CHADRON – This is a busy week for the Chadron State College wrestling team.
 
The Eagles have six duals scheduled, beginning Wednesday when they visit Colorado State-Pueblo. On Thursday at 7 p.m., CSC will host New Mexico Highlands in the Nelson Physical Activity Center. Admission is free for Thursday's dual in honor of Community Night. Then on Saturday, the Eagles will meet four teams in the Nebraska-Kearney Midwest Duals.
 
At Kearney, the Eagles will wrestle  Minot State of North Dakota at 9 a.m. (CST), San Francisco State at 11:30, Dakota Wesleyan at 2 p.m. and Newman University of Kanas at 5.
 
The dual with San Francisco as well as both of the matches earlier in the week will count in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings.
 
CSC coach Brett Hunter said the Eagles are anxious to compete again after having limited competition since hosting two duals in mid-December.
 
CSC also wrestled Morningside College in Valentine on Jan. 4, but only six of the Eagles had matches as the Mustangs forfeited the other four weight classes. Five Eagles also entered a tournament in Hastings last Saturday, but three of them are redshirting and will not compete again this season barring injuries to the varsity wrestler in their weight class.
 
The Eagles are 3-3 in duals this season. They lost their first three in November, including an 18-17 decision to Division I Northern Colorado, then handily defeated Dickinson State and Northern State in the December duals before topping Morningside in Valentine.
 
The two seniors on the Chadron State team, Dustin Stodola at 133 pounds and Jordan Debus at 184, are ranked fourth and seventh, respectively, in their weight classes in NCAA Division II. The Eagles also received votes for the team rankings in early January, but did not crack the top 20.
 
The same is true for Colorado State-Pueblo. And, the ThunderWolves' Niko Bogojevic is ranked seventh among the heavyweights.
 
Pueblo has a 2-2 dual record. Before the holidays, the Wolves defeated Wayland Baptist of Texas 35-4. Last weekend they went 1-2 in the Division II National Duals in Iowa, losing to St. Cloud State of Minnesota 33-6, beating Truman State of Missouri 20-16 and falling to Fort Hays State of Kansas 28-15.
 
Trevor Grant at 174 pounds was the only Pueblo entry to win all three of his matches at the National Duals, but several others won twice. Among them is 133-pounder Tim Urenda, whose sister, Angelique, is a freshman high jumper and pole vaulter on the CSC track and field team this spring.
 
The Highland wrestlers are 2-0 in dual competition, defeating Embry-Riddle of Arizona 29-12 and Wayland Baptist 32-18.
 
The Cowboys' leaders include sophomore Juan Alvarado, who was the amateur division champion at 157 pounds at the Nebraska-Kearney Open Tournament prior to Thanksgiving. In addition, Erick Rangel at 125 and heavyweight Cody Marquez placed second in the same division at the Kearney Tourney.    
 
Like Chadron State, Pueblo and Highlands are coached by former national champions. Highlands' Doug Moses was a national champ at Adams State in the late 1970s and Pueblo's Dax Charles won a title in 1992 while he was wrestling for Moses at what was then the University of Southern Colorado, now CSU-Pueblo. 
 
Hunter was a national champ at CSC in 2007 and 2009.
 
San Francisco State, which is in the RMAC for wrestling, is expected to be the strongest of the four teams the Eagles will meet at Kearney on Saturday, although Hunter said Dakota Wesleyan also has some highly-regarded individuals.
 
Two San Francisco wrestlers have earned RMAC Wrestler of the Week honors this season. They are Isaiah Hurtado, a 133-pounder who early in the season overwhelmed the defending PAC 12 Conference champion 14-3, and Dylan Philliby, who last month won five matches and placed fifth at 141 pounds at the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational Tournament in Las Vegas.
 
Philliby also was the National Wrestler of the Week after faring so well in Las Vegas.
 
"San Francisco often has a few individuals who place high at the national tournament," Hunter noted.  "This year, the word is that their lineup is stronger from top to bottom than usual. None of them are ranked because they are the only Division II team in California so the voters don't know much about them. This trip will give the coaches who cast the votes a chance to see how they stack up."