Friday, March 6, 2026
The CSC Eagle Newspaper – Chadron, NE
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The CSC Eagle Newspaper – Chadron, NE
Wrestling

Mountaineers outlast Eagles 23-19

Jamie Keller
Western State College Mountaineer Justin Keys, of Pueblo, Colo., right, works to pin Eagle Jake Lords, of Rexburg, Idaho, in their 149-pound bout Saturday in the Nelson Physical Activity Center. — Photo by Kinley Q. Nichols
Western State College Mountaineer Justin Keys, of Pueblo, Colo., right, works to pin Eagle Jake Lords, of Rexburg, Idaho, in their 149-pound bout Saturday in the Nelson Physical Activity Center. — Photo by Kinley Q. Nichols

Chadron’s Eagle wrestlers lost 23-19 Saturday to the Western State College Mountaineers in the NPAC.

The Mountaineers immediately led the night in team points when Kyle O’Brien, senior of Fort Collins, Colo., claimed the win by forfeit over Chadron in the 125-pound weight class.

Eagle wrestler Dustin Stodola, sophomore of Clarkson, fought back for the Eagles by gaining the decision win over Cody Cole, sophomore of Brush, Colo., 5-2, in the 133-pound class.

Jimmy Savala, 144-pound senior of Clovis Calif., gained a second victory for Chadron by defeating Jesse Cruz, senior of Colorado Springs, Colo., 8-3.

In the 149-pound class, Jake Lords, junior of Rexburg, Idaho, gave the third straight win of the night by defeating Justin Keys, junior of Pueblo, Colo., 5-3 in overtime.

The Mountaineers finally struck back when Kurtis Ramsey won by decision over Mikah Kadera, junior of Sheridan, Wyo.,  8-5, in the 157-pound bout.

Mountaineer Zach Frazier, senior of Gresham, Ore., defeated Chadron’s Briston Brenton, junior of Casper, Wyo, by pin in 43 seconds in the 165-pound match.

Two more wins went to the Eagles when Trent Zempel, senior of Diamondville, Wyo., won by major decision over Jorge Benitez, redshirt freshman of Yuma, Ariz., 11-2, at the 174-pound class and when Jordan Debus, freshman of Mitchell, pinned John Finkbiner, junior of Fort Lupton, Colo., in 3:27 at the 184-pound class.

Western State’s 197-pound wrestler Donovan McMahill, senior of Lochbuie, Colo., beat Chris Leak, sophomore of Omaha, by technical fall, 18-3.

The match’s final score depended on the heavyweight match where Chadron’s Sam Udell, senior of Colorado Springs, Colo., lost in the tiebreaker to Western State Charlie Alexander by 8-3.  The final team scores of the night were Western State 23 to Chadron States 19.