CHADRON, Neb. – Riding a three-dual win streak, Chadron State men's wrestling has an opportunity to seal a top three finish in the RMAC if they are able to win their final two conference duals on the road this week. 

The Eagles (3-2 RMAC) are set to face Simon Fraser (2-4, 1-4 RMAC) in a neutral site dual contested at Colorado School of Mines at 4 p.m. this Wednesday before heading to CSU Pueblo to face the ThunderWolves (9-6, 3-3 RMAC) at 6 p.m. on Friday. 

Following the two duals, Chadron State will return to Golden to compete in Mines's annual Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open on Sunday, February 16. 

Wednesday's and Friday's duals are available to stream for free on the RMAC Network. Live results for both duals as well as Sunday's open are available on Trackwrestling.

Looking Back
On January 30 and February 1, Chadron State won its second and third consecutive RMAC duals with a 26-17 win over Adams State and a 41-3 win over New Mexico Highlands.

RECAPS: Adams State | New Mexico Highlands

Six Eagles – James Davis (133 pounds), Torry Early (149), Logan Berger (174), Keegan Gehlhausen (184), Mason Villwok (197) and Cody Pinkerton (285) were undefeated over the week, capturing victories in both duals.

RMAC Update
With a couple days remaining in the RMAC dual season, here is how the conference standings currently line up. 
 

Team	RMAC Dual Record
Colorado School of Mines	6-0
Colorado Mesa	5-1
Western Colorado	4-2
Chadron State	3-2
CSU Pueblo	3-3
Adams State	2-5
Simon Fraser	1-4
New Mexico Highlands	0-7

 
The biggest domino in the title race fell last Friday, when Colorado School of Mines defeated Colorado Mesa 23-15 in a matchup of undefeated squads. If Colorado School of Mines defeats Simon Fraser on Wednesday (the Orediggers are wrestling SFU after the conclusion of Chadron State's dual), Mines will win the RMAC title. 

The most significant match from CSC's point of view happens this Thursday, with 5-1 Colorado Mesa hosting 4-2 Western Colorado in Grand Junction. If Mesa wins, that opens the door for Chadron State to finish third in the RMAC if the Eagles defeat CSU Pueblo and Simon Fraser. 

If Western Colorado beats CMU, then both teams would finish with a 5-2 RMAC record, the same mark Chadron State would reach with two wins this week, creating the opportunity for a three-way tie for second between CMU, WCU and Chadron State, who would all be 1-1 against one another in that scenario. 

Chadron State can still drop to as low as fifth in the standings if they lose both duals or lose to CSU Pueblo, dropping the head-to-head tiebreaker with the ThunderWolves. 

Gehlhausen the Great
184-pounder Keegan Gehlhausen remains Chadron State's top-ranked wrestler at No. 4 in the nation, and the redshirt junior displayed that dominance in a pair of tech fall victories during Chadron State's most recent competition.

Against Adams State's Sergio Zaragoza, Gehlhausen racked up three takedowns and two near falls to earn a 17-1 victory, sealing the tech at 5:41 in the match. 

Gehlhausen was even more dominant against New Mexico Highlands, winning by a 15-0 tech fall over NMHU's Michael Santos. In that bout, Gehlhausen took his opponent down early and kept him there, recording three near falls to call the match just 2:15 in.

The Wyoming native has a 13-2 record this season, including a win at the UNK Open and a fifth-place finish at the Midwest Classic.

Making An Impact
True freshman Mason Villwok stepped into the Eagles' dual lineup after other injuries at 197 pounds and showed that he could be a force for years to come in a Chadron State singlet. 

In his official collegiate debuts (Villwok placed at multiple tournaments this season as an unattached wrestler), the Elkhorn native enjoyed two bonus-point victories, knocking off Adams State's Josh Coon 13-2 before sealing a first-period 17-0 tech fall over New Mexico Highlands's Saul De Leon. 

Villwok will have two more duals this week to compete at 197 pounds before preparing for the regional championships, where he could conceivably compete at either 197 or 285. 

Villwok's addition to the lineup has created a murderer's row for the Eagles at the end of the dual. Chadron State's dual wrestlers in the top four weight classes (Logan Berger, Gehlhausen, Villwok and Cody Pinkerton) not only went undefeated last week, but racked up bonus points to outscore Adams State 18-0 and Highlands 20-0.

National Rankings
Chadron State has four nationally ranked wrestlers in The Open Mat's national rankings, which update weekly and had the latest version released Wednesday morning. 

Hunter Jacobsen is ranked No. 14 at 125 pounds. The true freshman has a 14-7 record, falling to top five nationally-ranked wrestler Isaiah Gamez of Adams State last week but recovering for a major decision victory over New Mexico Highlands.

James Davis moved up a slot to No. 18 in The Open Mat's rankings at 133 pounds. Davis has been victorious in all five of Chadron State's duals this season, including a win over the wrestler ranked immediately behind him, Colorado Mesa's Oran Huff.

149-pounder Torry Early held steady No. 17 for the second consecutive week. Early boasts a win over the weight's No. 5-ranked wrestler, Western Colorado's Dean Noble.

Keegan Gehlhausen is Chadron State's highest-ranked wrestler, remaining at No. 6 nationally according to The Open Mat. 

The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), which ranks 15 wrestlers at each weight and most recently updated their rankings on January 20, has two CSC wrestlers in their rankings – Jacobsen at No. 10 and Gehlhausen at No. 4.

Chadron State is just out of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)'s top 25 rankings. The Eagles are quite literally the 26^th team, as they have the most points of any team in the "receiving votes" category. 

Three RMAC programs are ranked, led by Western Colorado at No. 13. Colorado School of Mines (No. 16) and Colorado Mesa (No. 25), the two teams to defeat Chadron State in duals this season, are also nationally ranked. 

Scouting the Red Leafs
The Red Leafs of Simon Fraser University, located in Burnaby, British Columbia (just minutes from Vancouver) are an RMAC associate member for wrestling. Simon Fraser is the only NCAA member school from outside the United States.

SFU is 1-4 in RMAC play. They will compete against Chadron State at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Colorado School of Mines before immediately wrestling the host Orediggers at 6 p.m. 

So far in conference, the Red Leafs have defeated New Mexico Highlands (29-28) while losing to CSU Pueblo (38-7), Adams State (38-12), Western Colorado (48-6) and Colorado Mesa (55-0). 157-pounder Magnus McCrackin won the inaugural RMAC Wrestler of the Week award this season.

Scouting the ThunderWolves
CSU Pueblo is 3-3 in the RMAC, but the ThunderWolves have a 9-6 overall dual record. In conference play, CSUP has defeated Simon Fraser (38-7), Adams State (22-19) and New Mexico Highlands (37-18) while coming up short against Mines (24-12), Western Colorado (40-6) and Colorado Mesa (25-19).

The Pack feature two Open Mat-ranked wrestlers. Rhys Sellers is ranked No. 18 at 125 pounds, and should have a nationally-ranked showdown with CSC's Hunter Jacobsen to begin Friday's dual. Hayden Tuma is ranked No. 20 at 141 pounds.

The ThunderWolves also feature a returning national qualifier at 157 pounds in Cyruss Meeks and a two-time RMAC Wrestler of the Week in 285-pounder Henry Sturn. The head coach for the ThunderWolves, Dax Charles, is a former CSU Pueblo national champion from 1992.

Projected Lineups
Here is a look at the projected lineups for the week. First, Chadron State's probables for both duals: 

 125: #10/14 Hunter Jacobsen (Fr.), 14-7
            OR: Yusef Nelson (Gr.), 5-7
133: #18 James Davis (Gr.), 9-4
141: Cyrus Wells (R-So.), 12-9
149: #17 Torry Early (Gr.), 11-6
157: Brandon Paredes (R-So.), 9-8
165: Tayten Gillette (R-So.), 11-9
174: Logan Berger (R-So), 14-7
184: #4/6 Keegan Gehlhausen (R-Jr.), 13-2
197: Mason Villwok (Fr.), 2-0
285: Cody Pinkerton (R-Jr.), 13-5
 
Here is Simon Fraser's projected lineup for Wednesday:
125: Marques Calapiz (Sr.)
133: Open
141: Arad Ahangi (Fr.) 
149: Ryan Hicks (Sr.) 
157: Magnus McCrackin (Sr.)
165: Patrick Leder (Sr.) 
174: Peter McCrackin (R-Jr.)
184: Owen Gudmundson (R-Jr.)
197: Ricky Feroce (Sr.) 
285: Sam Pereira (R-Jr.)
 
Here is CSU Pueblo's projected lineup for Friday:
125: #18 Rhys Sellers (Jr.)
133: Eddie Bowman (Fr.)
141: #20 Hayden Tuma
149: Cole Bennett (Jr.)
            OR: Kevin Boston (Fr.) 
157: Cyruss Meeks (Sr.)
165: Aaron Concepcion (Fr.)
174: Solomon Arnds (So.)
184: Donn Greer (Jr.) 
197: Remington Winmill (R-So.)
285: Henry Sturn (So.)
            OR: Jacob Mitchell 
 
RMCO Preview
The Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open will be a multi-mat tournament held at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. This will be the 16^th consecutive year for the tournament, which usually takes place after the RMAC dual season as a gear-up to the regional tournament. 

Six of the RMAC's eight teams (Adams State, Colorado Mesa, Colorado School of Mines and CSU Pueblo plus Chadron State) are scheduled to compete, with more teams from around the region likely to join.

Coach's Corner
Chadron State coach Brett Hunter is entering his 14^th season as the head coach at his alma mater. Hunter is the reigning RMAC Coach of the Year and NWCA Region VI Coach of the Year.

Hunter and the Eagles are coming off a landmark 2024 season that saw the Eagles win their first RMAC wrestling title since 1995. The Eagles finished with a 10-1 overall dual record, including an undefeated 8-0 mark in RMAC duals, with two national tournament qualifiers. At CSC, Hunter has coached five All-American wrestlers and three individual regional champions. 

As a Chadron State student-athlete, Hunter holds the program record for most wins, finishing with a career record of 133-32. He is the school's only repeat national champion, winning NCAA titles at 165 pounds in 2007 and 174 pounds in 2009. Hunter was inducted into the Chadron State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2024.