Wrestlers prepare for regional tournament
Because of a scheduling conflict, the Eagle’s dual against the University of Nebraska—Kearney was cancelled, so the Eagle’s next competition will be the NCAA Super Region 4 Tournament in Grand Junction, Colo.
The Eagles are not ranked in the NCAA Division II standings, which are determined by the D-II Wrestling Coaches Association poll. However, Dustin Stodola, senior of Clarkson, 133-pounds, is ranked fourth in the nation individually in the NCAA Division II Poll.
Although the Eagles aren’t ranked in NCAA standings, the team is ranked No. 21 in the Basford Division II National Rankings. The Basford rankings are complied by Chris Basford, a contributor to D2wrestle.com.
Stodola and Jordan DeBus, senior of Mitchell, 184-pounds, are ranked No. 4 and No. 6 respectively in Basford’s national individual rankings.
Chadron State is well represented in Basford’s regional individual rankings.
In addition to its national rankings, Basford divides the nation into four regions, and CSC is ranked No. 4 with 42 points in Region 4. The top ranked team, California Baptist, has tallied 61 points.
Taylor Summers, redshirt freshman of Plymouth, 125-pounds, and Jacob Anderson, freshman of Central City, 149-pounds, are both ranked fourth.
Stodola and DeBus are ranked first.
Jay Stine, redshirt freshman of Worland, Wyo., 141-pounds; Tyler Smart, junior of Wheatland, Wyo., 165-pounds; and Devan Fors, junior of Roseburg, Ore., 197-pounds; are ranked seventh in their respected weight classes.
CJ Clark, sophomore of Rapid City, S.D., 157-pounds, and Caleb Copeland, freshman of Bennett, Colo., 174-pounds, are ranked fifth.
In Thursday’s match against the now 5-7 Adams State University Grizzlies of Alamosa, Colo., the Eagles wrestlers prevailed and pinned down a 22-16 win.
The Eagles started strong with Summers winning an 8-7 decision.
The energy continued as Stodola defeated Adams State’s Martin Ramirez, sophomore of Elk Grove, Calif., with an 8-7 decision.
After the two initial wins for the Eagles, they lost their momentum and dropped the next four matches. This put the Eagles behind the Grizzlies 16-6.
Copeland brought back the next win with a decision over Mario Garcia, redshirt sophomore of Pueblo, Colo.
DeBus followed suite, and pinned Nevada Bencomo, freshman of Silver City, N.M., in an impressive 1:42 first period pin.
Fors stepped up and contributed a 10-2 major decision to the team effort to overthrow Adams State.
Hill continued the winning streak and pulled a 3-1 decision.
This four-match winning streak was all it took to put the Eagles ahead of the Grizzlies for the dual victory.
