CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State earned the maximum five points in all five of its victories to emerge with a 26-22 dual victory over Dickinson State, the No. 19-ranked NAIA program, in CSC's dual opener and home opener Thursday night at the Chicoine Center. 

After a forfeit win for Brianna Vollendroff at 103 pounds, the Eagles received pins from Rylee Balcazar (110 pounds), Adrianna Lopez (117), Desza Munson (145) and Maria Arellano to rack up 25 points. While Dickinson State won five of the dual's 10 matches, the Blue Hawks earned less than the maximum in two of their victories, giving CSC a winning margin.

It is the first career dual win in his first attempt as a head coach for Sammy de Seriere and gets CSC off to a positive start after the Eagles were only 1-6 in duals a year ago, including 1-5 at the Chicoine Center.

The Eagles jumped out to a 15-0 lead. After Vollendroff won uncontested, Balcazar (ranked No. 9 in the NCAA national rankings) avenged a loss to Dickinson's Jenna Gerhardt (NAIA No. 10) from last Saturday's Battle of the Rockies Open, pinning Gerhart at 5:03 in the match. Balcazar was in control, leading 7-0 at the time of the pin.

Adrianna Lopez backed up her impressive run through the consolation bracket last Saturday with her first dual win as an Eagle. Lopez and her opponent, Mikayla Jardine, also battled for most of the maximum allotted time before the redshirt freshman earned the fall at 5:34.

Dickinson State got back in it with pins at 124 and 131 pounds. Dickinson's Jumoke Adekoye, the defending NAIA national champion at 131, moved up to 138 for Thursday's dual and made quick work of CSC's Nevaeh Leonard via a 10-0 tech fall in just 1:56. However, the non-pin gave the Blue Hawks only four points and put them behind the eight-ball, trailing 15-14 after six matches. 

Chadron State clinched the dual with two quick pins at 145 and 160. Munson, a redshirt freshman from Commerce City, Colorado, pinned her 145-pound opponent in 1:48 while Arellano, a redshirt junior from Fresno, California, got a pin in just 1:22 at 160 pounds to give CSC an insurmountable 25-14 advantage despite a Dickinson State pin at 180. 

The heavyweight bout between CSC's Estrella Vasquez Gutierrez and Dickinson State's Isabella Urias was the only one of the night to go the distance. Urias led 6-0 after one period but couldn't land a finishing move as both wrestlers tired in the second period. 

Urias prevailed via an 8-1 decision to give Dickinson its fifth match win, but the decision scoring gave three points to the Blue Hawks plus one point to Chadron State to arrive at the final margin of 26-22. 

Chadron State will head to Colby, Kansas to take part in the Dust Bowls Open hosted by Colby Community College this Saturday. A total of 13 Chadron State wrestlers are projected to attend, but that squad will not include any of CSC's three ranked wrestlers (Balcazar, Piper Cadden and Esther Peters).

Full dual results:
103: Brianna Vollendroff (CSC) wins by forfeit
110: Rylee Balcazar (CSC) def. Jenna Gerhardt, Fall 5:06
117: Adrianna Lopez (CSC) def. Mikayla Jardine, Fall 5:34
124: Birta McCaskill (DSU) def. Ana Rojas-Zamora, Fall 3:50
131: Makenzie Shaw (DSU) def. Maddox Gehlhausen, Fall 0:36
138: Jumoke Adekoye (DSU) def. Neveah Leonard, TF 10-0 1:56
245: Desza Munson (CSC) def. Paisley Jaeger, Fall 1:48
160: Maria Arellano (CSC) def. Olivia Anderson, Fall 1:22
180: Bridgette Price (DSU) def. Cosette Desrosiers, Fall 1:47
207: Isabella Urias (DSU) def. Estrella Vasquez Gutierrez, Dec 8-1