ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Chadron State is sending three qualifying women's wrestlers to the first-ever NCAA National Tournament, with Brianna Vollendroff (103 pounds), Piper Cadden (131) and Esther Peters (207) all punching their tickets at the NCAA Region VI Tournament in Missouri on Sunday.

All three Chadron State wrestlers finished in third place at their respective weights, securing the final qualification spots as the top three wrestlers at each of the 10 weights earned national tournament berths. The Eagles were a perfect 3-0 in winner-to-nationals matches on Sunday.

The Eagles finished in sixth in the team standings with 67 points, behind a top five of McKendree (199.5), Simon Fraser (115), Colorado Mesa (113), Fort Hays State (106.5), and William Jewell (70.5). Chadron State edged out hosts Lindenwood (65.5) and RMAC rivals Adams State and Texas Woman's, who were eighth and ninth. 

Chadron State had the fifth-most national qualifiers in the region with three and were one of only three RMAC programs to qualify even one wrestler for nationals, joining Simon Fraser (six) and Colorado Mesa (four). 

It is the second consecutive national qualification for all three CSC wrestlers, with Vollendroff and Peters qualifying for Chadron State last season while Cadden did so while wrestling for Fort Hays State.

To do it, both Vollendroff and Peters beat a wrestler ranked top-10 nationally and seeded top-three in the region, with Peters finally toppling Simon Fraser's Julia Richey. 

Alongside the trio of third-place finishers, Rylee Balcazar also finished a strong fifth place in the 110-pound bracket, but that is not enough for the sophomore to repeat her nationals qualification from her freshman campaign. Adrianna Lopez, the fifth and final Eagle to begin the day still alive in the regional brackets, lost her first consolation match at 117 pounds.

Vollendroff and Cadden had similar paths on Sunday: being pinned in their first match in the semifinals to a No. 1-ranked wrestler from McKendree before rebounding to win two straight matches and finish third. 

After Vollendroff's loss to eventual regional champ Heather Crull, the Oroville, California senior defeated Adams State's Mia Siquieros via a 10-0 tech fall in a rematch of the RMAC Championship bout from this year. 

That put Vollendroff into a winner-take-all third-place match against William Jewell's Juliana Alejandro, who was seeded No. 3 and ranked No. 10 in the nation according to The Open Mat (which had Vollendroff ranked No. 12). Vollendroff led 8-7 after the first period, but outscored Alejandro 6-0 in the second to emerge with a 14-7 decision win and punch her ticket. 

Cadden, seeded No. 4 and ranked No. 19 nationally, fell to eventual regional champ Cameron Guerin as McKendree, expected to be one of two heavy national title favorites alongside Iowa, would eventually win all 10 weight classes at regionals. Cadden cruised to a 13-2 tech fall win over Vanguard's Lillian Avalos to advance to the third-place match. 

Waiting there was Colorado Mesa's No. 17-ranked Hania Halverson, who lost to Cadden on Saturday but had just knocked off No. 2 seed and No. 14-ranked Jania Dunigan of Schreiner. Cadden improved to 2-0 against the CMU wrestler, taking a 4-0 lead, falling behind 6-4 and roaring back for a 12-7 decision win. 

Peters had a tougher task after losing her very first match Saturday against Minot State's Aniya Herbin. Peters needed to win three consecutive matches to earn qualification, and all would be against familiar foes. 

She started the day facing Texas Woman's wrestler Kitana Leafaatoto, who she was 3-0 against but had not beaten by more than two points. The fourth matchup was the highest scoring but ultimately true to form, with Peters pulling out a 10-9 decision win, rallying from a 7-0 deficit.

Up next was Simon Fraser's Julia Richey, who had previously defeated Peters in the 2025 RMAC and regional finals as well as the 2026 RMAC semifinals. On this day, however, Peters would not be denied, with six different scores in an 8-0 decision win to eliminate Richey, who would medically forfeit the fifth-place match. 

In the winner-take-all third-place match, No. 4 seed Peters earned another crack at No. 5 seed Herbin, who pinned her yesterday. Trailing 1-0 after the first period, Peters earned a four-point takedown with 2:24 to go and added on a pair of two-pointers to win 8-1 and complete her comeback. 

Peters, who became the program's first-ever All-American last season with a seventh-place finish, is now in line to potentially repeat that honor. 

For the three advancing wrestlers, they will prepare to compete on March 6-7 in Coralville, Iowa at the NCAA National Championships, where all three will be part of 18-woman brackets. 

Eagles Get Second Walk-off in Two Days

PUEBLO, Colo. – For the second day in a row, Chadron State rebounded from a loss in the first game to earn a walk-off victory in the second game, with Sophia Brennan playing the game-winning hero as Chadron State split with CSU Pueblo on Sunday.

The ThunderWolves, playing in their home ballpark but as the scoreboard visitors after the games were moved from Chadron due to snow, defeated the Eagles soundly 17-6 in the opener before the Eagles triumphed 4-3 in eight innings in the nightcap. 

The conference season-opening split puts both teams at 2-2 in the RMAC. Chadron State is 2-11 overall while the ThunderWolves are 6-8. 
Sophomore Belle Akins earned her first win of the season in the circle, throwing an eight-inning complete game while giving up three runs on eight hits with two strikeouts while Chadron State used speed in the early part of the game and power late to provide runs.

The Eagles gave Akins run support immediately when leadoff hitter Charley Pitrat walked, stole second and took third on a wild pitch before Elizabeth Thorngren laid down a bunt and beat it out for an infield single to score her. 

Although Pueblo tied it 1-1 in the top of the third, the Eagles stole a run in the bottom half when, with runners on first and second and two outs, the CSUP pitcher fumbled a slow ground ball up the first base line hit by Brogan Allen to load the bases and Lani Davis took advantage of a sleeping Pueblo defense to sprint home while the ThunderWolves were turned away from the play. 

Allen hit the ball a bit farther to drive home CSC's third run, sending a no-doubter deep to left-center field leading off the bottom of the sixth for her first bomb of the season. That tied the score after Pueblo had scored single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 3-2 lead. 

In extra-innings, Akins held the ThunderWolves at bay by working around a one-out single. In the bottom half, pinch-hitter Payton Sullivan led off with a walk against Pueblo's McKenna James and was lifted for the re-entering Katelynn Czerpak to pinch-run.

With one out, Allen hit a grounder to short on the first pitch and Czerpak broke for third. The Pueblo shortstop fielded the ball, initially moved towards third to throw the ball there, and lost her balance while changing her mind and resetting her feet to throw to first, which was ruled as an error. 

That brought Sophia Brennan to the plate. Coach Skye Koehl put the squeeze on on the first pitch, but Brennan fouled off the pitch and soon found herself down 0-2. The junior catcher got a pitch she could handle despite the pitcher's count and muscled a soft line drive over the outstretched glove of shortstop to easily score Czerpak from third. 

The walk-off win salvaged a game-one performance that saw the ThunderWolves lead 4-1 after three innings and score six in the fourth and five in the seventh to pile on late. CSC split the game between two freshman pitchers – McKenna Sides (3.2 IP, 11 ER) and Brynn Trujillo (3.1 IP, 6 ER). 

Offensively in the losing effort in game one, Elizabeth Thorngren hit her first home run of the season and drove home a second run on a sacrifice fly while Katelynn Czerpak hit a two-run double. 

Chadron State will be on the road next week to face New Mexico Highlands. The matchup is set for Saturday and Sunday, February 28 and March 1.