The Pueblo community certainly stepped up, with business leaders and former players — like Dan DeRose, who's also the former athletic director — helping generate funds to build an on-campus stadium. Wristen enticed players and assistant coaches to town who could envision what he saw — a program able to quickly rise from scratch. Defensive coordinator Hunter Hughes and D-line coach Craig Ward have been with Wristen since day one. Since 2011, the ThunderWolves are 47-4. [...] they've struggled in the playoffs, seeing three straight undefeated seasons come to an end early in the postseason. [...] last weekend, CSU-Pueblo cleared a big hurdle, beating West Georgia 10-7 in the semifinals to advance to the title game. The squad features one of the top defenses in the nation, led by senior defensive end Darius Allen, a two-time winner of the Gene Upshaw award as the Division II lineman of the year. [...] offensive lineman Ryan Jensen was recently promoted to the active roster in Baltimore.