CHADRON - Chadron State senior kicker Wilson Yee drilled a 47-yard field goal in overtime Saturday to give the Eagles a dramatic 27-24 win over Western Colorado in one of the program’s biggest victories in nearly two decades.

The win kept Chadron State (8-0 RMAC, 8-2 overall) tied for first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with CSU Pueblo, which also won in overtime Saturday. The two teams will meet next Saturday in Pueblo in a winner-take-all showdown for the RMAC championship.

The victory marked Chadron State’s seventh win in 13 all-time overtime games and its most memorable since the Eagles’ 76-73 triple-overtime playoff win over Abilene Christian in 2007.

The Eagles overcame a 14-0 first-quarter deficit and used big plays from across the roster. Quarterback DJ Ralph threw two touchdown passes to wide receiver Tommy Thomas, while running back Jake Marschall scored on a one-yard leap in the fourth quarter to reclaim the lead.

Ralph finished with two passing touchdowns, including a 53-yard strike to Thomas just before halftime and a three-yard connection early in the third quarter following a blocked punt by senior Zachary Kapushion. Thomas now has 14 touchdown receptions this season, ranking second in the RMAC.

Defensively, cornerback Aiden Kuester had two interceptions, including one in overtime that set up Yee’s game-winning field goal. The Eagles also blocked two kicks and recovered a fumble, while holding Western Colorado (6-4, 6-2 RMAC) to just 38 rushing yards.

Western quarterback Drew Nash threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns but was intercepted twice after entering the game with only two interceptions all season.

Yee’s game-winner capped a standout performance that also included a 50-yard field goal in the first half.

With the win, Chadron State remains in the hunt for its first RMAC title since 2011. The conference championship game at CSU Pueblo is scheduled for 1 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 15, at the ThunderBowl.

Volleyball Loses Despite Harding's Double-Double

SALT LAKE CITY – For the second time in as many nights, Chadron State lost sets twice by the minimum two points but suffered a three-set road loss, this time to the Westminster Griffins on Saturday afternoon in Utah by scores of 25-27, 15-25, 23-25.

Freshman Shelby Harding had one of the better games of her young career, hitting over .400 with 10 kills on 22 attempts and logging a team-high 16 digs. Mataya Ward paced the Eagles with 12 kills, hitting .323, while Gibson Beckler had seven kills and hit an errorless .389 on 18 attempts.

Chadron State hit .207 for the match and hit better than .250 in each of the final two sets. The Eagles had only 10 hitting errors, the fourth fewest CSC has had in a match this season and the fewest in any loss. 

The Eagles continued with the two-setter system they have favored in recent weeks, as Cydnie Eskew finished with a career-high 16 assists while Jillian Donovan had 15 assists. Libero Avery Lacy chipped in 10 digs while Chloe Grady led the net defense with four blocks, including two solo denials. 

The first set was sloppy for both teams, as the Eagles and Griffins combined for 14 of the match's 25 cumulative errors in the opening frame while both teams had their worst hitting percentages of the match. A 4-0 Eagles run punctuated by back-to-back solo blocks from Grady and Kally Kirkwood followed by an Eskew ace gave CSC an 11-7 lead.

But the Griffins came up with a 4-0 run of their own at a key time, with three kills and an ace putting the home team up 22-21. The teams alternated points until the Griffins edged ahead 24-23 for set point but missed two attack attempts to spot the Eagles a 25-24 advantage. The Griffins recovered to win the next three points and take the set, 27-25.

The offenses picked up in the second. While Chadron State hit well with 11 kills against just two errors for a .257 percentage, Westminster was better, hitting .310 and collecting 17 kills in the set. Westminster never trailed after 3-2 and pulled away to win set two decisively, 25-15.

The third set returned to a see-saw battle. Back-to-back kills from Shelby Harding and Gibson Beckler gave CSC an 18-16 advantage, and the two squads alternated points all the way up to a Natali Keni kill that put CSC up 22-20. Similarly to last night, however, CSC's opponent caught fire late in the set, as the Griffins closed on a 5-1 run including four kills to steal a third-set win, 25-23. 

Chadron State (5-19, 1-11 RMAC) has two matches remaining in the 2025 season, and both are at home. The Eagles face Regis (3-21, 2-12) this Tuesday before Senior Day next Friday, November 14 against Colorado School of Mines (18-6, 8-4) in the Chicoine Center. 

Smith, Villwok Win Brackets at DWU Open

MITCHELL, S.D. – Chadron State men's wrestling got off a strong start at the DWU Open as redshirt senior Quade Smith and sophomore Mason Villwok each won their respective weight classes to lead nine placers on Saturday. 

Beyond the two champions, Chadron State had one second-place finisher (Brooks Loosevelt, 184), one third (Caleb Chaves, 141), two fourths (Aidan Callahan, 149 and Logan Berger, 174), one fifth (Tayten Gillette, 165) and two sixths (Hunter Jacobsen, 133 and Keegan Gehlhausen, 184). 

Gehlhausen, the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 184 pounds and defending national runner-up, went 2-0 on the mat and advanced to the semifinals before medically forfeiting his next three matches. 

Smith, a Layton, Utah native, announced his return to 125 pounds with authority after redshirting last season. Smith, who has a No. 14 NWCA national ranking was immediately matched with NWCA No. 13 Sloan Johannsen of Northern State in the first round and won by a 14-7 decision. Johannsen, who rallied to win his next five matches, would be the highest-ranked opponent Smith would face on the day.

Smith recorded pins over Jamestown's Mario Fernandez and Augustana's Carter Katherman across the next two rounds before a semifinal major decision over MSU Moorhead's Clayson Mele. In the final, Smith topped UMary's Mason Gutenberger 4-0, using a first-period takedown and second-period escape to seal the bracket win. 

Villwok piled on the points in the early rounds, beating Bismarck State's Ashton Zimney 18-1 and Southwest Minnesota State's Xander Kenworthy 19-3 to start. 

The Elkhorn, Nebraska native, who is unranked in the NWCA's top 15 but has a No. 20 national ranking from The Open Mat, then showed he can win the close ones as well, topping UMary's Michael Murillo with a sudden-victory takedown to win 4-1 in overtime. In the championship tilt, Villwok Ryan Hirschkorn of Northern State 10-3, outscoring Hirschkorn 7-1 in the third period to pull away.

Brooks Loosvelt, a true freshman from York, Nebraska, raced through the opposite half of the 184-pound bracket as Gehlhausen, winning the first four matches of his collegiate career before falling in the final. Loosvelt had three wins by decision, winning by margins of one, six and seven points, plus a tech fall victory. 

Caleb Chaves, a grad transfer to the Eagles from Gannon University, won his first three matches in dominant fashion with a pin and two major decisions. Chaves fell in the semis, but earned third place via no contest, as he had already beaten his scheduled opponent, Northern State's Karstyn Lhotak, 16-3 earlier in the tourney.

Another true freshman, Rapid City's Aidan Callahan, went 4-2 in his collegiate debut to place fourth. Lineup veterans Logan Berger and Tayten Gillette went 3-2 and 4-2, respectively. 

Hunter Jacobsen, who found his way into the national rankings at 125 pounds as a true freshman, competed for the first time at 133 pounds on Saturday. Jacobsen started on a roll, winning his first match 21-5 over Southwest Minnesota State's Chase Hanson followed by two decision victories before losing the next two. 

A full squad of 24 men's wrestlers, all but four listed on the roster, competed during Saturday's action. No team scores were kept, but Chadron State's nine placers were the third-most among 19 competing teams, trailing only Augustana with 14 and Northern State with 11. 

Chadron State will open its dual schedule this upcoming Saturday, November 15, taking on both Otero Junior College and Fort Hays State in Wray, Colorado.

Vollendroff Places, Lopez Impresses in WWR Opener

PROVIDENCE, Mont. – Brianna Vollendroff led the way with a fourth-place finish at 103 pounds as a limited contingent of 10 CSC women's wrestlers kicked off the 2025-26 season at the Battle of the Rockies Open, hosted by the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana on Saturday. 

Seven of the 10 wrestlers won multiple matches at the event, led by Adrianna Lopez (117 pounds) and Piper Cadden (131), who each went 3-2. Finishing 2-2 were Vollendroff (103), Rylee Balcazar (110), Angelina Cassioppi (124), Desza Munson (145) and Maria Arellano (160).

Cadden, a transfer from Fort Hays State who qualified for nationals at 131 last season, had an impressive Chadron State debut, advancing to the semifinals of a loaded 20-wrestler bracket. Seeded No. 4, Cadden won three consecutive matches by 10-0 tech fall before falling to the No. 1 seed in the semis and the No. 3 seed in the consolation semi. 

Another notable story was Lopez, a redshirt freshman from Colorado Springs, Colorado who made her competitive debut for the Eagles on Saturday. After being pinned in the first round, Lopez won three straight in the consolation bracket in three different ways – first by decision, then tech fall, then a pin. Lopez, who received a No. 26 seed, beat three higher-ranked opponents on her march through the bracket. 

Vollendroff also outperformed her No. 6 seed to place fourth, knocking off No. 3 seed Isabella Bocanegra in the first round via a 6-3 decision. After finding herself on both sides of a pin over her next two matches, Vollendroff faced No. 4 seed Zoey Haney of Indiana Tech in the 3rd/4th place match and fell 12-2. 

Also competing for the Eagles were Ana Rojas-Zamora at 124 pounds, Cosette Desrosiers at 180 pounds and Nevaeh Leonard at 138 pounds. It was Rojas-Zamora's return to the mat after the 2022-23 national qualifier redshirted last season, while Desrosiers (redshirt freshman) and Leonard (transfer from Southeast CC) were each making their Chadron State debuts. 

The Eagles open their home schedule and dual schedule with a nonconference bout against Dickinson State this upcoming Thursday in the Chicoine Center. 

Eagle XC 17th, 18th at Regionals

PUEBLO, Colo. – Both Chadron State cross country teams improved their regional finishes from last season as the men's team placed 17th while the women placed 18th at the NCAA Regional Championships held in Pueblo, Colorado on Saturday.

The 2025 performance comes after both programs finished 19th during the 2024 race. The men scored 484 team points for 17th among a field of 24 schools while the women scored 547 points in a race that featured 26 programs.

A pair of graduating Eagles – Queen Creek, Arizona redshirt senior Nate Mann and Sheridan, Wyoming senior Blaine Johnson – were CSC's top two finishers on the day. Mann ran the men's 10K in 32:25.3 to finish in 66th place among a total field of 164 racers, while Johnson was 10 places back in 76th with a time of 32:52.1.

A pair of freshmen were third and fourth across the line for the CSC men, with Kaden Boltz finishing 89th in 33:16.0 and Boady Hunter finishing 115th and crossing the line in 34:13.5. Chadron State's final senior, Miles Mitchell, rounded out the scoring five with a time of 35 minutes even to finish in 138th place. 

All five scoring runners for the Eagle men set personal bests at the championship distance. Mann and Johnson each set personal bests at the 10K distance, just two weeks after setting personal 8K bests at October's RMAC Championships. Mitchell beat his 2024 time by over two minutes while CSC's two first-years were each their first collegiate 10Ks.
 
The CSC men had some strong finishing kicks to lock in an improved placing. Between the 5K mark and the finish, Johnson improved eight places, Hunter improved 20 places and Mitchell improved four places to lift the Eagles from 19th in the team standings up to 17th. 

Adam Beard (35:31.4, 143rd) and Mizaiha Babers Webb (35:35.3, 145th) also competed for the Eagles on the men's side. 

Like they have all season long, McCook, Nebraska junior Samantha Rodewald and Sidney, Nebraska senior Lydia Peters led the Eagle women across the line. Rodewald cracked the top 100 of a 175-racer field, placing 94th after running the 6K race in 23:22.6. 

Peters finished in 102nd place, running the course in 23:36.4. Junior Katelyn Beshara was just behind in 23:48.4 to cross the line in 108th, setting a 6K career personal best
Sophomore Kyndall Carnahan (24:07.2, 117th) and junior Izabella Miller (24:33.1 (126th) rounded out the Eagles' scoring five. Ivy Hise also raced for the CSC women and placed 133rd with a time of 24:45.8, a personal best.

Adams State swept the team regional titles. The Grizzlies repeated on the women's side ahead of UCCS and Colorado School of Mines, while on the men's side, Adams State halted a Colorado School of Mines streak of six straight regional championships. The Orediggers still finished second to grab one of the three automatic qualifying sports, with Western Colorado in third.

The individual champions were Adams State's Tristian Spence on the women's side and New Mexico Highlands's Weldon Chebon on the men's side.

Chadron State's 2025 cross country season has now concluded. Many of the Eagle runners will turn their focus to distance races for CSC track. The indoor season is expected to start in early December with Chadron's annual home "Birds and the Bees" meet.