CHADRON, Neb. – For the first time this season, Chadron State broke into the top 25 of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll, marking the first time in over 12 years the Eagles have been included.

In the Week 10 version of the 2025 poll, Chadron State earned a No. 22 national ranking from the voting panel. The Eagles entered the top 25 after defeating then-No. 11 Western Colorado 27-24 in overtime, CSC's eighth straight victory.

Chadron State has not been ranked in the AFCA Poll since CSC was No. 19 on October 8, 2013. That year's Eagles were in the poll for the first five weeks of the season, starting at preseason No. 20 and staying between No. 19 and No. 21 for five subsequent ranking releases.

On October 12, the No. 19 Eagles lost a homecoming game to No. 5 CSU Pueblo, fell out of the rankings and did not return despite posting an 8-3 record that year. The Eagles also won eight games in 2014, but were never ranked, and had not won eight games in a season until this year's squad at 8-2 so far.

Chadron State is one of four schools to enter the AFCA Top 25 this week, joining Benedict, Western Oregon and UNC Pembroke. The four newbies take up spots 22-25 in the rankings, making CSC the highest-ranked new entrant in the country.

The Eagles got their first taste of being a nationally ranked team when the D2Football.com media poll put the Eagles at No. 22 ahead of their showdown with Western Colorado. This week, D2Football.com has the Eagles at No. 19.

The chief rankings that matter are the NCAA regional rankings, which determine playoff qualification and seeding. Chadron State was ranked No. 7 in the initial rankings before the WCU game, with updated rankings expected later Monday.

Another big game is ahead for the Eagles this weekend, as CSC heads on the road to face CSU Pueblo (No. 5 AFCA, No. 7 D2Football). With both teams entering the game with unblemished 8-0 RMAC records, Saturday's game will be a winner-take-all showdown for the RMAC championship. CSU Pueblo is trying to win its second straight while Chadron State is searching for its ninth overall and first since 2008.

Kuester, Yee Win RMAC Awards After OT Heroics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After the Chadron State Eagles recorded one of the biggest program wins in recent memory, the game's two overtime heroes were honored by the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for their standout performances.

Redshirt sophomore defensive back Aiden Kuester and senior kicker Wilson Yee were named the RMAC Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Week, respectively, after CSC's 27-24 win over then-No. 11/9 Western Colorado. It is the first career Player of the Week wins for both Kuester and Yee.

Kuester had two interceptions, including one on the first play of overtime to set the stage for Yee, who hit a 50-yard field goal early in the contest and held his nerve to nail a 47-yarder in overtime and give the Eagles a walk-off win.

Yee's win marks CSC's first Special Teams weekly award of the season and the first for the program since punter Brodie Eisenbraun captured one on September 30, 2024. With Kuester's nod, Chadron State now has five defensive Player of the Week award wins this season, but this marks the first Eagles win by somebody other than four-time winner Logan O'Brien.

Kuester would have been an unlikely hero pregame, as the Neligh, Nebraska native was a game-time injury fill-in for the CSC secondary and was making just his second career start. His performance also came against formidable competition, as reigning Second Team All-American QB Drew Nash had thrown only two interceptions all season before Kuester doubled up Nash's total on his own Saturday.

Kuester came up with his first interception with 12:44 remaining in the fourth quarter, flipping the field to give the Eagles possession at the 15-yard line, which led to CSC punching it in and taking the lead for the first time in the game at 17-16. When the game went to overtime, Kuester halted Western's first possession immediately by making another interception on the Mountaineers' first play. The picks were the first two of Kuester's career.

Yee and the rest of the special teams units on both teams had an adventurous day with cold and windy conditions. After being honored on Senior Night pregame, Yee drilled a 50-yard field goal in the second quarter to put Chadron State on the board, the sixth 50-plus field goal of the Littleton, Colorado native's career.

After Kuester's interception, the Eagles ran two plays to get the ball to the left hash before turning it over to Yee on third down, who left no doubt on a 47-yarder to send Elliott Field at Don Beebe Stadium into a frenzy.

Chadron State (8-2, 8-0 RMAC) plays in a winner-take-all game for the RMAC Championship next Saturday on the road against CSU Pueblo (9-1, 8-0 RMAC). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. The ThunderWolves feature wide receiver Reggie Retzlaff, who joined Kuester and Yee this week by winning Offensive Player of the Week.

Quade Smith Wins RMAC Wrestler of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Redshirt senior Quade Smith earned the first RMAC Men's Wrestling Athlete of the Week award of the 2025-26 season Tuesday after his 5-0 start to the year at the DWU Open.

Smith took home the win in the 125-pound bracket at the event hosted by Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota this past Saturday. It was a triumphant return to competition for Smith, who took a redshirt year in 2024-25 after three years as the Eagles' 125-pound starter prior to that.

Smith, ranked No. 14 in the NWCA's national 125-pound rankings, drew a tough first-round opponent in No. 13 Sloan Johannsen of Northern State, but got past the NSU wrestler by a 14-7 decision, taking a 6-1 lead after one period and recording a nearfall in the second.

Smith rolled through the bracket's middle rounds, pinning his next two opponents (Jamestown's Mario Fernandez and Augustana's Carter Katherman), then collecting a semifinal major decision win over MSU Moorhead's Clayson Mele by a 12-2 score. In the final, Smith earned a shutout win against UMary's Mason Gutenberger, prevailing 4-0 with a first-period takedown and a second-period escape.

On the day, Smith defeated one nationally-ranked wrestler (Johannsen) and two wrestlers from teams who are in the top 15 of the NWCA team rankings (Augustana and UMary).

Smith's RMAC Wrestler of the Week win is the redshirt senior's first since his true freshman campaign, when he took home the honor on November 16, 2021.

Chadron State won three RMAC Men's Wrestler of the Week awards last season, with heavyweight Cody Pinkerton, 184-pounder Keegan Gehlhausen and 197-pounder Mason Villwok winning one time each. Gehlhausen and Villwok return to this year's roster.

The Eagles have their first two duals of the season this Saturday, competing in a triangular against Otero Junior College and Fort Hays State in Wray, Colorado.