GOLDEN, Colo. – Keegan Gehlhausen and Mason Villwok won regional championships while Quade Smith and Eli Reese placed third at their respective weights to give Chadron State men's wrestling four national qualifiers on a successful Saturday at the NCAA Super Region VI Championships.

With his win, Gehlhausen has clinched his third career berth at nationals and his second consecutive regional championship. It is the first career national qualification for Quade Smith and the second for Eli Reese, who qualified in 2024-25 while wrestling for Gannon.

It is the first career regional championship and national qualification for Villwok, who defeated the region's top two seeds ranked No. 7 and No. 4 in the nation to do it. Villwok beat the buzzer, recording a takedown with one second remaining to stun Nebraska-Kearney's Jackson Kinsella 8-5 in the championship match.

In addition, Chadron State earned a third-place finish in the team standings with 100 points, trailing only Nebraska-Kearney (142) and Adams State (124). Colorado School of Mines (95.5) and Colorado Mesa (86.5) rounded out the top five. 

Thanks to Gehlhausen and Villwok's bracket triumphs, Chadron State was one of only three schools with multiple regional champions alongside Nebraska-Kearney and Adams State, who had three each. CSC's four total national qualifiers were also the third-most in the region behind UNK's seven and ASU's six. 

While Chadron State's six other competing wrestlers fell short of the top three finish required to qualify for nationals, three more managed to place. Caleb Chaves (141 pounds) and Logan Berger (174 pounds) fell one win short with fourth-place finishes in their brackets, while Tayten Gillette placed in sixth at 165 pounds.

Gehlhausen, seeded No. 1 in the region and ranked No. 3 in the nation, lived up to the billing with a dominant 20-3 tech fall win in the quarterfinal over Fort Hays State's Houston Frank. 

The Pinedale, Wyoming native actually trailed 8-4 in his semifinal against Vanguard's Marquize Brown, but Gelhausen found a two-point reversal and then locked in a pin at 4:54 to punch his ticket to the finals. Waiting there was No. 2 seed and No. 4-ranked Kaden Hart of Nebraska-Kearney, but Gehlhausen handled the Loper wrestler for the second time this season, winning by an 8-1 decision.

Villwok entered the 197-pound bracket as the No. 3 seed and topped Fort Hays State's Ryan Patterson 7-2 in the quarterfinal. That set up a semifinal showdown with No. 2 seed and No. 7-ranked Gabriel Carranza of Colorado Mesa, who defeated Villwok in a February 7 dual. 

The Elkhorn, Nebraska native picked the perfect time to peak, blowing away Carranza with a 10-1 major decision to advance to the final against top seed and No. 4-ranked Jackson Kinsella of Nebraska-Kearney, who also had recorded a head-to-head win over Villwok this year. Villwok avenged that loss, too, outscoring the Loper 4-0 in the final period and recording the last-second go-ahead takedown for his 8-5 decision win.

Smith earned his third place finish the hard way, rallying to win four straight matches after dropping a first-round match to Colorado School of Mines's Jason Goodin, who beat Smith via fall at 5:48 in the match while the CSC wrestler leading 4-3. 

Smith rolled through the consolation bracket, defeating Colorado Mesa's Adonias Cantu 10-2, San Francisco State's Hayden Ancheta 5-1 and Nebraska-Kearney's Caleb Coyle 4-1. That got Smith to the third-place bout and set up a rematch with Goodin in a winner-take-all clash for a nationals berth. Smith would not be denied as the redshirt senior earned a takedown in the first and third periods plus an escape in the second to blank the Mines wrestler 7-0.

Reese, the lowest tournament seed of CSC's qualifiers at No. 6, beat No. 3 seed Laith Ibrahim of Colorado School of Mines 9-2 in the quarterfinal before falling to No. 2 seed Tyler Doyle of Colorado Mesa 7-1. The Gannon transfer battled back, knocking off Adams State's Jaylen Ignacio 7-1 to face Ibrahim again in the third/fourth place match. 

Reese used his patience and ride skills to beat the Mines wrestler for a second time. Despite a scoreless first two periods, Reese was able to stay on top of Ibrahim for the entirety of the second period, banking nearly two minutes of riding time, then escaped quickly at the start of the third. Reese gave up a point for stalling, but the riding time point delivered the CSC heavyweight a 2-1 victory and a nationals berth.

Two other Eagles reached the third/fourth place matches, but fell short. Caleb Chaves went 3-1 to reach the bout against No. 2 seed/No. 2-ranked Joseph Airola of UNK, but the Loper wrestler secured a 17-1 tech fall win. Logan Berger beat two higher-seeded wrestlers among his three wins on the day, but also fell in the pivotal round to lower-seeded Kydyn Lima of San Francisco State, also by tech fall.

Other competitors included Hunter Jacobsen (2-2 at 133 pounds), Aidan Callahan (2-2 at 149 pounds), Brandon Paredes (1-2 at 157 pounds) and Tayten Gillette (1-3 at 165 pounds).

Chadron State's four advancing wrestlers will continue their season at the NCAA Men's Wrestling Championships, held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on March 13-14.