CSC Athletics
Kaleb Center, Sports Information Director
CHADRON – Chadron State College head men’s wrestling coach Brett Hunter announced on Thursday the program’s signing class for the upcoming 2021-22 season.
The Eagles will welcome 13 new wrestlers into the fold, including 10 incoming freshmen and three transfers.
Four are originally from in-state, three from Wyoming, and one each hail from California, Colorado, Iowa, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Among them all, they hold 17 state championships, 38 state placings, and six All-American titles.
The new recruits from Nebraska are Darian Diaz and Skyler Geier-Dodson of North Platte, Hunter Gilmore of Arlington, and Kobe Lyons of York. Three of four are state finalists, with Diaz and Lyons having won it all in Classes A and B, respectively. Diaz will project as a 133-pounder, while the other three will wrestle in the middle weight classes.
The three from Wyoming are Keegan Gehlhausen of Pinedale, Luke Goncalves of Worland, and Colter Julian of Kemmerer. Gehlhausen and Goncalves are both three-time champs in Class 3A. Julian is a junior college transfer from Northeastern Junior College in Colorado, where he was a district runner-up at 125 pounds last year, after placing four times at state in high school. Gehlhausen will wrestle at 174 or 184, while Goncalves expects to compete at 165.
Another transfer, Ethan Leake of Clovis, California, comes to CSC from Northern Colorado, where he redshirted in 2018-19 and placed at two open meets and started three duals in 2019-20 at 157 pounds.
Out of Colorado comes three-time 3A state champ Zane Rankin of Lamar. He will project as a 149-pounder.
From Polk City, Iowa, Chance Bockenstedt is a two-time state placer in class 2A, both at 145 and 152 pounds. He will compete in either the 149 or 157-pound divisions in college.
Texas native Darwin Hull is a back-to-back state finalist for Clemens High in Schertz, putting together a 73-2 career record and winning a title this past season. He also placed twice at UWW Greco-Roman Cadets and was a Fargo All-American in Greco as well. He will be either a 165 or a 174.
Utah’s Quade Smith was a three-time state champ for Layton High. He also earned High School All-American honors four times, placing twice at NHSCA Nationals and twice at Fargo Nationals. He will enter as a 125-pounder at CSC.
Finally, sophomore Yusef Nelson will transfer from Arizona Christian, where he placed at the 2019 Embry-Riddle Open. Originally from Auburn, Washington, he was a three-time state placer at Riverside High. He will wrestle at 125 pounds.
In addition to the 13 newcomers, CSC expects to return as many as 18 student-athletes from its 2020-21 roster.