A lighter Hinojosa making impact at Chadron State

    Former Chase County Schools state champion Eli Hinojosa didn’t win his first two wrestling matches at his new weight for the Chadron State Eagles earlier this month, but he won all three of them Saturday at the Midwest Duals in Kearney.
    Now a 197-pounder after losing about 65 pounds the past year, Hinojosa scored a 12-2 major decision over Cole Gustavson of Colorado’s Adams State, decisioned Ivan Balavage of Newman University in Kansas 8-1 and pinned Joe Brady of Central Missouri University in 5:32.
    Hinojosa’s first two matches were against a pair of standouts. He initially lost to No. 10 ranked Joe Reimers of the University of Nebraska-Kearney 8-1 and was pinned by senior Donny Negus of Colorado Mesa in 3:52.
    But the three wins this past weekend were encouraging, Chadron State Coach Brett Hunter said.
    Hinojosa was the Class C 220 lb. state champion as a senior at Chase County  in 2018. Since there is no 220 lb. weight class in college wrestling, he decided to become a heavyweight.
    After two years at Chadron State, he was unable to crack the varsity at that weight and decided to shed the pounds to fill the Eagles’ opening at 197.
    The Eagles’ next dual is this week on Thursday at Colorado State University in Pueblo.