top-three finishes at the Super Region VI tournament.

In addition to Gehlhausen's win, Torry Early finished as the regional runner-up at 149 pounds while Cody Pinkerton was the runner-up at 285 pounds as both punched their tickets to the national tournament. 

Gehlhausen returns to nationals after previously qualifying as a redshirt freshman in 2022-23, while Early and Pinkerton are first-time NCAA national qualifiers. Early came through with a national qualification in his final collegiate season after missing nationals by one place a season ago. 

While Gehlhausen qualified two years ago, this is the Pinedale, Wyoming native's first regional championship, keeping alive a Chadron State streak after Quen Campbell won back-to-back regional championships at 133 pounds in 2022-23 and 2023-24. 

This season at 133, James Davis had a near-miss for the Eagles, falling in the third-place match to place fourth and just outside the qualification places. While those were the only four Eagles to make the semifinals, several did well enough in the consolation brackets to place – Mason Villwok placed fifth at 197 pounds while Cyrus Wells at 141 and Tayten Gillette at 165 both placed sixth. 

Chadron State finished in fourth place in the team standings, with the Eagles racking up 92.5 points. Nebraska-Kearney won the regional title with 159.0 points, ahead of Colorado Mesa (115.5), Western Colorado (103.0), Chadron State and Adams State (87.0) in the top five. RMAC dual champions Colorado School of Mines finished sixth in the tournament format. 

Nebraska-Kearney had six of the 10 individual regional champions while Colorado Mesa, Adams State, New Mexico Highlands and the Eagles had one apiece. 

Gehlhausen was dominant for nearly the entire day. The redshirt junior won by fall in the first two rounds, pinning San Francisco State's Gavin Funk in 2:15 and Cal Poly Humboldt's Micaiah Montalbin in 3:27 before topping CSU Pueblo's Donn Greer via a 14-2 major decision in the semifinals. 

In the championship bout, No. 4-ranked Gehlhausen faced Nebraska-Kearney's No. 12-ranked Jacari Deal in a rematch of the championship bout from November's UNK Open. The match went the distance, but Gehlhausen secured a 7-1 decision win to claim the title. 

Early and Pinkerton also raced through the brackets into the championship bout but came up short in the final. Early had a pair of 15-0 tech falls in both round one and the semifinals alongside a 4-2 decision win over Adams State's Kieran Thompson in the quarters. Early faced Nebraska-Kearney's Nick James in the regional final, with the Loper wrestler pinning Early 5:32 into the match. 

Pinkerton received a first-round bye and then collected two pins over RMAC opponents to motor into the final. Pinkerton replicated an electric moment from the Chicoine Center dual with another pin of Western Colorado's Riley Dean-Butt at 2:32, then avenged an RMAC dual loss by pinning Colorado Mesa's Tyler Doyle, a First Team All-RMAC honoree, in exactly a minute.

Pinkerton also fell victim to a UNK wrestler in the championship bout. Crew Howard, undefeated at 24-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation, defeated Pinkerton by fall in 3:34. 

The three qualifying wrestlers matches Chadron State's total from two years ago and exceeds the two wrestlers CSC sent to nationals last year. Gehlhausen, Early and Pinkerton will all wrestle at nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 14-15. 

Chadron State Wraps Up RMAC Indoor Meet

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – While seven Chadron State College athletes placed at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Indoor Track and Field Meet at Colorado Springs, Chadron State track and field was kept off the podium on the final day of the conference championships. 

Chadron State's three sprinters that qualified for finals on Friday all earned team points for the Eagles on Saturday. Senior Creighton Trembly finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.21 seconds, sophomore Ryan Clapper was fifth in the 200 in 22.20 and junior Esosa Iyengunmwena was eighth in the 60 dash in 6.90.

Two high jumpers also placed after posting season-best marks. On the men's side, Keaton Mills went 6- ¼  to earn sixth place and on the women's side, junior Megan Baloun cleared 5- ½, good for seventh. 

The other two placings occurred on Friday, when seniors Christopher Jennings and Parker Gonser opened the meet by placing third and seventh, respectively, in the 35-pound weight throw with marks of 62-1 ¼ and 59-4. As it turned out, Jennings would be the only Chadron State athlete this year to earn a top-three finish, with many of the year's standouts coming up short. 

"If anything could go wrong, it happened to us," Head Coach Jake Gruver said. "It surely wasn't our strongest showing. We had too many things go wrong."

Freshman Camila Salvucci, who went to the conference meet with the league's third best mark of 12.03 meters (39-5 ¾), scratched on her first two jumps and jumped from well behind the board on her third attempt, finishing 13th. Chadron State also dropped the baton on its 4x400-meter relay.

Jumper Chayton Bynes, who entered the meet with the RMAC's best triple jump mark of 15.71 meters (51-6 ½) and the conference's third best long jump of 7.49 meters (24-7), ultimately did not compete in either event. A mix-up led to Bynes failing to check in prior to Friday's long jump, which led to him being removed from the start list for both his scheduled events. 

While Bynes didn't compete for an RMAC championship this year, the problems will not affect Bynes's eligibility at NCAA Indoor nationals in two weeks. Bynes's triple jump mark ranks second in Division II and his long jump mark is within the top 10 nationally as well. 

Chadron State fans may recall that in 2019, Californian Isaac Grimes was unable to triple jump at the RMAC Meet because of a hamstring injury, but ended up as the silver medalist in the event at the National Meet two weeks later when he set the school record of 51-8 ½.

Currently, the Eagle men's track and field athletes that have posted NCAA indoor provisional qualifying marks for nationals are Chayton Bynes in the triple jump (51-6½) and long jump (24-7), Creighton Trembly in the 60 hurdles (8.16), Ryan Clapper in the 200 (21.47) and Christopher Jennings in the weight throw (63-2 ¾).

Camila Salvucci is the only provisional qualifier among the Eagles' female athletes with her triple jump mark of 39-5 ¾. The national meet will take place in Indianapolis on March 14-15.

UCCS was the men's team champion while Colorado School of Mines won the women's RMAC title. The Chadron State men finished 10th with 20 team points while the women finished 13th with two points.

Below are the Eagles' top-eight placings:    
Men's Events
60—8, Esosa Iyengunmwena 6.90. (6.85 prelims)
200—5, Ryan Clapper, 22.20 (22.12 prelims)
60 hurdles—4, Creighton Trembly, 8.21 (8.17 prelims)
Weight throw—3, Christopher Jennings, 62-1 ¼; 7, Parker Gonser, 59-4.
High jump—6, Keaton Mills, 6- ¼
Women's Events
High jump—7, Megan Baloun, 5- ½