Eagles fall to Orediggers at last home dual, 37-3
During its last home dual of the season, Chadron State men’s wrestling team was crushed by No. 21 Colorado School of Mines, 37-3, Sunday.
With the loss, the Eagles now sit third in the conference with a 4-1 record.
“The unique thing about this team is it’s a pretty good team, because it seems like someone else takes a role in terms of our duals, Brett Hunter, head men’s wrestling coach, said. “You’re used to seeing our older guys win matches, now we’re seeing maybe they get beat and then we have some freshmen step up.”
Despite the close bouts in some weight classes, CSC lost nine of the ten weight classes. The Orediggers pinned three Eagles to the mat, quickly gaining a large lead.
Kobe Lepe, redshirt sophomore of San Fernando, California, was the only Eagle to win his dual, putting up the three team points following his 3-2 decision win over Tyler Krause, redshirt junior of Plainfield, Illinois. Through his match, Lepe earned a two-point takedown and a one-point penalty.
“Winning my match on Sunday felt good especially going into this week but it also showed me there are some things I need to work on if I want to make the next step,” Lepe said.
Facing No. 5 Oredigger Weston Hunt, redshirt senior of Pueblo West, Colorado, No. 10 Mason Watt, redshirt junior of Broomfield, Colorado, held onto the lead throughout most of the bout until Hunt earned a last-second takedown, finishing out the match two points ahead of Watt, 4-2.
Hunter had high praise toward Watt, saying he’s improved a lot and is having a really good season.
“The kid he beat from Pueblo probably beat him by 15 points a year or two ago and then we beat him now, and the kid from Mines who’s a national runner-up, put a beating on us the last couple of years and we’re right there,” he said. “He (Watt) puts a lot of time and effort outside of the wrestling room and it’s good to see that translate onto the competition.”
Quade Smith, freshman of Layton, Utah; Darwin Hull, freshman of Schertz, Texas; and Ethan Leake, redshirt sophomore of Clovis, California, battled through their own matches but fell to their opponents.
“Seeing guys to continue to improve and buy into our program, that’s what I’m most proud of at this point,” Hunter said. “With two duals left, two big dual, two really good teams and hopefully we just continue this momentum going into the regional tournament in a couple of weeks.”
CSC finishes out its regular season with two rescheduled matches against Colorado Mesa University at 6 p.m., Thursday in Grand Junction and Western Colorado University at 6 p.m., Friday in Gunnison.