Eagle wrestles conclude regular season with dual victory

Feb 14, 2010

Chris Leak
Chadron State's Chris Leak wrestles New Mexico Highlands' Mark Martinez at 184 pounds during their dual Sunday afternoon at the Nelson Physical Activity Center in Chadron.

CHADRON – Sparked by back-to-back pins, the Chadron State College wrestling team earned its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual victory of the season by dispatching New Mexico Highlands 28-13 Sunday afternoon at the Nelson Physical Activity Center.

The Eagles finish the season with an overall record of 4-11 and a 1-8 mark in the RMAC.

“It was important for us to win this dual,” CSC head coach Scott Ritzen said. “We really wanted to get a conference win and I think it’s going to give us momentum as we prepare for the postseason.”

The RMAC/West Regional will be Saturday, Feb. 27 at Adams State College. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships in Omaha March 12-13.

Chadron State, which was shut out during a dual Friday at No. 15 Fort Hays State, showed no ill effects Sunday afternoon as six different wrestlers won.

Cody Vasconcellos gave the Eagles a quick 6-0 lead after pinning Eduardo Gamboa in the first period at 174 pounds and Chris Leak followed with a second-period pin over Mark Martinez at 184.

Duke Eardley’s forfeit victory at 197 put the Eagles up comfortably, 18-0.

Highlands, though, clawed back into the match by winning four of the next five matches to pull within 22-13. During that stretch, Ryan Fillingame’s 16-2 major decision over Donovan Troup was the lone bright spot for CSC.

Following a Highlands decision at 149 pounds, the Eagles closed strong. Brian Easterling took a 7-2 decision at 157 and Justin Dekok eked out a 1-0 decision at 165 to wrap-up the dual victory.

Chadron State 28, New Mexico Highlands 13

174 – Cody Vasconcellos, CSC, pinned Eduardo Gamboa, 2:41

184 – Chris Leak, CSC, pinned Mark Martinez, 4:55

197 – Duke Eardley, CSC, won by forfeit

285 – Jesse Boggs, NMH, dec. Sam Udell, 6-3

125 – No. 1 Seth Wright, NMH, major dec. Dustin Stodola, 13-5

133 – Ryan Fillingame, CSC, major dec. Donovan Troup, 16-2

141 – Daniel Perales, NMH, dec. Hagen Guzman, 7-1

149 – Trey Saxon, NMH, dec. Jake Lords, 8-6

157 – Brian Easterling, CSC, dec. Nick Sanchez, 7-2

165 – Justin Dekok, CSC, dec. Travis Saxon, 1-0