COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Headlined by a pair of second-place votes, the Chadron State men's wrestling program has been picked fifth in a crowded 2025 Preseason Coaches Poll while Keegan Gehlhausen earned a preseason honor. 

The poll – which is voted on by each the league's head coaches, who rank opponents without voting for their own team – did not have any firm consensus, as five of the conference's seven schools received a first or second-place vote. 

Colorado Mesa emerged as the top pick, with the Mavericks receiving three first-place votes and three second-place votes for a total of 33 points. Adams State came second with three first-place votes, no second-place votes and two third-place votes, totaling 28 points. 

Colorado School of Mines, the defending league champions, garnered the poll's final first-place vote and finished third in the 2025 poll with 26 points. Western Colorado came fourth with 22 while the Eagles were just behind with 21 points.

The drop-off in poll numbers happens after the top five, with more points separating Chadron State from sixth place in the poll than second. CSU Pueblo was voted sixth while New Mexico Highlands rounded out the poll in seventh. 

In addition, the RMAC named a Preseason All-RMAC Team, which is determined by the top returning vote-getters from last season's all-conference ballots, also voted on by the head coaches. 

Keegan Gehlhausen earned the Preseason All-RMAC nod at 184 pounds after the now-redshirt senior's breakout 2024-25 season that saw the Pinedale, Wyoming native win a regional championship and finish as the national runner-up. 

Five of the RMAC's seven schools are represented on the preseason team, with Colorado Mesa and Adams State leading the way with three selections each while CSU Pueblo and Colorado School of Mines each had two alongside the Eagles' selection. 

Chadron State will open the 2025-26 schedule at the DWU Open in Mitchell, South Dakota on November 8. The Eagles will also have non-conference duals against Fort Hays State and Otero Junior College, both on November 15. 

The crown jewel of the nonconference schedule is a road dual against in-state rival and defending national champions Nebraska-Kearney, with the Eagles and Lopers set to battle on Friday, December 5 at 6 p.m. in Kearney. That dual will take place in between a pair of tournament schedule mainstays – the UNK Open on Saturday, November 22 and the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis from December 13-14. 

This season, four of Chadron State's six RMAC duals will be at home, with all taking place in January. The Eagles will face defending conference champs Colorado School of Mines on Friday, January 9 at 6 p.m. in the Chicoine Center to open both their home and RMAC schedules. 

Other home duals include clashes with New Mexico Highlands on January 18 at 12 p.m., CSU Pueblo on January 23 at 6 p.m. and Adams State on January 31 at 2 p.m. Chadron State will close the RMAC calendar on the road against Western Colorado and Colorado Mesa, the two schools which joined CSC in a three-way tie for second in the conference standings at 5-2 last season. 

NCAA Regionals are set for Saturday, February 28 in Golden, Colorado, with nationals taking place from March 13-14 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Kiger, Rosander Lead CSC at Cheyenne Rodeo

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Chadron State senior Cinch Kiger continued to ride high on barebacks and junior Morgan Rosander was the runner-up in barrel racing at the Laramie County Community College rodeo in Cheyenne last weekend.

Kiger won the bareback title for the third time in the five rodeos in the Central Rocky Mountain Region this fall. He was third in the first go-round with 76 points and won the finals go on Sunday with an 81, an elite mark in college rodeo circles.   

The Overton, Nebraska cowboy also was the bareback winner at the Chadron State rodeo that opened the fall schedule and was first again at Sheridan College. In between, Kiger placed second at both the Central Wyoming and Lamar College rodeos. He finishes the fall season with 775 points, 250 more than runner-up Eian Smith of Central Wyoming, located at Riverton, has earned.  

Rosander's reserve champion honors at the LCCC rodeo is her best after 2 ½ years of competition at CSC, but she and her roan mare name Streaker made up for lost time in Cheyenne. They were second in the opening go-round in 16.33 seconds and were first in the finals in 16.27 seconds for a cumulative time of 32.60 seconds. 

First place went to Landry Haugen of the University of Wyoming with runs of 16.19 and 16.33 seconds for a total of 32.52 seconds. There were 106 barrel racers at the rodeo.

Chadron State had two more bareback riding placewinners. Freshman Leighton Sander of Custer, S.D., was fourth overall with a pair of 74-point rides and Tanner Olson of Gordon was sixth with scores of 69 and 70. 

In addition, Pepper Rhyne of Craig, Colorado, was eighth in tiedown roping after catching and tying his first calf in 10.4 seconds. He was much faster in the finals, completing that run in 8.1 seconds. However, he broke the barrier on his second run, absorbing a 10-second penalty.  

Mary Gibson also made the goat tying finals after finishing the first round in 7.7 seconds. But the goat wasn't as cooperative in the finals and that time was 11.7 seconds.

The spring portion of the season will begin in mid-March.

WWR Picked Third, Chanthasone Honored

CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State women's wrestling has been picked third in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, setting another new preseason high mark in the history of the program as every eligible voter selected the Eagles to finish in the top three, while Mana Chanthasone earned a Preseason All-RMAC selection. 

The Eagles received one second-place vote and three third-place votes from the league's five head coaches, who each rank opposing programs without voting for their own, finishing with nine voting points in the poll. 

Chadron State tied for third in the poll last season before finishing in third at the 2024-25 RMAC Championships and was picked fifth in the inaugural RMAC Women's Wrestling poll in 2023. 

Simon Fraser finished atop the poll with three first-place votes and one second-place vote for 15 points. Colorado Mesa was just behind, with two first-place votes and two second-place points adding up to 14 points. After the Eagles, the poll was rounded out by Texas Woman's with seven and Adams State with five. 

Additionally, Mana Chanthasone earned the league's Preseason All-RMAC selection at 103 pounds. The Preseason All-RMAC teams are comprised of the highest returning finisher at each weight class from the 2024-25 RMAC Championships. 

Both Chanthasone and freshman Esther Peters received Second Team All-RMAC honors last season, with Peters going on to place seventh at nationals and become the first All-American in program history.

The Eagles will have a new head coach for the 2025-26 season, as former CSC assistant coach Sammy de Seriere rises to take the reins of the program. De Seriere is the third head coach in Chadron State women's wrestling history. 

His initial Chadron State roster will compete in an intrasquad dual on Friday night, October 24 at 6 p.m. at the Chicoine Center, which will be open to the public. The first competition date for CSC will be at the Battle of the Rockies Open hosted by the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana on November 8. 

The Eagle women will have several home dates in 2025-26, starting with a November 13 home dual against Dickinson State. Chadron State will host the Eagle Duals on January 9, which will see CSC set to wrestle against Hastings College, Adams State, Texas Woman's and Minot State as part of a two-mat, all-day setup. 

The following day on January 10, the Chicoine Center will host the Eagle Women's Open. Chadron State will also host Fort Hays Tech Northwest, a junior college in Kansas, on Wednesday, February 11 for Senior Night. 
Other tournament highlights include the Bob Smith Open at Fort Hays State on December 16, the North Central Open in Illinois on December 14, the RMAC Championships in Colorado Springs on January 31 and NCAA Regionals on February 21-22. 

The ultimate goal is qualification to the first-ever NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships, which will be held in Coralville, Iowa from March 6-7.