CHADRON, Neb. – After finishing first and tied for second in the RMAC over the past two seasons, Chadron State men's wrestling will begin their 2025-26 league campaign against Colorado School of Mines this Friday night at 6 p.m. in the Chicoine Center. 

Friday's matchup sees the 2023-24 champion Eagles (2-1, 0-0 RMAC) take on the Orediggers (6-1, 1-0 RMAC), who are coming off an RMAC title in 2024-25. Mines defeated Chadron State 21-13 in Golden on their unbeaten march through the RMAC, but the Orediggers' eight-point victory over CSC was tied for their smallest margin of victory in an RMAC dual.

This year, Chadron State will enter the matchup ranked No. 15 in the NWCA's team rankings, which are a tournament power ranking index, and No. 25 in The Open Mat's team dual rankings. Colorado School of Mines is ranked No. 21 in the NWCA poll. 

A live stream of the event will take place on the RMAC Network, with live results available on Trackwrestling.

Looking Back
Chadron State showed out at the prestigious and annual Midwest Classic tournament in Indianapolis, finishing 10^th among 47 competing programs.

RECAP: Midwest Classic Day 1 | Midwest Classic Day 2

All 10 competing CSC wrestlers won at least two matches at the event, while three wrestlers placed – Keegan Gehlhausen (second at 184 pounds), Quade Smith (fifth at 125) and Caleb Chaves (seventh at 141). The Eagles were the top-finishing RMAC team in 10^th place, ahead of Adams State (11^th), Colorado Mesa (13^th) and CSU Pueblo (18^th). 

RMAC Network Reminder
As a reminder, RMAC Network games this season now require a pay-per-view subscription to watch. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their broadcast systems and programs.
 
NEWS: RMAC Network Moves To Pay-Per-View Model
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all live and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network, including both home and away RMAC contests for Chadron State. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription (for all sports) costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants the viewer access to a single event for 24 hours. Subscriptions can be purchased through Hudl at rmacnetwork.com. 
 
RMAC Network subscriptions apply to any event that is hosted by an RMAC institution, regardless of whether Chadron State is participating. 
 
Fans will technical support issues can contact Hudl, visit the RMAC email the RMAC Network FAQ page, or directly email the RMAC at rmac@rmacsports.org.

National Rankings
Chadron State has three top 10 nationally ranked wrestlers on its roster with the release of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)'s newest rankings on December 18. 

Midwest Classic runner-up and reigning national runner-up Keegan Gehlhausen remains CSC's top-ranked wrestler at No. 3 in the NWCA at 184 pounds. 125-pounder Quade Smith rose to No. 6 in the rankings while Caleb Chaves checked in at No. 8 in the 141-pound rankings.

In The Open Mat's most recent rankings (Top 20), Gehlhausen is No. 2 overall while Smith is No. 5. The Open Mat has Chaves down at No. 18 for 141 pounds, while 197-pounder Mason Villwok makes an appearance at No. 19.

In the team rankings, Chadron State is No. 15 in the NWCA's team rankings, which are based on adding up individual ranking points from Gehlhausen, Smith and Chaves's NWCA rankings.

The Open Mat has Chadron State at No. 16 in their team tournament rankings and No. 25 in their team dual rankings.

Action Weights
Mines's top-ranked wrestler is Cody Thompson, who is No. 2 in the nation at 149 pounds. He is set to face CSC's Aidan Callahan, who has been a bit of a giant killer as a true freshman, recording wins over then-No. 18 Brady Collins of Nebraska-Kearney and also taking home the Amateur division win at the UNK Open. 

Mines junior Wyatt Reisz had several memorable matchups with 174-pounder Logan Berger last season, but is within the top 20 at 184 pounds and could match up with Gehlhausen. During last year's dual in Golden, then-No. 9 ranked Marcus  Caro and Brandon Paredes battled to a 4-2 win for Caro at 157 pounds.

Scouting the Orediggers
Colorado School of Mines is 6-1 in duals. They are 1-0 in the RMAC, having defeated New Mexico Highlands 20-14 back on November 14. 

Mines's lone setback came to No. 13 Minnesota State (31-15). Their most impressive win is a 21-20 triumph over now No. 17 Central Missouri. The Orediggers also have lopsided dual wins over Snow College, Fort Hays State, Ouachita Baptist and Belmont Abbey. 

The Central Missouri, Belmont Abbey and Minnesota State duals were Mines's most recent competition on December 20 at the Jack Hancock Duals. 149-pounder Cody Thompson was named the RMAC Wrestler of the Week on December 22. 

After running the table in RMAC duals last season, Mines will carry a 12-dual RMAC win streak into Friday's matchup in the Chicoine Center. They are led by reigning RMAC Coach of the Year Austin DeVoe, who has won three RMAC titles with Mines since 2019.

Projected Lineup
(rankings are NWCA/The Open Mat)
 

Weight Class	#15 Chadron State		#21 Colorado School of Mines
125	#6/#5 Quade Smith (R-Sr., 15-2)	vs.	Jake Goodin (5-3) OR Xander Sweeney
133	Hunter Jacobsen (So., 7-5)	vs.	Izaiah Padilla (2-1) OR Hunter Samora (5-7)
141	#8/#18 Caleb Chaves (Gr., 11-3)	vs.	Coen Schmidt (5-5)
149	Aidan Callahan (Fr., 12-4)	vs.	#2/#2 Cody Thompson (7-0)
157	Brandon Paredes (R-Jr., 8-5)	vs.	Marcus Caro (11-7) OR Brandon Cody (9-1)
165	Tayten Gillette (R-Jr., 9-5)	vs.	Brandon Cody (9-1) OR Deringer Hollenbeck (10-6)
174	Logan Berger (R-Jr., 8-5)	vs.	NR/#14 Jakob Smith (5-2)
184	#3/#2 Keegan Gehlhausen (R-Sr., 8-2)	vs.	Mason Diel (6-0) OR NR/#17 Wyatt Reisz (5-2) OR Timber Parlin (7-4)
197	NR/#19 Mason Villwok (So., 9-3)	vs.	Mason Diel (6-0) OR Wyatt Reisz (5-2)
285	Eli Reese (Gr., 6-5)	vs.	NR/#19 Laith Ibrahim (3-2) OR Cade Whish (5-1)

 
Coach's Corner
Chadron State coach Brett Hunter is entering his 15^th season as the head coach at his alma mater. Hunter led the Eagles to its first RMAC championship in nearly 20 years in 2023-24, which earned him the RMAC Coach of the Year and NWCA Region VI Coach of the Year honors.

In that landmark 2024 season, 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 six All-American wrestlers and four 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.