Red pins white in Eagles’ exhibition

The Chadron State wrestling team participated in their annual Red and White dual last Saturday. The scrimmage included a handful of very closely contested matches with seven of them going to decision, two of which went into overtime.

After the White Team won the first two matches including a 3-2 overtime decision win by junior Dustin Stodola, of Clarkson the Red Team went on to win six of the final seven matches, including a pin by freshman Leandro Arias, of Cheyenne, Wyo., and an overtime decision win for freshman, CJ Clark, of Rapid City, S.D. The Red team won the event 21-12

Head Coach Scott Ritzen has mixed feelings about the squad’s performance.

“I was very encouraged by our conditioning, and that we did not make a lot of mistakes,” Ritzen said. “I was a little discouraged with how aggressive we wrestled. We need to be more aggressive.”

“We have a really good mix of veterans with experience, and some very talented new comers,” Ritzen added. “I think we can expect some good things from them.”

Chadron faces tough in-conference competition this season.

RMAC competitors University of Nebraska, Kearney, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Adams State College, Alamosa, Colo., Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kan., and San Francisco State University, San Francisco were nationally ranked by the NCAA Division II preseason poll.

Fifteen RMAC individuals were also ranked by the poll including UNK’s 141 pound Dalton Jensen, senior of Missouri Valley Iowa and 184 pound Ross Brunkhardt, senior of Merino, Colo., who were ranked first in their weight classes.

The Eagles will open their season this weekend in Laramie, Wyo., at the Cowboy Open, hosted by the University of Wyoming.