‘Eagle Open’ helps set CSC roster
The CSC wrestling team held its annual “Eagle Open,” Saturday at the Nelson Physical Activity Center, as it begins to prepare for the upcoming season.
The intrasquad meet may have been just a scrimmage, but there were plenty of stakes as the winners would be added to the team’s roster that will wrestle against the University of Nebraska and Hastings College in Lincoln, Nov. 7.
“When you have wrestle-offs it’s a nightmare for a coach because we don’t want surprises,” CSC Wrestling Head Coach Brett Hunter said of the scrimmage. “In your mind you know who’s probably the best guy, but maybe it’s a bad day and he gets beat.”
While Hunter said there were no surprises Saturday, the Eagles roster isn’t quite completely set. At 125, Kobe Lepe, freshman of San Fernando, California, won both his matches with fellow freshman Tate Stoddard, of Glenrock, Wyoming, but will need to drop more weight this week to be eligible to go in Lincoln. The Eagle wrestlers were allowed to be five-pound over weight for the scrimmage and Lepe weighed in at 132.5.
“We’re hoping Kobe (Lepe) makes weight and is our guy,” Hunter said. “If not we’re going to have to wrestle Tate (Stoddard) next weekend which will ruin his redshirt.”
Stoddard comes from Glenrock High where according to CSC Sports Information he was the school’s first four-time state champion. In his season preview of Chadron State, Cody Mainquist, for NEwrestle.com, mentioned Stoddard as a freshman making a big impression. But Stoddard, Hunter said, is best suited spending his redshirt year getting bigger and wrestling in opens.
“His biggest issue is he’s small and that’s hard to make up in a year,” Hunter said. “He truly needs that year, that’s why we’re hoping Kobe (Lepe) can get down to weight.”
Both of Chadron’s returning national qualifiers, Wade French, senior of Herriman, Utah, and Chase Clasen, senior of Moses Lake, Washington, will also make the trip to Lincoln though Clasen will wrestle at 157 pounds and not 149 as he did last season. Wednesday, Clasen was ranked fifth in the nation in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division II Preseason Rankings, although the ranking was made at 149.
The same rankings have French ranked 10th in the nation at 197. The senior is expected to continue building on what’s already been a successful college wrestling career.
Also returning will be Brandon Kile, senior of Hastings, wrestling at 133. Kile narrowly missed qualifying for nationals last season.
CSC will continue to wait for the official addition of Colton Adams, sophomore of Scottsbluff, at 141 pounds, who will have to wait out this semester for transfer reasons. Once he finishes out this calendar year, Adams can begin to compete. Hunter believes he could win a national title this year.
“All he wants right now is for us to let him loose, but obviously the NCAA says no,” Hunter said. Adams redshirted at UNL season before he transferred to CSC for the 2018-2019 season.
Ranked fifth in the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll the Huskers and their 10 ranked wrestlers will be a challenge for the Eagles, but will also provide CSC wrestlers with a bench mark for the coming season.
“Later this week we’ll watch a lot of film on them and really talk about ‘us’ rather than them,” Hunter said. “Our opportunity and what we can do in different positions.”
The Eagles are tied for 24th in the NWCA Division II Preseason Top 25.
Before the wrestlers get to Lincoln, another group from the Eagles will compete at the Cowboy Open at the University of Wyoming, Saturday. Nov. 10 the team will travel to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. Later that week on Nov. 14 and 16 they’ll face Western Colorado University and Colorado Mesa University, respectively, in their first two RMAC duals.