CHADRON, Neb. - The Chadron State College men's wrestling team will open its 2025-26 season at the Dakota Wesleyan University Open Tournament in Mitchell, S.D., on Saturday, November 8.
The Eagles entered the tournament for the first time last season and won 70 percent of their matches. Ten CSC wrestlers finished among the top six in their weight classes.
Nearly all of the four-year schools and a number of community colleges in the Midwest as well as several Minnesota and North Dakota teams are expected to compete this year. Hunter said both Nebraska-Kearney and Augustana University, the teams that finished first and second, respectively, at last year's NCAA Division II National Tournament, are entered.
Hunter expects his team to be competitive. Seven seniors and eight juniors along with several promising newcomers are on the roster.
The Eagles' leader is Keegan Gehlhausen, a senior from Pinedale, Wyo., who was the 184-pound runner-up at last year's national tourney and finished the season with a 22-3 record. Gehlhausen will enter the 2025-26 season as the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the nation at 184 pounds according to both the NWCA Coaches Poll and The Open Mat's national rankings.
This year's Chadron State line-up at Mitchell will also include Quade Smith, a senior from Layton, Utah, who had been the Eagles' primary 125-pound grappler for three years before redshirting last year but is back in the lineup at 125 pounds. Smith is ranked No. 14 in the country at 125 by the NWCA and No. 18 by The Open Mat.
Chadron State's replacement at 125 pounds last year was freshman Hunter Jacobsen of Waverly, Neb. He finished the campaign with a 17-9 record and is now among the team's 133-pound candidates.
Others who won more than half their matches last year while filling varsity berths include Cyrus Wells of Broken Bow at 141 pounds, Brandon Paredes of Tucson, Ariz., at 157, Logan Berger of Hartsville, S.D., at 174 and Mason Villwok of Elkhorn at 197.
Villwok competed at heavyweight much of last season before moving down to 197 pounds and winning eight of his 10 matches at that weight. Villwok earned a No. 20 national ranking from The Open Mat at 197 pounds.
The Eagles have added two graduate students who are expected to give the team a boost after they both qualified for the national tournament last year while competing for the Gannon University Golden Knights of Erie, Pennsylvania. They are Caleb Chaves, who will compete at 141 pounds, and Eli Reese, who will slot in at heavyweight. Chaves is the No. 14-ranked 141-pounder in Division II according to the NWCA.
Following this week's tournament, the Eagles will dual Otero Junior College of Colorado and Fort Hays State of Kansas at a neutral site, Wray, Colo., on Saturday, Nov. 15 and then enter the massive Nebraska-Kearney Open on Nov. 22.
The Eagles won't compete at home until January, when they will dual four Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams.
