CORALVILLE, Iowa – Esther Peters went 2-1 in three matches on day two of the NCWWC women's wrestling national championship to finish in seventh place at 207 pounds and become the first All-American in CSC women's wrestling history. 

Peters finished 4-2 overall at the national tournament, breaking the program record for most wins at nationals in a single season and tying the record for most career wins at nationals as a freshman. 

Both Peters and another CSC freshman, 110-pounder Rylee Balcazar, began the day by competing in what is often referred to as the "blood round," a consolation round where the field narrows from 12 to the eight wrestlers who will win All-America honors. 

Balcazar, seeded No. 25 at this year's national tournament, took on No. 5 seed Emilie Gonzalez of the University of Iowa in her blood round match Saturday morning, with the Iowa wrestler winning via an 11-0 tech fall to end Balcazar's season. 

Peters, the No. 11 seed at 207, took on No. 9-ranked Rewa Chababo of Wartburg College in her blood round matchup. After a slow-moving first period that saw Peters have a 1-0 lead at the break, the McKinney, Texas freshman scored four points in the second period to clinch a 5-0 decision win over Chababo. 

That win clinched a top eight finish and All-American nod for Peters and the first-ever placing for the Chadron State women's wrestling program, which is in its fourth year. 
Peters advanced to a matchup against the University of Iowa's Alivia White, and the No. 7-ranked Hawkeye was aggressive early and pinned Peters in 48 seconds. The loss knocked Peters down to the 7th/8th place match, where she would face Greensboro College's Destiny Vaughans. 

This time, it was Peters's turn to be aggressive off the bat, earning a four-point throw against Vaughans less than 10 seconds into the bout. Peters continued to push the pace and sealed a 10-0 tech fall win in just 1:25 to claim seventh-place honors. 

With Peters scoring 12 team points, Balcazar scoring 4.5 and Brianna Vollendroff scoring 2.5, Chadron State finished with 19 team points, putting the Eagles 23rd in the team standings out of 64 competing schools. 

The Eagles were third among RMAC teams, with Colorado Mesa finishing eighth and Simon Fraser finishing just ahead of CSC in 21st. The Eagles finished ahead of Adams State (32nd) and Texas Woman's (43rd). 

Peters was one of only two RMAC athletes to earn All-America honors at this year's championships, joining Colorado Mesa's Lorianna Piestewa, a third-place finisher at 124 pounds. 

Iowa won the team championship with 201.5 team points, beating out North Central (181.0) and McKendree (158.5). Grand Valley State (129.5) and King University (92.5) rounded out the top five. Iowa had three national champions, North Central and Grand Valley State had two apiece while Otterbein, Aurora and McKendree each had one.

Eagles Suffer Pair of One-Run Losses to BHSU

CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State suffered a pair of one-run losses, 5-4 and 4-3, to second-place Black Hills State as the Eagles and Yellowjackets opened up a four-game series on Sunday in Spearfish. 

The Eagles lost game one when, despite a three-run sixth inning, CSC was unable to fully come back from a 5-1 deficit. Chadron State led 3-1 in the second game, but the Yellowjackets tied it with two runs in the fifth and won in walk-off fashion in the seventh inning. 

The two losses drop CSC's record to 7-11 overall and 4-10 in the RMAC. The Eagles have lost six in a row since winning three of four in their only home series to date. Black Hills State is now 14-6 overall and 12-2 in the RMAC. 

Ashland Baca was the unquestioned star of the day for Chadron State, hitting a three-run home run in each game to finish the day with six RBI. Baca now has five home runs on the season and has homered in three straight games dating back to last week's series against UCCS. 

Game one of the day saw the Eagles matched up against three-time RMAC Pitcher of the Week Laci Peskey, who sported a 1.45 ERA in 72.1 innings entering the game. Chadron State scored four runs off Peskey, marking just the fourth time in 11 starts Peskey has allowed more than one earned run, but Peskey still tallied 12 strikeouts of Chadron State hitters, including eight in the first three innings. 

Chadron State took an early lead in the second inning on back-to-back leadoff doubles from Ashland Baca and Jazlyn Arvizo, the second of which scored pinch-runner Devyn Thornton. The score stayed 1-0 until the fourth, when BHSU took the lead on an RBI single and RBI sac bunt to go up 2-1. 

The Yellow Jackets scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and runners on second and third, Desi Hernandez came through with a two-run single and advanced all the way to third base on the throw to the plate. Ashlynn Pauwels followed with an RBI single, ending the day of Eagle starter Tori Haug. 

Chadron State got right back in the game in the sixth, with a leadoff walk to J'lyssa Martinez followed by a double from Lauren Zimmerman. Baca followed with a three-run homer to left, bringing CSC within a run, but Peskey retired the next three and then only allowed a two-out hit by pitch in the seventh to finish the complete-game victory. 

Game two saw Baca go deep again in the fourth inning, this time with one out after an Aliyah Rothstein triple and another Martinez walk, to put Chadron State up 3-1. Baca's six RBI on Sunday pushed her into the team lead with 23 on the season. 

Black Hills State rallied in the fifth. A leadoff homer made it 3-2 before the next batter singled, prompting a CSC pitching change from starter Kenzi Garner to freshman Belle Akins. That inherited runner came around to score thanks to a stolen base, passed ball, and one-out RBI single before Akins retired the next two hitters. The game stayed tied until the seventh, when with two outs and a runner on second, the Eagles walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases. 

Pinch-hitter Gracie Oswald hit a ground ball up the middle that second baseman Sydney Loyet gloved with a backhand sliding stop, but her flip to second to try to get the game-extending force was wild, giving Black Hills a walk-off victory.

The two teams will conclude their four-game series with a Monday doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set for 11 a.m. on the RMAC Network.