CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State ran into a hot-shooting Sioux Falls team in its home opener as the visiting Cougars shot over 58 percent from the field to sink the Eagles 91-76 at the Chicoine Center Friday night.

Jalen Thomas had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Eagles, who shot 39 percent from the field, 33 percent from deep (8-24) and 80 percent from the line (16-20) but fell to 2-3 on the year. 

For large stretches of the game, Sioux Falls simply didn't miss, using ball movement to generate open looks. The Cougars, who improved to 3-1, made 32 of 55 field goal attempts (.582) and 11 of 23 three-pointers, a .478 percentage from beyond the arc. USF entered the game shooting 32.7 percent from three on the season. 

Zy Wright scored 10 points for Chadron State while Darrius Miles and Trey Ballard had nine apiece. Dalton Peterson, Julio Phipps and Trey Harris all finished with eight points and shot .500 from the field or better off the bench for CSC, with Peterson and Harris each hitting two three-pointers.

The Eagles were outrebounded 41-32, just the second time in five games this season that CSC did not have the rebounding advantage. Chadron State finished with nine assists while Sioux Falls had 19 on their 32 made baskets. 

Jalen Thomas, a grad transfer from Division I Tarleton State in Texas, scored seven of CSC's first 10 points, including a personal 5-0 run that gave the Eagles an early 7-6 lead. The Cougars wasted no time, however, hitting three of their first four three-point attempts to go up 9-7.

CSC's John Jenkins converted a three-point play on a putback layup to cut a Sioux Falls lead to 30-25 with 6:47 to play in the first half, but the Eagles wouldn't score another field goal for five minutes after that. Sioux Falls closed the first half on a 16-5 run to lead by 16 points, 46-30, at halftime. 

The Eagles began utilizing full-court pressure in the second half and created more energetic plays. Although Sioux Falls led by as many as 19 points after the first three minutes of the second half, Zy Wright turned the tide with a made three-pointer before Julio Phipps earned a steal, raced to the loose ball and posterized a defender to hammer home a dunk plus a foul. 

A couple minutes later, the Eagles got back-to-back threes from Trey Harris and Dalton Peterson before an 8-0 Chadron State run featuring another Harris three, two free throws from Peterson and a three-point play from Trey Ballard cut the lead to eight at 61-53. 

Sioux Falls had an answer, however, hitting 7 of 8 field goals, including two threes, to push the lead back up to double digits. 

Chadron State will play next on the road this upcoming Tuesday against Colorado Christian in a nonconference game. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. After that game, CSC will return home to face Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, November 30 before opening RMAC play against South Dakota Mines at home on Thursday, December 5.

Chadron State— Jalen Thomas 20, Zy Wright 10, Darrius Miles 9, Trey Ballard 9, Dalton Peterson 8, Julio Phipps 8, Trey Harris 8, John Jenkins 4. Totals: 26-66 FG, 8-24 3PT, 16-20 FT. 76 points, 32 rebounds, 9 assists, 11 turnovers.

Southwest Minnesota State— Taylen Ashley 24, Noah Puetz 20, Shawn Warrior 15, Kyle Ingwerson 15, Creighton Morisch 8, Jacoby Mehrman 5, Brandon Hrncir 4. Totals: 32-55 FG, 11-23 3PT, 16-25 FT. 91 points, 41 rebounds, 19 assists, 12 turnovers.

Gehlhausen's Win Headlines UNK Open

KEARNEY, Neb. – Redshirt junior Keegan Gehlhausen won the 184-pound Elite bracket at the Younes Hospitality Open in Kearney, Nebraska, highlighting a Chadron State men's wrestling performance at the largest college wrestling tournament in the nation.

Gehlhausen, who entered the tournament ranked No. 14 nationally in the 184-pound weight class, went a perfect 4-0 to emerge victorious out of a 19-man bracket. The Pinedale, Wyoming native defeated fellow RMAC wrestler Hunter Richardson of Western Colorado by pin in 39 seconds, then won two matches by decision over Fort Hays Tech Northwest's Lazaro Crespo (7-4) and Air Force's Owen Heiser (13-6). 

In the final, Gehlhausen defeated Nebraska Kearney's Jacobi Deal in dominating fashion via tech fall with a final score of 16-1. Deal entered as the No. 18-ranked wrestler at 184 in Division II, four spots behind Gehlhausen. 

In addition to Gehlhausen's win, redshirt sophomore Brandon Paredes placed fourth in the 157-pound Elite bracket and junior Logan Berger took sixth in the 174-pound Elite bracket. The Eagles also had a pair of wrestlers earn fifth place finishes in the "Amateur" brackets – redshirt sophomore and Merna, Nebraska native Cyrus Wells at 141 pounds and junior Caleb Nadig of Sturgis, South Dakota at 149 pounds. 

Paredes, who hails from Tucson, Arizona, faced multiple nationally ranked wrestlers on his march through the 157-pound bracket, starting his day with a win over No. 20-ranked Vincent Cabral of Western Colorado by an 8-5 decision. After another decision win, Paredes lost a narrow 4-2 match to No. 15-ranked Cael Robb of Nebraska-Kearney in the championship semifinals. 

Paredes rebounded in the consolation semi and picked up a 13-5 major decision win over another UNK wrestler, Garrett Willuweit. He settled in fourth place after medically forfeiting the third place match to Colorado Mesa's Ryan Wheeler, the No. 7-ranked 157-pounder in Division II. Paredes finished the open 3-2. 

Berger won four matches on his way to placing sixth in the 25-man 174-pound bracket. Three of Berger's four wins came by fall while both of his losses were by decision. Berger went 1-1 against RMAC competition over the course of the open, defeating CSU Pueblo's Solomon Arnds-Volcin by decision and losing in the consolation semifinal to No. 20-ranked Wyatt Reisz of Colorado School of Mines. 

Other Eagle wrestlers had big days, even if they finished just outside the places. 149-pounder Torry Early, ranked No. 19 in Division II, went 3-2 for the tournament. All of Early's wins were dominant, as he earned a 21-3 tech fall in round one, a 39-second pin in round two and a 17-1 tech fall win in the consolation bracket. 

Also in the "Elite" brackets, Chadron State had 133-pounder Colter Julian finish 2-2, 165-pounder Tayten Gillette finish 3-2 and heavyweight Cody Pinkerton finish 3-2. 

Several more attached Eagles also had multiple wins while competing in the amateur division, including fifth-place finishers Cyrus Wells and Caleb Nadig, who both won four matches each. 125-pounder Yusef Nelson (three wins) and 149-pounder Grady Fox (four) also racked up victories.

The Eagles will be back in action at the Doane Open in Crete, Nebraska on Saturday, December 7, followed quickly by the Midwest Classic hosted by UIndy in Indianapolis, Indiana on December 14-15. Chadron State's RMAC season and dual season will begin after Christmas on Friday, January 10 with a dual against Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

Eagles Earn Experience At Missouri Valley Open

MARSHALL, Minn. – Chadron State women's wrestling had five wrestlers win multiple matches while competing against many of the nation's best programs and wrestlers in the sport at the Missouri Valley Open this Friday and Saturday, hosted by Missouri Valley College. 

Despite some success by several Eagle wrestlers, Chadron State ultimately did not place a wrestler in the top eight in any of the 11 contested weight classes out of a massive field of 610 wrestlers from 39 programs. 

Four Eagle wrestlers reached the third round of the championship bracket before dropping a match – No. 20-ranked Mana Chanthasone at 103 pounds, Heavynne Robles-Wright at 110 pounds, Karstin Hollen at 145 pounds and Maria Arellano at 160 pounds. Robles-Wright and Hollen both fell to wrestlers from national power Iowa in the third round. 

Junior Shania Wear had a strong open at 117 pounds, finishing 3-2 over the weekend. All three of Wear's wins came via tech fall by margins of 10-0, 13-0 and 15-4. 

Other Chadron State athletes suffered early losses but ran through the consolation bracket for positive results. Freshman 207-pounder Esther Peters suffered a first-round loss to Colorado Mesa's Jayleen Sekona, the No. 5-ranked wrestler in the country at that weight, but recovered to win two consolation-round matches, one by tech fall and one by pin. 

Junior Brianna Vollendroff also lost her first-round match but ended up reaching the sixth round of the consolation bracket and finishing 4-2 on the day. Three of Vollendroff's four victories came by fall, including wins over wrestlers from York, Sacred Heart and Oklahoma State University.

Vollendroff's four wins were the most of any CSC wrestler at the Missouri Valley Open, just ahead of Wear's three. Robles-Wright, Hollen, and Peters all finished 2-2. 

The next action for the Chadron State women's wrestling program will come in the CSC Duals on Friday, December 6. The Eagles will have four duals on that day, facing Minot State, Jamestown, Texas Woman's and Simon Fraser at 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 p.m., respectively, with all matches taking place in the Chicoine Center. 

The following day, Chadron State will host the Chadron State College Open in Chicoine on December 7.