CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State women's wrestling went unbeaten across three duals and clinched a top three RMAC finish by toppling two conference opponents during the Chadron State duals in the Chicoine Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles defeated Adams State 30-16, Hastings College 26-19 and Texas Woman's 26-20 across Saturday's action. With the TWU dual hanging in the balance at heavyweight,
Esther Peters came back from 4-0 down with a four-point near fall with just over 30 seconds remaining to seal the final match.
The three wins improve CSC's overall dual record in 2025-26 to 4-3, while the wins over Adams and TWU make the Eagles 2-0 in the RMAC with only duals against conference frontrunners Simon Fraser (January 17) and Colorado Mesa (February 7) remaining.
Brianna Vollendroff (103 pounds),
Rylee Balcazar (110 pounds) and Peters (207 pounds) were all 3-0 on the day to lead the Eagle effort.
Ana Rojas-Zamora (2-1, 124 pounds),
Piper Cadden (2-1, 131 pounds) and
Rowyn Wiltgen (1-2, 160 pounds) also wrestled in all three duals for Chadron State.
The Eagles split duties among four weights – 117 pounds (
Adrianna Lopez 1-1,
Shania Wear 1-0), 138 pounds (
Meredith Nash 2-0,
Nevaeh Leonard 0-1), 145 pounds (
Desza Munson 0-2,
Hattie Baldwin 0-1) and 180 pounds (
Sicily Frates 0-2,
Cosette Desrosiers 1-0).
Starting the day against Adams State, the Eagles won 6 of 9 contested bouts before tacking on five points with a forfeit win at heavyweight. Vollendroff and Balcazar started things with 10-0 tech fall wins. Adams won at 117 and took an 8-2 lead at 124, but Rojas-Zamora scored six points to tie the score and eventually take an 8-8 decision win by being the most recent to score.
That decision put CSC up 12-5, and tech fall wins by
Piper Cadden at 131 and
Meredith Nash at 138 put the Eagles firmly in control, 20-6. The teams split points 10-10 the rest of the way, highlighted by a
Rowyn Wiltgen pin in 2:25 at 160 pounds.
The Hastings College dual saw several new Eagles take the mat. The Eagles took a commanding 18-1 lead after four bouts courtesy of pins from Vollendroff and
Shania Wear and techs by Balcazar and Rojas-Zamora.
The Broncos climbed back into the dual by winning the next four matches, cutting it to 19-18, but Chadron State held its nerve, getting a big 11-2 decision win by
Cosette Desrosiers at 180 pounds before Peters closed things out with a 10-0 tech fall.
In CSC's final dual of the day, CSC took a 15-0 lead off forfeits and led 23-5 after six matches, with
Piper Cadden and
Meredith Nash tallying key 10-point victories to score four points apiece. The Pioneers came storming back, however, using two pins and a tech to climb within 23-19 and opening the door for Texas Woman's to win the dual if Kitana Leafaatoto could find a way to pin Peters.
The TWU wrestler led 4-0 late in the second period, but Peters used a charging attack to put Leafaatoto on her back for a four-point near fall. The match ended 4-4, and Peters also won by virtue of being the most recent scorer, taking the final margin to 26-20.
The Eagles will return to the mat on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. for the all-day Chadron State Women's Open.
