CHADRON – Things have been going well for the Chadron State College wrestling team so far in January but the Eagles are expecting major tests this weekend when they visit Colorado Mesa on Thursday and Western State on Friday for Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference duals.
 
The Eagles have won all seven of their duals this month and have a 9-3 dual record. Three of the wins have been over RMAC opponents, putting CSC at the top of the standings, but only a handful of conference tussles have taken place.
 
Colorado Mesa has a 7-2 dual record and has won its only RMAC match, a 40-12 verdict over Simon Fraser, a Canadian school that is in the conference for wrestling purposes. The Mavericks' losses have been to Northern Colorado 30-22 and the Air Force Academy 36-9.
 
CSC also lost to both the Bears (18-17) and the Falcons (28-6) in November.
 
Western State is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference. The Mountaineers have a 40-10 win over Simon Fraser, but lost to San Francisco State, which is also an affiliate RMAC member for wrestling, 24-12 on Saturday at the Midwest Duals in Kearney.
 
Chadron State downed the Gators 18-13, but three of the Eagles' six wins were by one point and another was by two points.
 
Western State upset No. 5 ranked Central Oklahoma 18-15 at the Midwest Duals.
 
Besides the loss to San Francisco, the Mountaineers were defeated by the Air Force Falcons 26-9.
 
Western State was ninth and Mesa 18th in the most-recent NCAA Division II rankings. The Eagles received votes, but did not crack the top 20. 
 
Mesa has one nationally-ranked wrestler: James Martinez, who is second at 149 pounds after finishing sixth at that weight class at last year's national tournament.
 
Two Western State wrestlers are ranked. Elliot Copeland is third at 174 pounds and Kyle Piatt is sixth at 184.
 
Copeland is the brother of Chadron State's highly-regarded freshman, Caleb Copeland, who also is a 174-pounder. CSC coach Brett Hunter said Monday he was unsure whether he would send Caleb to the mat against his older brother or use junior Dylan Fors at that weight Saturday night. 
 
Piatt and CSC's Jordan Debus, who is ranked sixth at 184, are longtime rivals. Debus beat Piatt twice during the 2011-12 season, but the Western State wrestler won when they dualed in Chadron a year ago.
 
Debus finished fifth while Piatt did not place at last year's national tourney.   
 
During the Eagles' winning streak, many of the team members have improved their seasonal records.  The team leaders include the only two seniors, Dustin Stodola, who is now 19-0 at 133 pounds, and Jordan Debus, who is 9-1 at 184. Both are nationally ranked.
 
Record for other CSC wrestlers by weight include:
125---Taylor Summers, 14-6; 141—Jay Stine 15-7; 149—Jacob Anderson 14-8; 157—C.J. Clark, 13-6; 165—Tyler Smart, 9-7; 174—Caleb Copeland, 11-8, and Dylan Fors, 9-6; 197—Devan Fors, 7-9; and 285—Michael Hill, 9-4.