Chadron State College Men's Wrestling

2024 - Entering his 13th season as CSC Head Men's Wrestling Coach and 21st overall at CSC, Brett Hunter, a former wrestler and graduate assistant coach at Chadron State College, has proven he has the ability to lead the Eagles to new heights by amassing a career dual record of 71-57 in 11 seasons. Hunter's winning record includes duals every season against top-ranked teams in the country, at every level of college wrestling, from NCAA Division I, Division II, to junior college. He also qualified at least one wrestler for the NCAA Division II Championships for his first nine consecutive seasons. Prior to his time in the head coaching position, the last time the Eagles finished with a winning dual record was 2009, which was his senior season in a CSC singlet. His 14 dual wins in 2015-16 were the most in one season since 1981-82.  He has coached five All-American wrestlers at CSC. They include Jordan DeBus, Perry McAfee, Dustin Stodola, Chase Clasen, and Wade French. Hunter's wrestlers have also earned individual region titles three times. In the three years which the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference held a league championship, he placed nine in the top-three at their weight class, including three who won conference titles. Hunter has coached 15 All-RMAC selections overall. He is a motivated recruiter and hosts several successful wrestling camps. Hunter, a two-time national champion and the Eagles’ all-time winningest wrestler, began as an interim head coach for the 2012-13 season following the retirement of Dr. Scott Ritzen. Prior to being named as the interim head coach, Hunter served as a graduate assistant under Ritzen for two years and was a student assistant coach the year before that. He is one of the all-time great wrestlers to compete at Chadron State. He is the school’s only repeat national champion – winning at 165 and 174 pounds in 2007 and 2009 – and he has the most wins in school history with a record of 133-32. Hunter, who hails from nearby Rushville, Nebraska, also had a stellar high school wrestling career at Rushville High School. He was a two-time state champion, four-time placer and had a prep record of 141-10. Hunter and his wife, Ashley, a native of Sargent, Neb., were married in the summer of 2011. The couple has a daughter, Paisley, and a son, Jax.

Taygen Smith joined the CSC men's wrestling program as a coaching assistant for the 2022-23 season and was promoted to assistant coach in 2025.  While at Chadron State, Smith has designed plans for practice and individualized training, contributing to the development of eight national qualifiers, two NCAA Division II national runners-up and and an RMAC conference championship-winning team.  The Amarillo, Texas, native wrestled for Amarillo High School. He was a four-time Texas 6A state placer and two-time state runner up.  Smith graduated Hastings College in Nebraska as a three-time national qualifier, Academic All-American, and 2021 All-American. He is currently a master's student at CSC in organizational sports management.