CHADRON, Neb. -- January 18, 2017 -- With both of the Chadron State and Chadron High basketball teams playing away from home on Friday and Saturday, wrestling will dominate the sports spotlight in Chadron this weekend.

The 32nd annual Chadron High Invitational Tournament will begin at 11 a.m. Friday in the Nelson Physical Activity Center at Chadron State College and continue until all the champions are crowned Saturday afternoon.

Following the high school sessions on Friday, the up and coming CSC wrestling team will host the Western State Mountaineers from Gunnison, Colo., at 7 p.m. at the same location. 

CSC's dual meet against Western is being promoted as Blackout Night. Fans are encouraged to wear black. It is the goal of the wrestling program to set a new CSC wrestling attendance record, therefore the first 100 students in attendance are to receive a free t-shirt.

Chadron State has not fared well while wrestling Western State in recent years.  The Eagles haven't defeated the Mountaineers in a dual since 2007.  Since the turn of the century, the Colorado team holds a 13-3-1 advantage.

CSC coach Brett Hunter said that while he's pleased with his team's progress, this year's dual will again test the Eagles.  He noted that Western State is always well-coached under Miles Van Hee, now in his 18th season as the head mat mentor, and has another strong lineup.

The Eagles are fresh from winning three of four duals last week.  Three of them were extremely close.  Wrestling at home Thursday night, CSC initially edged Colorado Mesa on criteria after the score was deadlock at 20-20. On Saturday during the Midwest Duals in Kearney, the Eagles nipped No. 12 Cal Baptist 21-20, was edged by No. 8 Central Oklahoma 20-18 before defeating No. 18 Fort Hays State 32-10.

The Eagles have a 4-1 dual record and are 3-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. 

Western State also participated in the Midwest Duals on Saturday and met two of the same teams the Eagles wrestled.  Central Oklahoma beat the Mountaineers 25-18 and Fort Hays State outscored them 24-15.  Western's win was over the University of Mary 34-9.