COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Redshirt sophomore Chase Nelson created a game-changing play in the return game last Saturday and has been rewarded with the first RMAC weekly honor of his career. 

Nelson was named the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday by the league office in the final installment of weekly awards this season. It gives the Eagles two consecutive Special Teams Player of the Week winners after Wilson Yee took home the honor last week. 

After CSU Pueblo took a 3-0 first-quarter lead with a field goal, Nelson took the ensuing kickoff and ran untouched through the middle of the ThunderWolves kickoff coverage, angling towards the right sideline and outrushing the Pack for a 92-yard return touchdown.

Nelson's runback is the first kickoff return for a touchdown for Chadron State since the 2017 season. It is the 10^th-longest return in program history and only the 11^th all-time over 90 yards. It is also the fifth-longest kick return in the RMAC this season and the fifth kick return TD in the conference. 

Nelson also added two punt returns for 20 yards for a total of 112 yards in the return game. Nelson's 112 combined return yards are the sixth-most in an RMAC game this year.

On the season, Nelson's 25.6 kick return yards per game rank fifth in the RMAC while his 8.7 punt return yards per game rank fourth in the conference. As a running back, Nelson also has 10 carries for 45 yards and five receptions for 32 yards in 2025. 

With the RMAC season completed, Chadron State (8-3, 8-1 RMAC) has qualified for the NCAA Division II Football Championships as an at-large team. The Eagles will face Pittsburg State, the No. 4 regional seed and No. 6 team in the AFCA Coaches Poll, in the first round at 12 p.m. MT (1 p.m. CT) in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Hunter Jacobsen Named Men's RMAC Wrestler of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – For the second straight week to open the 2025-26, a Chadron State wrestler has taken home the RMAC Men's Wrestler of the Week award with 133-pounder Hunter Jacobsen earning the weekly honor from the league office on Tuesday.

Jacobsen, who joins last week's honoree and 125-pounder Quade Smith as Eagles to win the RMAC award this season, went 2-0 across a pair of dominant dual victory while the Eagle did not allow a point as a team. 

It is the first career RMAC award for Jacobsen, a sophomore from Lincoln, Nebraska and Waverly High School. Jacobsen's award is part of a weekly department sweep after redshirt freshman Desza Munson won the women's weekly honor.

In two matches last weekend, Jacobsen pinned Otero's Robert Ortiz in just 1:37 before recording a 19-2 tech fall win over Fort Hays State's Jett Schwartz. Both victories early in the dual created momentum that Jacobsen's teammates were able to maintain, as Chadron State earned a 54-0 victory over Otero and a 40-0 win over Fort Hays State. 

The two victories improve Jacobsen's record to 5-2 early in his 133-pound career. Jacobsen started for the Eagles at 125 as a true freshman in 2024-25 in place of the redshirting Smith and earned his way to the back half of the NWCA's Top 20 rankings over the course of last season. 

The Eagles are preparing to compete in the UNK Open this Saturday, typically considered the largest tournament in the country. Last season's open had over 750 entrants and 54 teams and was the place that Keegan Gehlhausen announced himself on a national stage with a 184-pound bracket win prior to his eventual national runner-up finish. 

Desza Munson Named Women's Wrestler of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After a scorching start to the season that included a dual win and a tournament win, 145-pound redshirt freshman Desza Munson has been named the RMAC Women's Wrestler of the Week. 

Munson went an unbeaten 4-0 during this past week's action, including three pins. It is the first career weekly honor for Munson in just her second week of competition for Chadron State. Munson's honor also completes a department weekly sweep after sophomore Hunter Jacobsen won the RMAC Men's Wrestler of the Week honor.

Munson began her week with a home dual pin against Dickinson State's Paisley Jaeger in 1:48, which loomed large in CSC's 26-22 dual victory. Then, at the Colby Dust Bowls Open, Munson won three consecutive matches to take down the 145-pound bracket and become the first Eagle women's wrestler with a tournament championship this season. 

Munson grew more dominant as the tournament went along, beating Murray State's Adrianna Chronister via a 10-6 decision in the first round before a semifinal pin in 3:21 against William Jewell's McKinzie Ross and another fall in just 1:07 over Fort Hays State's Amanda Jaeger in the final. 

A redshirt freshman from Commerce City, Colorado, Munson has stepped into the 145-pound slot in CSC's lineup vacated by Karstin Hollen, the only departed senior from last year's RMAC and regional lineup for Chadron State. Munson went 2-2 at the season-opening Battle of the Rockies tournament and is now 6-2 on the year. 

Chadron State women's wrestling will head to Minot State this weekend to compete in duals on Friday and the Minot State Open on Saturday.

Third Quarter Hurts Eagles vs. Oklahoma Christian

EDMOND, Okla. – The Chadron State College women's basketball team led Oklahoma Christian 29-23 at halftime of Sunday's game, but the home team outscored CSC 32-13 in the third quarter and went on to win 74-57.

?The Oklahoma team, also known as the Eagles, previously won the first of back-to-back games on Saturday, 73-48. The teams had never previously met on the basketball court. Saturday and Sunday were the season-opening contests for both teams, so Oklahoma Christian improved to 2-0 while CSC fell to 0-2. 

?The hosts led 11-8 after the first quarter Sunday, but CSC outscored them 21-12 in the second stanza while making 10 of 13 free throws and held a six-point intermission advantage. Chadron State went inside to score in the second period, racking up eight points in the paint and 10 points from the free throw line among their 21. The Eagles had nearly half (13) of their 27 free throw attempts for the game in the second quarter. 

?The situation was much different in the third quarter.  That's when OKU cashed in on 17 of 21 free throws, outscored CSC by a 32-13 margin and was ahead 55-42 going into the final 10 minutes. Christian led by at least 11 points the entire fourth period.

?The home team was 20-of-61 (32.8%) from the field for the game while Chadron State was 17-of-54 (31.5%). The point spread was considerably larger at the free throw line, where the hosts were 31-40 and the visitors 18-27. Oklahoma Christian also won the rebounding battle 46-30.

?Chadron State was by senior forward McKenzi Petersen, who led the team with 12 points and nine rebounds. Junior Bianca Bindzus was close behind with 11 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Kenna Wagner added nine points, but no one else tallied more than five for CSC.  

All three of those players loomed large in the second quarter for CSC, as Petersen went 3-for-3 from the field and scored 7 of her 12 in the second while Bindzus went 5 of 6 from the line in the frame. Wagner led CSC with two made three-pointers, one of which was the only points outside the key for Chadron in their 21-point second quarter. 

For Oklahoma Christian, both Taylor Jackson and Kenzie Willis finished with 13 points and Ahniya Melton had 12 for the winners. Jackson and Melton each collected nine rebounds to match Petersen's total.  

?Coach Jalen Little's Eagles will play at Wayne State this coming Saturday, Nov. 22 and visit the University of Wyoming on Tuesday, Nov.25 and the University of Northern Colorado on Friday, Nov. 28 for exhibition games before opening their RMAC schedule in December.  ?

?Chadron State—McKenzi Petersen 12, Bianca Bindzus 11, Kenna Wagner 9, Audrey Quintana 5, Dreanna Jackson 5, Jordyn Stokes 4, Ella Moser 4, Evelyn Old Coyote 3, Camren Morris 2, Amya Winfrey 1, Teryn Stokes 1.  Totals: 17-54 FG (5-12 3PT) 18-27 FT, 57 points, 30 rebounds, 6 assists, 18 turnovers.

?Oklahoma Christian—Kenzie Willis 13, Taylor Jackson 13, Ahniya Melton 12, Trinity Dobbs 8, Sofia Lopez 8, Allyah Leusogi-Ape 7, Sophie Bennett 3, Cambri Pawpa 3, Hailey Whitman 3, Faith Ford 2, Kendall Brown 2. Totals: 20-61 FG (3-18 3PT) 31-40 FT, 74 points, 45 rebounds, 8 assists, 14 turnovers.