Eagles notes: Chadron State excels at home meet, Mines Classic
CHADRON, Neb. – Numerous Chadron State College athletes excelled over the weekend in multiple places, with a few competing at the Mines Winter Classic in Golden, Colorado and most competing at the Don Holst Open Meet, which was hosted by Chadron State on Saturday at the Nelson Physical Activity Center.
Among them was Esosa Iyengunmwena, the senior from Nigeria who won both the 60- and 200-meter dashes to help the Eagles earn the men's team title. It marked the third consecutive meet in January that Iyengunmwena won the 60 meter, doing so in a season best time of 6.90 seconds
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Chadron State also won both the men's and women's mile. Junior Wyatt Bly from Pine, Colo., ran away with the men's event in 4 minutes and 24.02 seconds for his career best and earned a place among the top 12 on the CSC indoor mile list. Lydia Peters, a senior from Sidney, Neb., won the women's mile with her career-best mark of 5:22.48.
Freshman Paige Kehmeier of Delta, Colo., was first in the 400 meters in 1:01.13, some 2 ½ seconds ahead of the runner-up.
The Eagles also won both of the women's throwing events. Sophomore Shelby Ekwall of Yoder, Wyo., was first in the shot put at the fourth consecutive meet this season with a mark of 42-4 ½, while junior Sydney Alles of West Valley, Utah, earned her first career collegiate meet win when she launched a career-best of 49-6 ½ to capture the 20-pound weight throw that had a dozen contenders.
While South Dakota Mines entries won both of the men's throws, three Eagles—Casey Miller, Quade Jordan and Caleb Christensen—placed in both events to help their team compile the 137 points while Black Hills State had 110 and Mines 101.
Five Black Hills State men won events, including sophomore Drew Leahman, who broke the meet's triple jump record by going 15.26 meters, or 50 feet, three-quarters of an inch. The previous Holst Meet record of 49-7 was set by Marty Molina of Nebraska-Kearney in 2010. Molina's mark also was the CSC facility record until it was broken late last season by the Eagles' Chayton Bynes, when he triple jumped 50-8 during a Last Chance Meet in the Nelson Physical Activity Center.
The Yellow Jackets won the women's team title with 171 points while the Eagles were the runner-up with 113. One of the Black Hills standouts was Avery Marler, who won the 60-meter dash and the long jump to join the Eagles' Iyengunmwena as a double ever winner.
Additionally, a small contingent of CSC athletes competed in Golden, Colorado at the Mines Winter Classic. Camila Salvucci earned an event win in the women's triple jump, leaping 11.90 meters (39 feet, 5 inches) while Gage Brooks placed third on the men's side with a leap of 14.30 meters (46-11).
The Eagles also sent multi athletes to Golden. Courtney Williams placed second overall in the heptathlon, but was a standout throughout, finishing first in four of the seven events. Williams won the heptathlon editions of the 60 meters in 6.94 seconds, the long jump at 6.74 meters (22 feet, 1 1/2 inches), the shot put at 12.26 meters (40 feet, 2 3/4 inches) and the 60 hurdles in 8.31 seconds.
In the women's pentathlon, Brenna Fackrell placed sixth while Kailey Klein placed eighth.
Below are the compete top six results for the Don Holst Open meet held at CSC:
Women's Team Standings—1. Black Hills State, 171; 2, Chadron State, 113; 3, South Dakota Mines, 36.
60—1, Avery Marler, BHSU, 7,82; 2, Wongel Molla, CSC, 8.01; 3, Alessandra Broussard, BHSU, 8.21; 4, Taylor Bright, unat, 8.30; 5, Laynie Goertz, CSC, 8.35; 6, Hannah Rathmann, CSC, 8.42.
200—1, Saraya Afrank, BHSU, 26.81; 2, Gracie Wilts, BHSU, 27.70; 3, Hannah Rathmann, CSC, 27.75; 4, Alexa Colman, BHSU, 28.38; 5, Kaelyn Knudson, unat, 28.48; 6, Taylor Bright, Unat, 28.58.
400—1, Paige Kehmeier, CSC, 1:01.13; 2, Kaelyn Knudson, unat, 1:03.55; 3, Addisyn Gruver, unat, 1:04.03; 4, Kiera Schra, unat, 1:05.95.
800—1, Jillian Brennan, BHSU, 2:28.48; 2, Madison Zander, BHSU, 2:29.40; 3, Jayda Rahming, CSC, 2:31.76; 4, Zelma Rudd, CSC, 2:33.64; 5, Taylor Peterson, SDM, 2:46.08; 6, Emily Novak, SDM, 2:50.23.
Mile—1, Lydia Peters, CSC, 5:22.48; 2, Rhys Pearson, unat, 5:22.54; 3, Kyndall Carnahan, CSC, 5:33.48; 4, Izabella Miller, CSC, 5:43.78; 5, Kat Tvrdy. SDM, 5:44.88; 6, Jacey Wipf, BHSU, 5:55.53.
60 hurdles—1, Alessandra Broussard, BHSU, 9.65; 2, Madyson Wolfe, BHSU, 9,67; 3, Lauryn Bennett, BHSU, 10.00; 4, Emily Hubmer, SDM, 10.25; 5, Shelbi Hazlett, CSC, 10.61.
Shot put—1, Shelby Ekwall, CSC, 42-5 ½; 2, Adisyn Schenck, SDM, 40-3 ½; 3, Hanah Sullivan, BHSU, 40-3 ¼; 4, Kristie Jordan, CSC, 39-8; 5, Ashlyn Tapio, CSC, 37-1 ¾; 6, Cassidy Goddard, BHSU, 36-7.
Weight throw—1, Sydney Alles, CSC, 49-6 ½; 2, Cassidy Goddard, BHSU, 48-10; 3, Hanah Sullivan, BHSU, 48-6 ¾; 4, Ashlyn Tapio, CSC, 46-4 ¾; 5, Shelby Ekwall, CSC, 45-5 ¾; 6, Josie Bryne, SDM, 49-1 ¾.
Long jump—1, Avery Marler, BHSU, 17-10 ¼; 2, Addisyn Gruver, unat, 17-9; 3, Saraya Afrank, BHSU,17-0 ¾; 4, Adlyn Eng, BHSU, 16-5 ¼; 5, Kiera Schra, unat, 16-5 ¼; 6, Emily Novak, SDM, 15-3 ¾.
Triple jump—1, Kallynn Dukat, unat, 34-7; 2, Kamryn Stauffacher, unat, 31-10.
High jump—1, Gracie Wilts, BHSU, 5-1; 2, Ava Fessler, unat, 5-1; 2, Autumn Traversie, unat, 4-11; 4, Kiera Schra, unat, 4-11; 5, Erin Weibel, BHSU, 4-5.
Pole vault—1, Gretchen Adamski, BHSU, 12-1 ½; 2, Reese Nida, unatt, 11-7 ¾; 3, Brekkan Lockhart, BHSU, 10-8; 4, Lauryn Bennett, BHSU, 10-8; 5, Hope Bryant, BHSU, 10-8.
Men's Team Standings—1, Chadron State, 137; 2, Black Hills State, 110; 3, South Dakota Mines, 101.
60—1, Esosa Iyengunmwena, CSC, 6.90; 2-3 tie, Augustin Chiang, CSC, and Jace Johnson, unat, 7.02; 4, Kevin Day, CSC, 7.11; 5, Kaiden Davis, unat, 7.14; 6, Nolan Long, Unat, 7.21.
200—1, Esosa Iyengunmwena, CSC, 22.55; 2, Kaiden Davis, unat, 23.31; 3, Augustin Chaing, CSC, 23.37; 4, Kevin Day, CSC, 23.40; 5, Ashley Williams, BHSU, 24.17; 6, Nolan Long, unat, 24.17.
400—1, Flynn Johnson, BHSU, 50.83; 2, David West, CSC, 53.02; 3, Emmanel Wani, CSC, 53.41; 4, Eric Morrow, unat, 54.28; 5, Shae Fiala, SDM, 56.0; 6, Logan Boyd, BHSU, 56.30.
800—1, Zach Hentschel, SDM, 2:00.85; 2, Eelan Nevel, SDM, 2:01.66; 3, Blaine Johnson, CSC, 2:05.69; 4, Nolan Bofenkamp, SDM, 2:06.14; 5, Ronan Lander, SDM, 2:08.10; 6, Carmelo Ayala, CSC, 2:13.64.
Mile—1, Wyatt Bly, CSC, 4:24.02; 2, Joran Lamoreaux, SDM, 4:28.33; 3, Dominic Everle, BHSU, 4:28.73; 4, Casey Nauta, unat, 4:29.93; 5, Nate Mann, CSC, 4:31.92; 6, Blaine Johnson, CSC, 4:33.16.
4X400 relay—1, Chadron State (David West, Thomas Jackson, Alusine Samura, Carmelo Ayala), 3:56.48.
Shot put—1, Cooper Stevens, SDM, 48-8; 2, Casey Miller, CSC, 47-11 ¼; 3, Quade Jordan, CSC, 47-2 ½; 4, Agustus Fink, SDM, 45-7 ¾; 5, Tavion Leatherdale, CSC, 44-2 ½; 6, Caleb Christensen, CSC, 42-11.
Weight Throw—1, Agustus Frink, SDM, 59-3; 2, Ryan Baker, BHSU, 55-5; 3, Isaiah Thurman, SDM, 53-3 ¾; 4, Caleb Christensen, CSC, 48-11 ½; 5, Quade Jordan, CSC, 48-7 ¼; 6, Casey Miller, CSC, 47-11 ¾.
Long jump—1, Seth Wilson, BHSU, 22-2 ¼; 2, Bridger Anderson, BHSU, 21-8 ¼; 3, Javin Walker, BHSU, 20-5 ¾; 4, Evan Rehner, SDM, 18-11 ¾; 5. Alex Stoeckmann, SDM, 18-11 ¼; 6, Dylan Regan, SDM, 18-1 ¾.
Triple jump—1, Drew Lehman, BHSU, 50- ¾ (meet record); 2, Javin Walker, BHSU, 40-10 ½.
High jump—1, Trennan Pearson, BHSU, 6- ¾; 2, Dylan Regan, SDM, 5-10 ¾; 3, Alex Stoeckman, SDM, 5-10 ¾; 4, Evan Rehner, SCM, 5-7.
Pole vault—1-2, Chase Maher, BHSU, and McKalester Johns, BHSU, 15-1; 4, Ethan Norris, CSC, 12-1 ½.
Vollendroff Wins RMAC Title, Eagles 5th
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Brianna Vollendroff became the first RMAC champion in Chadron State women's wrestling history, taking the 103-pound crown to lead four podium finishers and nine placers for the Eagles at the RMAC Women's Wrestling Championships on Saturday.
Vollendroff is the first conference champion for CSC since the RMAC began holding a women's wrestling conference tournament in 2024. The Eagles had recorded five second-place finishes across the first two years of the event prior to Vollendroff's win.
Rylee Balcazar added to CSC's second-place tally with a nail-biting 7-7 criteria loss to Colorado Mesa's Adriana Gomez in the 110-pound final. Piper Cadden (131 pounds) and Esther Peters (207 pounds) each finished third at their respective weights.
The Eagles had two fourth-place finishers (Adrianna Lopez at 117 pounds and Meredith Nash at 138 pounds), a fifth-place finisher (Ana Rojas-Zamora, 124) and two sixth-place finishers (Shania Wear, 117 and Eliza Davis, 145).
Also suiting up for the Eagles on Saturday were Maddox Gehlhausen at 124, Hattie Baldwin at 145 and Cosette Desrosiers and Sicily Frates at 180.
Vollendroff took home the title in dominant fashion, pinning Simon Fraser's Unya Hollmayer in 3:42 in the semifinal and handling Adams State's Mia Siqueiros 10-4 in the title bout.
Vollendroff jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Siqueiros came back to tie the score 4-4 at the end of the first period. The wrestlers stayed deadlocked for nearly two minutes in the final frame before Vollendroff earned a two-point takedown with 1:09 to go to move into the lead, then added on with 16 seconds left and two seconds left, scoring the final six points.
The Eagles nearly had back-to-back champs with Balcazar up in the 110-pound final against the top seed Gomez. Balcazar earned an initial point on a push-out, then connected on a few shots to take a 7-2 lead and was on top 7-4 at the intermission.
Gomez rallied, earning a pushout early in the second period and finding the match-tying takedown with 1:51 left. Several scrambles followed, but no points were awarded the rest of the way and Gomez earned the 7-7 win and the championship due to scoring the most recent points.
Cadden and Peters each had to navigate through a gauntlet to emerge with their third-place finishes. Cadden navigated the largest bracket of the tournament but finished 3-1, defeating Colorado Mesa's Brooke McCurley in both the quarterfinal and the third-place match. Cadden was pinned in the semi's by Simon Fraser's Agnia Krakovska, but rebounded to beat Adams State's Hallie Carter 10-0 and McCully 8-4.
Peters was part of a stacked 207-pound bracket that featured four wrestlers in the national Top 10 of The Open Mat rankings – No. 7 Jayleen Sekona of Colorado Mesa, No. 8 Julia Richey of Simon Fraser, No. 9 Peters and No. 10 Kitana Leafaatoto of Texas Woman's.
The sophomore, who lost in the championship of the event to Richey a season ago as a true freshman, met her Simon Fraser nemesis again in the semifinals this time, with Richey earning a pin. Peters bounced back in the third-place match, defeating Leafaatoto for the third time this season, this time by a 4-2 decision.
Simon Fraser, which won its third straight regular-season RMAC title based on its dual performances, won the league's tournament title for the first time, taking that crown away from Colorado Mesa. The Red Leafs finished with 309.5 points, well ahead of second-place CMU at 247.
The other three teams were neck-and-neck. Adams State placed third with 147 team points and Texas Woman's was fourth with 131 points, just one point ahead of Chadron State at 130.
The Eagles were one of only three programs with a champion at this year's tournament. Simon Fraser won six of the 10 weight classes (124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180) while Colorado Mesa took three (110, 117, 207) alongside CSC's win at 103.
Chadron State's four podium finishers were equal to Adams State and one more than Texas Woman's, but the Grizzlies and Pioneers were able to get enough early-round wins from their depth to surpass the Eagles in the team standings.
The Eagles also got a huge off-mat win – even if expected – when senior Shania Wear earned the RMAC Summit Award for having the league's top GPA for the third consecutive year. To read more about Wear's Summit Award honor, click here.
The Eagles have two more duals – against Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction on February 7 and at home vs. Fort Hays Tech Northwest for Senior Night on February 11 – before the NCAA regional championships on February 21-22.
Eagles Suffer First RMAC Loss to Adams State
CHADRON, Neb. - Chadron State won the last three matches, including a ranked major decision win for Mason Villwok, but ultimately ended their home dual schedule with a 22-10 loss to Adams State on Saturday afternoon at the Chicoine Center.
The Eagles took their first RMAC loss of the season, ending 5-2 overall and 3-1 in conference. The Grizzlies will add another win to their record of 7-1 overall and 3-1 in conference.
Chadron State received wins from Keegan Gehlhausen (184 pounds), Mason Villwok (197 pounds) and Eli Reese (285 pounds), but Adams State won the first seven matches, taking a 22-0 lead and securing their win early.
Villwok, ranked No. 20 by The Open Mat, had the highest score of the dual, ending 16-4, against ASU's No. 19 Ben Tonnessen. Villwok was close to a pin before time ran out in the second period. He ultimately made four takedowns in the match.
No. 4 ranked Gehlhausen had a comfortable 7-0 win against Adams State's Mahkyi Smith. Reese had a close finish of 2-0, defeating ASU's Jaylen Ignacio. Reese earned an escape point in the second period and spent the entire third period on top to earn the riding time point.
Despite the last three CSC wrestlers coming out on top, the Eagles struggled for a win in the beginning of the dual. The dual's highlight was the 125-pound match between CSC's No. 4 Quade Smith against ASU's No. 2 Isaiah Gamez. The top five showdown resulted in Gamez winning 7-1, giving the Grizzlies momentum to win the next six matches after that.
Two of the matches went to overtime. At 165 pounds, ASU's Malachi Rider won in sudden victory over Tayten Gillette after the two wrestlers were tied 1-1 after three periods. At 141 pounds, CSC's No. 14 Caleb Chaves went all the way to tie-breakers with Adams State's Kieran Thompson. They were even until the third period of overtime, in which Thompson was able to prevent Chaves from escaping.
Chadron State will travel to Gunnison, Colorado on Feb. 5 to face off against Western Colorado.
Dual Results:
125: #2/2 Isaiah Gamez (ASU) def. #4/5 Quade Smith, Dec. 7-1
133: Jakob Romero (ASU) def. Hunter Jacobsen, Dec. 5-2
141: NR/#16 Kieran Thompson (ASU) def. #14/14 Caleb Chaves, TB-1 3-2
149: Angel Flores (ASU) def. Aidan Callahan, MD 14-4
157: #3/3 Aaden Valdez (ASU) def. Brandon Paredes, Dec. 5-0
165: Malachi Rider (ASU) def. Tayten Gillette, SV-1 4-1
174: Levi Deaguero (ASU) def. Logan Berger, Dec. 6-5
184: #4/2 Keegan Gehlhausen (CSC) def. Mahkyi Smith, Dec. 7-0
197: NR/#20 Mason Villwok def. NR/#19 Ben Tonnessen, MD 16-4
285: Eli Reese (CSC) def. Jaylen Ignacio, Dec. 2-0
Eagles Rally to Tie, Then Walked Off
CONROE, Tex. – Chadron State mounted a seventh-inning comeback against St. Mary's, but the Rattlers recovered to walk it off in the bottom half of the inning and emerge with a 3-2 victory over the Eagles on Saturday.
Trailing 2-0 after six innings, the Eagles scored twice in their final at-bat as Payton Sullivan's two-out RBI single knotted the score at 2-2, but St. Mary's led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and eventually won the game on a walk-off fielder's choice.
Freshman Brynn Trujillo made her first collegiate start and kept the Eagles in the game with a strong start. The Commerce City, Colorado native pitched 6.1 innings and allowed just two earned runs (three total) on five hits with five strikeouts and four walks. Trujillo threw 107 pitches.
Chadron State finished the game with seven hits, marking the first time in the young season that CSC outhit its opponent. Elizabeth Thorngren finished 2-for-3 on the day and was the only Eagle with multiple hits.
Neither team scored through three innings before St. Mary's scored twice in the fourth. With one out, Emily Ayala walked for the Rattlers and scored on a triple by Iliana Melendez. Neveah Hallmark followed with a bunt angle to score Melendez, but Trujillo wriggled out of the inning without further damage.
The score stayed 2-0 until the seventh. Freshman Amber Boland led off with an opposite-field single and was replaced by pinch-runner Elia DeLozier, who advanced to second on a groundout and to third on a Thorngren single.
A wild pitch scored DeLozier and moved Thorngren to second, making the score 2-1, and Thorngren tagged up on a flyout by Charley Pitrat to get the tying run 90 feet away with two outs. On a 2-0 count, Payton Sullivan came through with a single through the left side to tie the score and force a bottom of the seventh inning.
With Trujillo still in the game, the Rattlers got a lead-off single and a one-out walk to put two runners on. A key passed ball moved the runners up 90 feet and took away the conventional double-play opportunity. Trujillo got a ground ball from Raegan Tennill to second base, but pinch-runner Peyton Miers broke for home and beat the throw to give St. Mary's a walk-off win.
