News

Eagles fall in thriller; Leak upsets second-ranked McPeek

Jan 12, 2012

Chadron State's Chris Leak takes down Adams State's Luke McPeek during their match at 197 pounds Thursday at the Nelson Physical Activity Center. (Photo by Alex Helmbrecht)

CHADRON – These young Eagles might be starting to take flight.

Chadron State, which filled its 10 varsity wrestling spots with six underclassmen, took 11^th-ranked Adams State to the brink Thursday at the Nelson Physical Activity Center before the Grizzlies won the final four matches to claim a 20-17 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory.

Despite the setback, CSC head coach Scott Ritzen saw plenty of positives from his youthful group.

“I thought our effort was good,” he said. “We are a little inexperienced and I think that showed a little bit, but we were aggressive. I also thought we had great energy throughout the match; we just didn’t score enough points.”

The Eagles set the tone early thanks to Bruce Zurek’s quick work of Daniel Kelly at 157 pounds. Zurek landed a shot in the opening seconds and rolled Kelly over for a pin in 38 seconds.

The Grizzlies followed with a 3-2 decision by Justin Samora at 165, but Chadron State won the next two matches decisively. Bret Klopp cruised to a 10-3 decision over Jarod Purvis at 174 and Jordan Debus, who had over four and a half minutes of riding time, handled Darian Roberts to earn a 15-0 technical fall.

Chadron State kept its momentum in the rumble at 197 pounds when Chris Leak upset second-ranked Luke McPeek. Leak trailed 2-0 late in the third period but rolled through and caught McPeek on his back for a 3-point near fall. The two scrambled and McPeek tied the match with an escape.

The sudden victory period belonged to Leak, though, and he ensured his first career victory over McPeek once he trapped him in a single-leg takedown with just seconds remaining.

Chadron State kept things interesting in the final four matches but Adams State eked out three narrow decisions before fourth-ranked Josh Hensley locked up the dual victory with a technical fall at 149 pounds.

No. 11 Adams State 20, Chadron State 17

157 – Bruce Zurek, CSC, pinned Daniel Kelly, :38

165 – Justin Samora, ASC, dec. Mikah Kadera, 3-2

174 – Bret Klopp, CSC, dec. Jarod Purvis, 10-3

184 – Jordan Debus, CSC, technical fall Darian Roberts, 15-0

197 – Chris Leak, CSC, dec. No. 3 Luke McPeek, 5-3 in sudden victory

285 – Taylor Stam, ASC, dec. Mike Hill, 12-5

125 – Jerry Huff, ASC, dec. Connor Larson, 7-1

133 – No. 4 Ryan Fillingame, ASC, dec. Dustin Stodola, 3-1

141 – Max Ortega, ASC, dec. Leandro Arias, 7-3

149 – No. 4 Josh Hensley, ASC, technical fall C.J. Clark, 17-2

—Alex Helmbrecht, Sports Information Director