PUEBLO, Colo. – With a 30-12 dual win over CSU Pueblo Friday night, the Chadron State men's wrestling program finished its RMAC season on a five-dual win streak and secured a tie for second place in the conference standings. 

After being picked fifth in the conference's preseason poll, the Eagles finished the 2024-25 RMAC dual season with a 5-2 record, including a 4-1 record in conference duals away from home. 

Colorado School of Mines ran the table to win the league with a perfect 7-0 mark while Colorado Mesa, Western Colorado and the Eagles all finished at 5-2 with 1-1 records against one another. 

On Friday night, the Eagles won six of 10 bouts and turned what was a close 14-12 dual after seven matches into a comfortable margin of victory thanks to a major decision and two pins over the final three weights. The Eagles earned bonus points in five of their six wins, helping them run up the score as all four of Pueblo's victories were by decision for three-pointers.

Pueblo forfeited the first weight class of the night, giving nationally-ranked Hunter Jacobsen a six-point win, but the ThunderWolves immediately tied the score when Eddie Bowman beat James Davis 5-4 at 133 pounds for Davis's first dual loss of the RMAC season before nationally-ranked Hayden Tuma topped CSC's Cyrus Wells 6-2 at 141 pounds. 

Torry Early cruised to a 16-1 tech fall win at 149 before Brandon Paredes earned a significant victory over returning national qualifier Cyruss Meeks at 157 pounds. With Trailing 4-2 in the third period, Paredes earned a takedown to take the lead only for Meeks to escape and tie the score, all within the final 30 seconds of regulation, to send the bout to overtime. With just over a minute to go in the first extra period, Paredes was able to lift Meeks's right leg in the air and work his way around for a walk-off takedown. 

Pueblo came back with decision wins at 165 and 174 to draw within two points at 14-12, but CSC's heavy hitters put the dual out of reach. No. 4/6 Keegan Gehlhausen continued his dominant unbeaten RMAC dual season, earning another major decision win at 184 pounds by a 12-4 margin over CSUP's Donn Greer. 

197-pounder Mason Villwok, who is also unbeaten in four RMAC duals since joining the Eagles' lineup, had the most impressive performance of his young career by pinning his opponent in only 29 seconds. 285-pounder Cody Pinkerton followed with another pin, Pinkerton's fourth-straight in non-forfeited dual bouts this season, to cap the dual with another six points for CSC. 

CSU Pueblo finished the RMAC season with a 3-4 record and were fifth in the league, ahead of Adams State, Simon Fraser and New Mexico Highlands. 

Chadron State's next competition date is the Rocky Mountain Open at Colorado School of Mines this Sunday. That will be the final lead-up to NCAA regionals on March 1 at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, with wrestlers hoping to qualify for nationals in Indianapolis on March 14-15.

Bout-by-Bout Results
125:  #10/15 Hunter Jacobsen (CSC) wins by forfeit
133: Eddie Bowman (CSUP) dec. #18 James Davis, 5-4
141: #19 Hayden Tuma (CSUP) dec. Cyrus Wells, 6-2
149: #17 Torry Early (CSC) tech falls Cole Bennett, 16-1
157: Brandon Paredes (CSC) dec. Cyruss Meeks, SV-1 8-5
165: Aaron Concepcion (CSUP) dec. Tayten Gillette, 6-3
174: Solomon Arnds-Volcin (CSUP) dec. Logan Berger, 4-1
184: #4/6 Keegan Gehlhausen (CSC) major dec. Donn Greer, 12-4
197: Mason Villwok (CSC) pins Remington Winmill, 0:29
285: Cody Pinkerton (CSC) pins Jacob Mitchell, 6:14

Last-Second Basket Waved Off In Denver

DENVER – Reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week Jalen Thomas scored 22 points, but another three points that didn't make it to the box score ended up being the story in a 73-71 loss to MSU Denver Thursday evening. 

After MSU Denver missed a one-and-one free throw with three seconds left, Thomas dribbled up the court and launched a shot from the halfcourt line that banked through the net and momentarily gave the Eagles an improbable road win. 

However, a lengthy video replay review determined that Thomas didn't release the shot in time and the basket was overturned, handing a two-point victory back to the host Roadrunners. The no-basket nullified what would have been a double-digit comeback for the Eagles, who ultimately never led in the game but rallied from 11 points down with 10:12 to go. 

Thomas, who scored CSC's final two baskets of the game before the last-second shot, recorded his sixth 20-point game of the season and added five rebounds and a season-high five steals, the most in a single game by any CSC player this season. 

Zy Wright earned his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds while 6-foot-11 Darrius Miles scored 17 points, shot 7 of 11 from the floor and made all three of his three-point attempts. 

Denied a fourth straight win, Chadron State is now 12-11 overall and 8-7 in the RMAC. MSU Denver, which started 8-0 in RMAC play but had lost four of six entering Thursday night's game, is now 17-6 overall and 11-4 in conference. 

Thanks to results around the league, Chadron State is tied with Colorado Mesa for seventh and eighth place in the RMAC standings, the final two RMAC Tournament positions. The Eagles have a two-game lead over ninth-place Colorado Christian (6-9) with five games to play and are just one game back of a three-team tie for fourth place between 9-6 Fort Lewis, Black Hills State and UCCS. 

The Eagles shot 45.5 percent from the field and made 4 of 15 three-pointers. The Eagles were uncharacteristically not sharp from the free throw line, making only 7 of 13 attempts. MSU Denver shot 44.8 percent from the field and made 10 of 29 threes.

In the first half, MSU Denver opened up an 18-11 lead, but Chadron State closed the gap with a 10-3 run featuring six points from John Jenkins to tie the score at 21-21. From there, however, MSU Denver began to catch fire from deep, scoring five made field goals in a row from beyond the arc to end the first half up by double digits, 42-31. 

The hosts maintained that margin for the first part of the second half, but Chadron State refused to go away. With about nine minutes to play, Miles hit a three and Trey Ballard tallied back-to-back baskets to trim the lead to three points at 57-54. 

The Roadrunners climbed back up by six at 68-62, but with four minutes left, a Thomas steal led to a Julio Phipps layup in transition before a quick MSUD miss and another Miles three cut the lead to one again. With 27 seconds to go, Roadrunners forward Caleb McGill scored to give MSU Denver a 71-67 lead, but the Roadrunners simply couldn't guard Thomas the rest of the way. 

The redshirt senior drove down the court in six seconds for a layup to make it 71-69. Trey Ballard nearly tied it by stealing the inbounds pass, but his contested jumper missed, and a jump ball on the loose ball gave possession to the Roadrunners, who were then fouled and hit two free throws with 11 seconds left. 

Thomas hustled down the court again for a pull-up midrange to cut it to 73-71 with four seconds left. Out of a timeout, the Eagles fouled McGill and sent the forward to the line for a one-and-one free throw with three ticks on the clock, leading to the game-deciding moment. 

Chadron State will face the RMAC's leading team on Saturday, No. 8/10-ranked Colorado School of Mines (20-3, 14-1 RMAC). Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. in Golden, Colorado.

Chadron State— Jalen Thomas 22, Darrius Miles 17, Zy Wright 10, Julio Phipps 6, Trey Ballard 6, John Jenkins 6, Dalton Peterson 3, Zach Smith 1. Totals: 30-66 FG, 4-15 3PT, 7-13 FT. 71 points, 37 rebounds, 12 assists, 7 turnovers.

MSU Denver— Sufyan Elkannan 17, Caleb McGill 15, Logan Threatt 13, Brayden Carter 12, Quave Propst-Allison 7, Caden Holmes 5, Ryan Maslow 4. Totals: 26-58 FG, 10-29 3PT, 11-14 FT. 73 points, 37 rebounds, 15 assists, 11 turnovers.

Women's Basketball Earns Road Win Over Roadrunners

DENVER – Chadron State women's basketball broke through for its first road win of the season, defeating MSU Denver 60-55 in a Thursday evening game at the Auraria Events Center.

Ashayla Powers scored 18 points with seven rebounds, Megan Counts added 16 points and Kylie Krise finished a point away from a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds to lead Chadron State to victory. 

The win bumps the Eagles up to 5-16 overall and 4-11 in RMAC play. The Eagles improved to 1-7 on the road this season and won on the road against MSU Denver for the second consecutive year. The Roadrunners dropped to 6-17 and 5-10 in the RMAC with the loss. 

The Eagles crucially won the rebounding battle (42-34) and the turnover battle (committing 16 and forcing 17) in Thursday's game. Chadron State managed to win despite the Roadrunners outshooting CSC from the field (35.5 percent to 34.6 percent) and from three-point range (21.1 percent to 14.3 percent). 

Powers made 6 of 9 shots from the floor and consistently got to the free-throw line, sinking 6 of 11 attempts. The rest of the Eagles were a combined 15-18 from the stripe. Powers nearly outpaced the entire MSU Denver team from the line, as the hosts had just 12 free-throw attempts overall, making seven. 

Counts shot over 50 percent from the field, making 6 of 13 attempts, and added five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. She was joined in the starting frontcourt by Arvada, Colorado freshman Malorie Byrne, who made her first collegiate start a game after scoring a career-high nine points against CSU Pueblo. Byrne finished with three points, two assists and two rebounds in 19 minutes on Thursday. 

The teams started out even, with five ties in the first quarter alone, but Chadron State emerged from the first 10 minutes with a three-point, 18-15 lead. The game continued to see-saw back-and-forth in the first half, with neither team leading by more than three points for the entire second quarter with Chadron up 28-27 at the half. 

Out of the locker room, the Eagles received two Megan Counts layups plus two Kyra Tanabe free throws before a three-point play on a putback by Powers gave CSC its largest lead at 37-28. MSU Denver chipped away, however, using an 8-1 run to pull within a point with 1:25 to play in the third quarter and eventually taking the lead 44-43 at the end of the period. 

The teams continued to wrestle the lead back and forth, with a total of 10 lead changes and nine ties throughout the contest. Powers proved clutch in the fourth quarter, as the veteran forward scored eight points in the fourth, including a 4-for-4 stretch at the line. 

Powers scored 8 of 10 CSC points between eight-and-a-half and two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game, turning a 47-46 MSU Denver lead into a 55-48 Eagles cushion that the visitors were able to see out. 

Chadron State will continue its road trip in Golden, Colorado on Saturday night when the Eagles take on Colorado School of Mines (9-14, 7-8 RMAC) at 3 p.m.

Chadron State— Ashayla Powers 18, Megan Counts 16, Kylie Krise 9, Kyra Tanabe 9, Malorie Byrne 3, Jordyn Stokes 3, Liberty Line 2. Totals: 18-52 FG, 3-21 3PT, 21-29 FT. 60 points, 42 rebounds, 11 assists, 16 turnovers.

MSU Denver— Ashlyn Yow 12, Brianna Sealy 8, Stella Rollo 8, Brooklynn Jones 8, Jackie Pippett 7, Neveah Millard 5, Mariana Silva Pereira 4, Laci Roffle 3. Totals: 22-62 FG, 4-19 3PT, 7-12 FT. 55 points, 34 rebounds, 14 assists, 17 turnovers.