GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- December 2, 2017 -- The Chadron State College wrestling team got a win by first-period fall from Evan Smith at 125 pounds, and bonus points from Chance Karst and Jacob DeSersa, as it battled to a 20-20 tie at No. 21 Colorado Mesa University, which was settled in favor of the Eagles, according to tiebreaker criteria.

The win for CSC is the second against the Mavericks in as many seasons that the Eagles have counted as a win by tiebreaker. Last year's tie in Chadron, which was also recorded 20-20, also went down as a victory for Chadron State.

The deciding factor this year was total individual points in the match, which fell to CSC by a margin of 47-37.

A key for the Eagles was the first match, at 125 pounds. Evan Smith pinned CMU's Tim Romero in the first period to put CSC up 6-0. Karst's major decision at 133, and DeSersa's at 149, gave the Eagles a 14-3 advantage.

Johnny Porter's first win at 165, and Rulon Taylor's second consecutive victory, were enough to deadlock the match at 20 apiece.

Karst and DeSersa earned a combined 31 points in their major decisions to push the Eagles over the top in the tiebreaker.

"We had some guys step up that we didn't expect, and then we had some guys that need to work on finishing matches," said CSC Head Coach Brett Hunter. "It was definitely a total team effort to get the win tonight. Going into 125, I didn't think we were favored. Evan went after his guy from the start, took him down, got a turn, and pinned him. That started the dual off the right way. We got the lead, and then we hung on." 

Hunter singled out some other positive developments.

"Johnny Porter wrestled well," he said. "He's starting to get some confidence, which is important. Chance Karst is 'Mr. Consistent'. He's the same wrestler every time he goes out. He and Rulon, both went 2-0, so it's good to get that from those guys."

Adrian Cisneros, Josh Miller, Chase Clasen, and Caleb Haskell will wrestle, along with several unattached wrestlers, as the team remains in Grand Junction on Sunday for an open tournament at Colorado Mesa.

Individual Results:
125 - Evan Smith (CSC) pins Tim Romero, 1:53
133 - Chance Karst (CSC) maj dec Dylan Keeney, 16-2
141 - Will Moss (CMU) dec Brock Thumm, 4-3
149 - Jacob DeSarsa (CSC) maj dec Luke Au-Yeung, 15-2
157 - John Daniel (CMU) dec Jacob Otuafi, 6-3
165 - Johnny Porter (CSC) dec Trent Armintrout, 5-2
174 - Bruno Nicoletti (CMU) dec Heber Shepherd, 5-0
184 - Adam Visconti (CMU) tech fall Devin Stork, 16-0
197 - Aaron Dick (CMU) wins by forfeit
285 - Rulon Taylor (CSC) dec Brandon Closson, 5-0
**Chadron State wins on criteria of more total match points 47-37**