By John Murphy CSC SID
Chadron State College is sending two men to the NCAA DII Wrestling Championships in Wichita, Kansas, on March 15 and 16 after top 3 finishes at the at the NCAA DII Super Regional VI Tournament Saturday in Pueblo, CO.
Quen Campbell claimed the title at 133 pounds for the second consecutive season and Ethan Leake placed second at 141 pounds.
As always at regional tournaments, some experience success but many individuals experience heartbreak. Chadron State had its fair share of both sides on Saturday.
Every CSC wrestler who competed found a spot on the podium, leading Chadron State to a second-place finish in the team standings with 109.5 points, setting a new program high at the regional tournament for placing. Nebraska-Kearney was first with 143.5 points.
For the second consecutive year, Quen Campbell went undefeated on way to winning the region championship.
Campbell, a senior from Tifton, Georgia, started his day with two tech falls on way to finishing 4-0. In round one, he was victorious over Tyler Hamm from CSU-Pueblo, winning 22-6 in 3:43. Julius Kohn from New Mexico Highlands received a bye before losing 18-3 in 7:00 minutes to Campbell in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, #2 Campbell only needed 1:08 before pinning Patrick Allis of Western Colorado and guaranteeing himself a trip to the NCAA Championships.
The job was finished thought as Campbell still had a matchup with Oran Huff of Colorado Mesa in the regional championship. After no scoring in the first period, Huff earned a escape after he chose bottom. Once neutral, Campbel ended the period with a takedown and two nearfall points. The region champion added six more takedown points and one escape point to win 13-2.
After qualifying in 2022 but finishing fourth in 2023, Ethan Leake booked himself a ticket to the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish at 141 pounds.
Leake, a graduate student from Clovis, California, started his day with a bye in round one. In the quarterfinals, he earned a pin in 3:54 over Jacob McCarley of Western Colorado.
A matchup against #12 Angel Flores of Adams State was waiting for #11 Leake in the semifinals. With four seconds left in the third period, Flores scored an escape to force overtime. Scoring was halted in overtime until Leake scored a late escape with 10 seconds left to earn the SV-1 7-4 victory.
Even though he is still qualifying for nationals, heartbreak occurred for Leake against Nick James of Nebraska Kearney in the championship match. After 1:15 in the first period, Leake was unable to continue the match due to injury, placing him second.
A total of four Eagles wrestled in third place matches, often known as the heartbreak round. If you win, you earn yourself a trip to the NCAA Championships. If you lose, your season is over. All four of the Eagles were on the lesser end of the situation.
At 125 pounds, Quade Smith suffered an 8-4 decision to Dayson Torgerson of Colorado Mesa to finish in fourth place.
#10 Smith, a junior from Layton, Utah, received a first round by before having a 3-1 decision over Christian Lopez of Colorado School of Mines in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Smith suffered a defeat to #9 Isaiah Gamez, who pinned him in 6:00.
In the consolation semis, Smith pinned Rhys Sellers of New Mexico Highlands in 4:50 before falling to Torgerson.
Torry Early, a senior from Oak Park, Illinois, was the second CSC wrestler to finish in fourth place.
At 149 pounds, Early defeated John Burger of Nebraska Kearney in the quarterfinals with a 3-1 decision. #12 Cody Thompson of Colorado School of Mines handed Early his first loss of the day, defeating him 7-3 in the semifinals.
Early needed extra time but was victorious in the consolation semifinals with a SV-1 4-1 victory over Juan Garcia of Colorado Mesa. The victory earned him another matchup against Burger for a trip to nationals on the line.
In the third-place match, Early was trailing 5-2 in the third period when refs ruled him for “intentional misconduct”, disqualifying Early from the match.
After wrestling at 174 pounds all season, Logan Berger successfully dropped to 164 pounds in preparation for the regional tournament.
Berger, a sophomore from Hartsville, South Carolina, defeated Kaden Hart of Nebraska-Kearney with an 8-5 decision in round one. In the quarterfinals, Tristin David of Colorado School of Mines was victorious with a 13-6 decision over Berger.
In his first consolation match, Tanner Baumgartner suffered an 8-15 defeat to Berger. The South Carolina native booked his ticket to the heartbreak round with a 12-5 decision over Walker Heckendorf of Western Colorado.
Like Early, Berger had to have a rematch with an opponent from Nebraska-Kearney that he previously defeated. This time, Hart earned a 17-2 tech fall in 5:47 over Berger to end his season.
Despite joining the team a few short weeks ago, Reese Jacobs advanced to the third-place match at 197 pounds.
Jacobs, a freshman from Sturgis, South Dakota, was a 3X state champion in high school and recorded 22 tackles for Chadron State football this year.
His day on Saturday began with a first round bye, giving him a matchup with Gabe Carranza of Colorado Mesa in the quarterfinals. Jacobs suffered a 12-4 major decision in the match, sending him to the consolation bracket.
Jacobs defeated Sage Harrison of Western Colorado with a 12-4 major decision before pinning Ryan Cody of Colorado School of Mines in 1:35 to advance to the third-place match. Jacobs faced another bout with Carranza in the match, in which Carranza won 11-4.
Hunter Gilmore and Mason Watt both placed fifth at 157 and 285 pounds, respectively.
Gilmore, a redshirt sophomore from Arlington, Nebraska, earned an 8-1 decision over Nicholas Stoltenberg of Nebraska-Kearney in round one. In the quarterfinals, Gilmore was defeated 6-3 by Jakob Smith of Colorado School of Mines.
After receiving a bye in the consolation bracket, Gilmore earned an 18-0 tech fall in 6:36 against Hunter Harris of Fort Hays State. In the consolation semifinals, Gilmore suffered a 16-2 major decision to Basil Othman of San Francisco State, ending his chances of qualifying for the national tournament.
In his fifth-place match, Gilmore was defeated by Nico Carrasco of Adamas State, 10-7.
#6 Watt, a graduate student from Broomfield, Colroado, began his day with a pin in 2:04 over Jayden Johnson of New Mexico Highlands. In the quarterfinals, Laith Ibrahim of Colorado School of Mines scored a first period takedown to take a 3-0 lead. Watt escapted with :07 seconds left in the first period.
Trailing 3-1, Watt began the second period on bottom and was able to make the score 3-2 with another escape. A second stalling warning on Ibrahim with :50 seconds left in the third period tied the match at three and forced overtime.
With 13 seconds left in the overtime period, Ibrahim scored a takedown to win 6-3.
Watt won his first consolation match with a fall in 2:56 over Henry Sturn of CSU-Pueblo. The returning national qualifier immediately scored another pin in 1:14 over Anthony Caldwell of Fort Hays to keep his chances of returning alive.
A matchup against Taniela Feliciano-Takaf of Simon Fraser was next for Watt. Trailing 4-3 in the third perioud, Watt suffered an injury that forced him to discontinue the match.
The Eagles last wrestler in action was Keegan Gehlhausen at 184 pounds. Gehlhausen, a sophomore from Pinedale, Wyoming, finished the tournament in fifth place.
After a first round bye, Gehlhausen was defeated 12-4 by Mason Diel of Colorado School of Mines.
Gehlhausen began his journey in the consolation bracket with a pin in 3:14 over Matthew Rodriguez of Fort Hays State. Soon after, he was victorious with an 11-1 major decision over Kweli Hernandez-Maitr of San Francisco State.
Gehlhausen’s chances of a return trip to the national tournament were ruined when he was pinned by Jason Bynarowicz of Colorado Mesa in 3:53.
Despite the defeat, Gehlhausen earned a fifth-place finish with a pin in 4:56, redeeming his loss to Diel.