CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State women's wrestling will compete this weekend in the first of two major opens prior to embarking on their RMAC dual schedule post-Christmas break, as the Eagles are set to participate in the Bob Smith Women's Open at Fort Hays State University this upcoming Saturday in Hays, Kansas.
Chadron State is scheduled to send 15 competitors to the event, including a couple of redshirting/unattached wrestlers. The Eagles sent a smaller contingent of only five wrestlers to this event last season and three of them placed, including a second-place finish at 110 pounds by
Rylee Balcazar and a sixth-place finish at 180 pounds by
Sicily Frates.
This Saturday is also anticipated to be the season debut of sophomore heavyweight
Esther Peters, who became CSC women's wrestling's first-ever All-American as a true freshman last season but has yet to compete in 2025-26.
Live results of the day's open are available on Trackwrestling.
Looking Back
The Eagles recorded two champions among five tournament placers at the Minot State Open but went 0-3 in a series of duals the day prior with mix-and-match and incomplete lineups.
RECAP:
Minot State Duals/Open
On Friday, the Eagles fell to Minot State 30-18, Sioux Falls 31-14 and 23-20 to Sasketchewan, dropping CSC's dual record to 1-3 thus far on the season. The Eagles forfeited two weight classes in all three duals.
In Saturday's open,
Brianna Vollendroff (103 pounds) and
Rylee Balcazar (110) both won their respective weight classes, with Vollendroff pinning both opponents and Balcazar pinning all three during Saturday's action.
Adrianna Lopez and
Shania Wear both achieved top four finishes at 117 pounds, qualifying for the 3
rd/4
thplace match against one another, which was not contested. Freshman
Eliza Davis was third at 145 pounds.
Season Tickets
Chadron State wrestling fans can now purchase combined season tickets for all the home men's and women's wrestling duals at the Chicoine Center this season.
PURCHASE TICKETS
General admission season tickets are available for $50 ($53.35 with third-party fees) per seat for adults and $40 ($43.35) per set for children, seniors and military members. That provides access to the men's and women's combined duals all day on January 9, the women's wrestling Eagle Open all day January 10, men's RMAC duals on January 18, January 23 and January 31 and women's wrestling Senior Night on February 11 against Fort Hays Tech.
Purchasing single-game tickets to all those events online adds up to $79.45 in ticket prices, creating a savings of nearly $25 when you buy season tickets! Purchase now to make sure you have a spot to support Chadron State wrestling all season long.
Coach's Corner
Head coach
Sammy de Seriere is in his first season at the helm of the Eagle program after spending two seasons as CSC's lead assistant coach. He is the third-ever women's wrestling coach at Chadron State.
In his two years on staff at CSC, De Seriere has contributed to the Eagles qualifying eight wrestlers to the NCWWC National Championships across 2024 and 2025. He worked closely with
Esther Peters, who became Chadron State's women's wrestling's first-ever All-American last season and, like de Seriere, is a heavyweight.
De Seriere began his coaching career in 2022-23 as a volunteer assistant for his alma mater, the men's wrestling program at Western Colorado. Overlapping with Summers, then a Mountaineers assistant coach, de Seriere helped Western place fourth nationally at the Division II National Championships during his lone season on staff, the program's first team trophy in 19 years.
As a student-athlete, de Seriere competed for Western Colorado for five years at heavyweight, once finishing in sixth place in Super Region VI. A strong student, de Seriere was a three-time Dean's List selection and earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC, RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll and NCAA Division II Scholar All-America honors as a senior.
