CHADRON, Neb. – The Chadron State men's wrestling program is set to go mano a mano with Nebraska Kearney, the defending national champions and No. 1-ranked team in the country, in a Friday night dual in Kearney. 

The Eagles, ranked No. 25 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and No. 24 in The Open Mat's team dual rankings, are 2-0 in duals with shutout wins over Otero Junior College (54-0) and Fort Hays State (40-0). 

CSC has not defeated UNK in seven dual matchups since 2013. The two schools matched up for five consecutive seasons from 2019-20 to 2023-24 but did not wrestle in a dual format last season. 

The Eagles came within one point of beating the Lopers in 2015, falling 19-18, but the Kearney school has won by 10 or more points every other time. All 10 wrestlers in UNK's projected dual starting lineup are nationally ranked by the NWCA, The Open Mat, or both.

The dual is set for 6:30 p.m. MT (7:30 p.m. local/CT). The matchup will take place at Kearney High School, a venue change necessitated by UNK's volleyball program hosting NCAA Tournament regionals in the Lopers' gym. 

A live stream is scheduled to be available on Kearney High School's Striv.tv channel while live results are available on Trackwrestling. 

Looking Back
Before taking Thanksgiving weekend off, Chadron State last competed on November 22 at the UNK Open, which featured 30 brackets (10 weight classes in three divisions – "Elite," "Intermediate" and "Amateur."

RECAP: Callahan, McDermott Place at UNK Open

Freshman Aidan Callahan stole headlines with a win in the 149-pound bracket Amateur division, going 5-0 on the day. After a first-round bye, Callahan tech falled Barton's Brennen Pfannenstiel 18-2 in the second round and escaped with a third-round 5-4 decision win over Western Wyoming College's Tommy Dalton. 


From there, Callahan was dominant, racking up major decision wins in each of the last three rounds. Callahan beat Western Colorado's Matthew Ausel 11-2, Air Force Prep's Colson Hoffman 12-3 and Western Colorado's Celestino Gonzalez 14-4 to wrap up the title.

Wyatt McDermott placed fourth in the 149-pound Intermediate division bracket. After losing to the eventual champion in the first round, McDermott stormed through the consolation bracket and finished in fourth place with a 5-2 record.

National Rankings
Chadron State has two consensus nationally ranked wrestlers on its roster and another two who appear in one of the sport's two major rankings. 

Keegan Gehlhausen, who has not wrestled since suffering an injury on November 8 at the DWU Open, remains the No. 1 wrestler in the nation at 184 pounds, according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and The Open Mat. Gehlhausen is also No. 6 in The Open Mat's pound-for-pound rankings. 

125-pounder Quade Smith, who won the RMAC Wrestler of the Week award after a bracket-winning performance at the DWU Open, is ranked No. 13 by the NWCA and No. 15 by The Open Mat. 

Caleb Chaves, a 141-pound transfer from Gannon, is ranked No. 15 in the NWCA's most recent rankings from November 20 but does not appear in The Open Mat's top 20. Conversely, sophomore 197-pounder Mason Villwok is No. 18 in The Open Mat's rankings, but is not ranked by the NWCA, who only rank 15 wrestlers per weight.

In the team rankings, Chadron State is tied for 25^th in the NWCA's team rankings, which are based on adding up individual ranking points from Gehlhausen, Smith and Chaves's NWCA rankings. CSC is tied for 25^th with reigning RMAC champions Colorado School of Mines, behind conference opponents Adams State (T-16^th) and Colorado Mesa (18^th). 
The Open Mat has Chadron State at No. 22 in their team tournament rankings and No. 24 in their team dual rankings.

Will He or Won't He?
The big question around Friday night's dual for Chadron State is whether or not top-ranked Gehlhausen will make an appearance. The Pinedale, Wyoming native has sat out CSC's last three competition dates, including the UNK Open which Gehlhausen won the Elite Division of last season. 

Gehlhausen is listed as questionable in the projected lineups exchanged by coaches. Barring setbacks, the Eagles are likely targeting either Friday's dual or next weekend's Midwest Classic (December 13/14) to return Gehlhausen to competition.

If Gehlhausen wrestles at 184 pounds, that would be CSC's only opportunity to have the consensus national rankings advantage over UNK during any of the 10 bouts Friday night. While there is no such thing as a weak spot in the top-ranked Loper lineup, UNK's 184-pounder Kaden Hart is ranked No. 17 by The Open Mat and is unranked by the NWCA, the second-lowest national ranking of any of UNK's 10 projected starters.

If Gehlhausen doesn't go, freshman Brooks Loosvelt is likely to fill in again. Loosvelt has already beaten one ranked wrestler this season, toppling preseason No. 12 Matt Rodriguez of Fort Hays State via a 9-4 decision on November 15.

Projected Lineup
(subject to change, rankings are NWCA/The Open Mat)

125: NR/#11 Caleb Coyle (UNK) vs. #13/#15 Quade Smith (CSC)
133: #3/#11Zach Ourada (UNK) vs. Hunter Jacobsen (CSC)
141: #4/#5 Joe Airola (UNK) vs. #15/NR Caleb Chaves (CSC)
149: NR/#18 Brady Collins (UNK) vs. Aidan Callahan OR Wyatt McDermott (CSC)
157: #9/#6 Cael Robb (UNK) vs. Brandon Paredes (CSC)
165: #7/#5 Trenton Munoz (UNK) vs. Tayten Gillette (CSC)
174: #9/#11 Otgonbayar Batsuuri (UNK) vs. Logan Berger (CSC)
184: NR/#17 Kaden Hart (UNK) vs. #1/#1 Keegan Gehlhausen OR Brooks Loosvelt
197: #1/#1 Jackson Kinsella (UNK) vs. NR/#18 Mason Villwok (CSC)
285: #2/#2 Crew Howard (UNK) vs. Eli Reese (CSC)

Scouting the Lopers
Nebraska-Kearney won its program's fifth national championship last season. The Lopers cruised through regionals, qualifying all 10 of its wrestlers for nationals, then nearly doubled up the second-place team at the national tournament, earning 115 points to second-place Augustana's 63. 

This season, UNK is 1-1, with the loss coming in a dual against Iowa State, a top five program in NCAA Division I. The Lopers lost 37-3, but wrestlers who impressed included 197-pounder Jackson Kinsella, who was victorious in overtime, and 133-pounder Zach Ourada and 285-pounder Crew Howard, who each lost to their ISU counterparts by one point. 

Kinsella is the consensus No. 1 197-pound wrestler in the nation at the Division II level. Kinsella, a grad student, placed third at that weight last year at nationals and is one of four returning top-four placers at last year's national meet to this year's UNK roster – alongside Ourada (second at 125, now a 133) Joe Airola (fourth at 141) and Howard (fourth at 285). The Lopers had two other national runners-up a year ago who have graduated.

Head coach Dalton Jensen has been the head coach at UNK since 2016, but is a Loper lifer, having served as an assistant from 2012-16 and competed for UNK from 2010-2012 after starting his career at Iowa State. Jensen has two team national titles as a coach and was part of another as a student-athlete while winning an individual championship at 141 pounds in 2012.