The Chadron State College men’s wrestling team improved its dual record to 7-6 on Saturday by overwhelming Colorado State-Pueblo 31-9 at Pueblo.
While several of the matches were close, the Eagles won seven of the eight that took place. Both teams gave up one forfeit and the ThunderWolves earned one decision. Coach Brett Hunter had only a terse comment afterwards: “We wrestled very well.”
Two CSC entries earned bonus points.
Sophomore Quade Smith opened the dual by pinning his 125-pound opponent midway through the third period. He was ahead 11-0 when the referee slapped the mat. Smith is now 15-5 for the season.
Redshirt freshman Keegan Gehlhausen posted a 9-1 major decision at 184 pounds to improve his record to 12-7.
The Eagles other winners, all by decisions, were Quen Campbell at 133 pounds, Brandon Paredes at 149, Brody Lamb at 157, Preston Renner at 165 and Rowdy Pfeil at 174.
Paredes won by a 3-2, score. He had the match’s only takedown in the first quarter, and gave up a pair of escapes before getting his own escape in the third period for the winning point.
Pfeil won by a 3-0 score. He managed an escape, his foe was assessed a penalty point and Pfeil earned another point for riding time.
Campbell is now 12-1, Parades is 14-7, Lamb is 3-0, Renner is 6-1 and Pfeil is 8-9.
Both Lamb and Renner were rehabilitating from injuries the first semester before returning to action in January and have given the Eagles a big boost in the middle weights.
Another of CSC’s stalwarts, 141-pounder Ethan Leake, received a forfeit at 141 pounds at Pueblo to raise his record to 14-5.
Senior heavyweight Mason Watt was on the trip, but “is a little banged up,” in Coach Hunter’s words. So, after the Eagles had built a big lead, it was decided to keep him off the mat and give up a forfeit in what would have been the dual’s final match.
Watt has a 12-3 record this season and is 61-28 overall as he enters the final stages of his career.
Next for the Eagles will be a dual at Colorado School of Mines in Golden on Feb. 9.
The results at Pueblo:
125—Quade Smith, CSC, pinned Dominick Castro, 6:02.
133—Quen Campbell, CSC, dec. Marquis Kemp, 6-2.
141—Ethan Leake, CSC, won by forfeit.
149—Brandon Parades, CSC, dec. Conor Goucher, 3-2.
157—Brody Lamb, CSC, dec. Cyruss Meeks, 7-2.
165—Preston Renner, CSC, dec. Elijah Valdex, 6-3.
174—Rowdy Pfeil, CSC, dec. Tytus Combs, 3-0.
184—Keegan Gehlhausen, CSC, major dec. Cameron Nesbitt, 9-1.
197—Donn Greer, CSU-P, dec. Bryan Zutavern, 7-1.
Hwt—Ben Gould, CSU-P, won by forfeit.