CHADRON, Neb. -- October 19, 2022 -- After winning its last two games, including Saturday's thrilling 29-27 verdict over Adams State, the Chadron State College football team will strive to make it three in a row this Saturday while playing at Colorado State-Pueblo in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup.  Kickoff will be at 2 o'clock.

Pueblo has a 4-3 record. The ThunderWolves won their season opener 59-27 over Midwestern State of Texas, but lost the next three to Grand Valley State of Michigan 35-10, Western Colorado 17-10 and Colorado Mines 45-17.

Since then, the Pack, as the CSU-P gridders are often known, has won three straight—75-3 over Fort Lewis, 52-20 over Adams State and 35-11 last Saturday at New Mexico Highlands.

Pueblo's rushing game was not up to par in some of the early games.  It managed just 75 yards on the ground against Grand Valley and 60 against Western Colorado. Highlands also limited the Pack to 138 yards rushing this past week.

For the season, Pueblo has rushed for a per game average of 164 yards and passed for 237.  The Eagles' corresponding numbers through seven games are 168 rushing and 192 passing.

The Wolves' leading rushers are Austin Bacher, 6-2, 218, with 60 carries for 310 yards, and Kiahn Martinez, 5-8, 185, with 45 totes for 235 yards.  CSC's top rushers are Jalen Starks with 85 carries for 431 yards and Jeydon Cox with 49 for 214. 

The Eagles will again be without talented sophomore Dorian Collier, who sustained a badly sprained ankle against Colorado Mines after rushing 34 times for 198 yards prior to the injury.

Two Pueblo quarterbacks have each played in six games. Senior Hunter Raquet, 6-4, 215, is listed as this week's probable starter. He has completed 53 of 82 passes for 749 yards and 10 touchdowns. Sophomore Steve Croell, now listed as the third-stringer, has hit on 75 of 123 tosses for 849 yards and seven TDs.

Max Fine has been the busiest receiver with 27 catches for 318 yards, followed by Andy Cook with 21 for 295.

All five offensive line starters are seniors. They include Elijah Reed, a 6-6, 302-pound tackle.

Chadron State is hopeful that its all-conference tackle, Juan Estrada-Sanchez, 6-4, 320, is ready to play Saturday after missing the last two games because of an ankle problem.

While starting the last three games after two older quarterbacks were injured, redshirt freshman Preston Pearson is the Eagles' passing leader, clicking on 55 of 80 attempts (68.8%) for 665 yards and six TDs.  The passes have been spread around. Tight end Peter Krohn has become the busiest receiver with 23 for 252 yards.

The ThunderWolves have been a tough customer for the Eagles almost since the Pueblo football program was revived in 2008.  CSC won the first game 32-0, but the ThunderWolves have won all 12 since then. Two of the early games went into overtime.

Last year, the Eagles scored the first 10 points, were penalized just once, but turned the ball over five times and lost to the Coloradans 42-17. 

Chadron State is not the only team that has struggled against Pueblo.  John Wristen began this year, his 15th as the head coach, with a 123-32 record. During that span, the ThunderWolves have won  RMAC championships and advanced to the NCAA II Playoffs seven times.   

Women's wrestling receives national ranking

MANHEIM, Pa. -- October 20, 2022 -- The National Wrestling Coaches Association issued its preseason national rankings for collegiate women's wrestling on Thursday, placing Chadron State College in a tie for 21st in the nation, among all NCAA divisions.

In addition, sophomore 101-pounder Taylor Lindstrom received a preseason ranking of No. 8 individually. She led the team at its national championships appearance in 2022 by going 1-2 and coming one win short of claiming All-America honors. She also pinned the No. 1 and No. 7 junior college wrestlers during the regular season.

Chadron State returns seven who wrestled in 2021-22, including Lindstrom and the three other national qualifiers - 101-pound Kinsey Smith, 136-pound Ryleigh Dye, and 170-pound Kamila Montenegro. The other returners are Maddison Christiansen at 136 pounds, Karstin Hollen at 143, and Jeslyn Jindra at 155.

Twenty new wrestlers will bolster the Eagles' roster in 2022-23 and likely allow CSC to field a full dual lineup.

Two in particular should make an immediate impact. They are junior college national champs Heaven-Leigh Jackson, at 116 pounds, and Sofia Rubio, at 191. The pair both fill a hole in last year's lineup and provide veteran leadership in the mat room.

The other 18 are all true freshmen and will compete for the remaining spots in the lineup.

Not only did head coach Alijah Jeffery add a bunch of talented student-athletes, he also brought in a coaching assistant for the first time. Originally from Sacramento, California, new coaching assistant Kylie Titus wrestled at Carthage College, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is tied with CSC in the preseason poll.

Leading the team rankings is preseason favorite North Central College of Illinois. The Cardinals finished 2021-22 in fourth at the national championships. The returning runner-up, King University, is once again slated at No. 2. Colorado Mesa, CSC's first opponent of the year, Colorado Mesa, is No. 3 and reigning national champ McKendree rounds out the top four.

CSC opens at Colorado Mesa on November 4.

CSC men's basketball team to play Cornhuskers Sunday

CHADRON, Neb. -- October 19, 2022 -- The Chadron State College men's basketball team had its first practice this past Saturday morning and is slated to play its first game this coming Sunday afternoon against the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Of course, it's an exhibition game, and it will be three weeks before the first official game is played.

CSC Coach Shane Paben said his team also will have a closed exhibition contest against the Briar Cliff Chargers in Sioux City on Saturday before playing in Lincoln the next day.  The matchup with Briar Cliff is not on either team's schedule, but the one in Lincoln is on both the Eagles' and the Cornhuskers' schedules.

This year's Chadron State team will be much different than last year's. Just four players are on the 2022-23 roster from a year ago, and one of the four redshirted last winter.

The returnees include senior point guard Marcus Jefferson, who will be in his third year at CSC, played 33 minutes a game last season, was last year's second leading scorer with a 12.7-point average and does everything well.
Another is 6-foot-7 center Porter Anderson, who missed about one-fourth of the season because of injuries but was a force when he was healthy and his teammates got him the ball.

The third veteran, also a member the team for the third year, is forward Gage Delimont, who played in 18 games and is respected for his team spirit and stability.

The redshirt is Caden Sclafani, a 6-3 Texan, who is slowed by a knee problem, Paben said. The roster also includes Conner McCracken, a standout at Scottsbluff High School in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and once a member of the Western Nebraska Community College team. He high jumped for the CSC track team a year ago.

The remaining eight players are transfers, most of them from community colleges.  A majority of them are guards. There are no freshmen on the roster.

Paben said the new players bring new hope.  After working with them during individual sessions since soon after classes began this fall, he said they are solid group, with positive attitudes and appreciate the opportunity to be at Chadron State. He added that all of them played significant minutes at their previous schools and most scored in double figures on successful teams.

Last year's Chadron State team finished with a disappointing 10-17 record. The Eagles were hit hard by injuries. By the coach's count, players missed 120 game because of various injuries. It's a season he'd like to forget.

Maybe that's why he's anxious to get the new season underway. Tipoff in Lincoln is set for noon Mountain Time.  The first official games will be at Texas A&M International in Laredo and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Nov, 11 and 12. The first home game is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 with Sioux Falls University.  Nebraska-Kearney will visit the following Tuesday.  

Volleyball travels to Colorado Springs, and Pueblo

CHADRON, Neb. – October 19, 2022 – The Chadron State College volleyball team will hit the road this week as they take on two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals, UCCS (9-11, 4-8 RMAC) on Friday October 21st, and CSU-Pueblo (16-4, 9-3 RMAC) on Saturday October 22nd.

The Eagles are 7-14, 5-7 in the RMAC which places them ninth in the overall standings.

CSC is coming off a loss from nationally ranked Regis, where they hit .156 as a team, and totaled 30 kills. Defensively the Eagles had 36 digs and five blocks.

On the season, CSC is hitting .155 and has 783 kills. The Eagles will lean on freshman Bella Adams, who leads the Eagles with a .272 hitting percentage. Sophomores Aiyana Fujiyama, and Mayson Fago will help as they have hitting percentages of .198 and .153 respectively.

Those three are not the only offensive weapons the Eagles will use. Junior Lexi Hurtado leads the Eagles in total kills with 147.

The Eagles defense is led by Fujiyama who has 79 total blocks on the season, which ranks her third behind two CSU-Pueblo players. Adams has also helped Fujiyama at the net totaling 60 of her own which ranks her 12th.

As a team the Eagles are ranked fourth in the RMAC with 158 blocks.

The Eagles got some veteran leadership back against Regis as senior Abby Schaefer returned from injury. She added to her total digs on the season with 196, which is 15th in the RMAC after missing a couple of matches.

Schaefer has gotten help from junior Rylee Greiman who has recorded 192 digs and has helped the Eagles to fourth in the RMAC, in that category.

UCCS' defense will relay on Nicole Medlin who leads the Mountain Lions in total blocks with 66. As a team, UCCS has totaled 120.

On the back half of the Mountain Lions' defense, Jordyn Kinsey will lead them as she as totaled 242 total digs, with the team totaling 933.

The offensive attack for UCCS will be led by Nicole Medlin who is hitting .265 on the season. She has been getting help from Julia Geiger who is hitting .238. The Mountain Lions have four women hitting over .200. As a team the Mountain Lions are hitting .170.

Hannah Ammerman of UCCS leads the team with 199 kills, with teammate Raegen Emery has 182. UCCS has totaled 835 kills

CSU-Pueblo has the top two in the RMAC in blocks, with Jazzy Espinoza recording 81, and Josey Nunn showing 80. As a team CSU-Pueblo is second in the league for blocks with 168.

With all that traffic at the net, the Thunderwolves rank towards the bottom in digs in the RMAC. Elaine Thibadeau leads the Thunderwolves with 289 digs.

Offensively, CSU-Pueblo will lean on Espinoza who is hitting .404 on the season, which leads the RMAC. Her teammate Payton Van Veen is 10th with a hitting percentage of .297.

CSU-Pueblo is hitting .261 on the season, which is third in the RMAC.

Van Veen leads the Thunderwolves with 213 kills on the season which is eighth in the RMAC.

CSU-Pueblo has recorded 897 kills so far this season.

CSC looks to snap a 5-game losing streak against UCCS, with their last win coming in 2016.

CSC has lost the last 2 games against CSU-Pueblo with their last win coming back in 2018.