Eagles prep for regionals at Rocky Mountain open
Multiple Eagle Wrestlers found success Sunday in Golden, Colorado, at the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open, hosted by Colorado School of Mines.
“It was a good opportunity for our younger guys and back-ups to kind of finish the year in terms of getting mat-time,” CSC Head Coach Brett Hunter said.
Top placing CSC wrestlers include juniors Tate Allison of Moorcroft, Wyoming, and Wade French, of Heriman, Utah, who were runners-up at 165 pounds and 197 pounds, respectively.
CSC heavyweight sophomore Alex Mai of Fort Morgan, Colorado, took third place over freshman heavyweight Mason Watt, of Broomfield, Colorado, who forfeited the third place match because of injury. Senior John Porter, of Bellevue, placed sixth at 165 pounds after forfeiting his fifth place match.
Hunter said some of his varsity wrestlers were pulled from the tournament after a couple of matches to safeguard against injury.
“That was kind of our goal going in, was just to get them a couple of matches and pull them out of the tournament,” Hunter said.
He and Eagle wrestlers are now focused on the upcoming regional tournament.
“In terms of figuring our line-up out, we have a pretty good idea of who those guys will wrestle in the regional,” Hunter said.
Hunter mentioned several promising Eagles to watch for in the upcoming tournament, including junior Chase Clasen of Moses Lake, Washington, at 149-pounds, and 197 pound junior Wade French.
Hunter believes junior Brandon Kile of Hastings is could finish fourth at 133 pounds.
Allison is sitting at fifth in the region, along with sophomore Jake Otuafi of Sparks, Nevada at 157 pounds. CSC senior veteran heavyweight Rulon Taylor of Curtis, is ranked sixth.
CSC wrestling has sent a wrestler to the NCAA National tournament 50 consecutive years, a tradition Hunter hopes to continue.
“They take the top three to the national tournament, and so we’ll have a handful of guys that’ll be right in the mix.” Hunter said. “Mentally, I think we’re right where we need to be and hopefully we can have a good weekend.”
The Eagles will compete in the NCAA Super Region 6 Championships in Kearney Feb. 23.