Five wrestlers place in Greeley

Chadron State College entered only ten wrestlers into Nov. 20’s Northern Colorado Open tournament due to illness and injury that struck the team.

Starting the 133-pound class for Chadron State was Dustin Stodola, sophomore of Clarkson, who defeated Michael Balanga, of University of Northern Colorado, 6-3 by decision.

Stodola then won by a technical decision in the second round 21-5 over Jackson Adams, of Colorado State University.

In the semifinal match Stodola lost his first match of the day to Stephan St. Marie, of Boise State University, with a 6-2 decision.

Stodola came back from his loss by defeating Cody Cole, of Western State College, with a 10-3 decision.

Now wrestling for third place, Stodola defeated Derek Malan, Utah Valley University, in the final round by a single point.

Eagle wrestler Jacob Lords, junior of Rexburg, Idaho, entered the tournament at the 149-pound class. Lords’ first bout was a loss, 6-0, to Jared Schroeder, of Colby College.

Lords bested his second round competitor by gaining the last point in the battle over Brunner Hill, of Western State College, 5-4.

In the third round of the tournament, Lords was defeated by Bobby Robins, of Northwest College, with a close decision, 5-3.

Tyler Smart, freshman of Wheatland, Wyo., represented the Eagles at the 157-pound class and moved into round two by receiving a first round bye.

The second round victory went to Robert Pickrell, of Adams State, over Smart by a major decision, 10-1.

Smart received another bye, granting him into the fourth round bout against Chris Hart, of WBU.

Smart lost by a close decision, 11-8.

Mikah Kadera, junior of Sheridan, Wyo., represented the 157-pound class in the tournament.

Kadera had a first round bye which put him immediately into the second round against Steven Kelly, of Colorado School of Mines, which Kadera won in overtime, 3-1.

Kadera won his third round battle against AJ Knoll, of Adams State, 3-0 which advanced Kadera to the quarter finals.

The quarter final match was against Austin Stubaus, Western State College, which Kadera won by one point in the decision 7-6.

Kadera defeated Jamie Sheets, of Colorado School of Mines, in the semifinals with a 3-2 decision.

Kadera lost in the finals to Justin Morris, of Western State College, by a 5-2 decision. Kadera won the second place ranking for the tournament.

Chadron State’s Trent Zempel, senior of Diamondville, Wyo., wrestled at the 174-pound class. It only took Zempel 50 seconds to pin Sean Cherry, Colby College in his first match.

Zempel then went and won with by major decision over Dustin Olsen, Utah Valley University, 11-3.

Zempel took another victory in the quarter finals by shutting out Jake Goddard, of Mesa State College, with a 7-0 decision.

In the semifinals, Zempel conquered Mark Mabry, Adams State, with a decision 6-0.

Zempel had is first loss of the day in the final round to Jake Swartz, of Boise State University, with loss by pin 4 minutes and 9 seconds into the match.

Trent Zempel won the second-place ranking for the tournament.

Jake Hunter, redshirt freshman of Brush, Colo., lost his first match to Jake Wilson, of Colorado School of Mines, by a 10-4 decision in the 184-pound class.

Hunter received a second round bye then forfeited his third round match to Brad Price, of Colorado School of Mines.

Joe Bob Haas, redshirt freshman of Hemingford, represented the 197-pound class for the Eagles and received a first round bye.

Dalton Henderson, of Air Force Prep, pinned Haas in 1:35 in the second round. Haas then received a third round bye.

In his fourth match, Haas defeated Taylor Wuthnow, of Northwest Kansas Tech, with by a decision, 4-0.

D`Andre Gonzalez, of Adams State, won the fifth match over Haas by major decision, 13-4.

Chadron’s Chris Leak, sophomore of Omaha, also wrestled at the 197-pound class in the tournament.

Leak won his first match by decision, 8-1, over Alec Bird, of Colorado School of Mines.

Nick Bayer, of University of Northern Colorado, defeated Leak by a major decision, 12-3.

Leak then pinned unattached Chadron State wrestler Josh Keating, freshman of Romeoville, Ill., in 1:35.

Leak gained another victory by overpowering Brennen Knerr, of Colorado School of Mines, with a single point decision, 3-2.

In the consolation fourth round bout, Leak won again over Dalton Henderson, Air Force Prep, by a 5-2 decision.

Leak took a fifth round victory by conquering D`Andre Gonzalez, of Adams State, by an 8-3 decision, putting Leak into the semi-finals.

Ben Price, of Northwest College, won by decision over Leak, 11-6, putting Leak in the running’s for fifth or sixth place.

Leak won his final match over John Fackrell, of Boise State University by an 8-3 decision. The victory gave Chris Leak fifth place for the tournament.

Heavy-weight Eagle wrestler Sam Udell, senior of Colorado Springs, Colo., received a first round bye then pinned his second round opponent Robert Tucker, of Colorado School of Mines, in 6:49, which advanced Udell into the quarterfinals.

Udell won by decision over Konner Knudtsen, of University of Northern Colorado, with an 8-4 decision.

Udell lost his semifinal match to Toby Erickson, of Boise State University, by decision, 7-3.

Udell claimed another win by outperforming Jonathon Tiernan, of Northwest College, with a 5-2 decision, advancing Udell into the final match fighting for third place.

Udell’s lost his final match by a single point to Chris Givens, Boise State University, in a 4-3, decision.
Udell won fourth place in the tournament.

The team heads to Hays, Kan., Saturday for the Fort Hays University Open.