SDSU hosts Oregon State in first dual of 2018

Dual 7: Oregon State (2-1) at #15 South Dakota State (4-2)

When	Friday, Jan. 5 \| 7 p.m. Central Time
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D.
TV	Video Streaming: FloWrestling.org (subscription)
Radio	None
Live Stats	TrackWrestling.com
Match Notes	South Dakota State \| Oregon State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GetJacked

Fresh off its highest-ever finish at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, the South Dakota State University wrestling team resumes dual action Friday night by hosting Oregon State.
Action is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Frost Arena. The dual can be viewed through the FloWrestling.org subscription service. The first 500 fans attending Friday's dual will receive a 2018 SDSU wrestling calendar.
The Jackrabbits, ranked 15th in the USA Today/National Wrestling Coaches' Association poll for the second week in a row, enter their first competition of the new calendar year with a 4-2 record in duals. SDSU has won four duals in a row, the last of which was a 23-16 home victory over then-No. 18 Central Michigan on Dec. 8.
Oregon State is 2-1 in duals so far this season. The Beavers were blanked, 48-0, at ninth-ranked Michigan in their last dual action, on Dec. 10.
Both squads competed at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships last weekend in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. SDSU finished fifth in the team standings with 99 points, while Oregon State placed 12th with 47 points. Junior 125-pounder Ronnie Bresser was the top individual finisher for the Beavers, notching a runner-up finish.

THE SERIES: Friday's match will mark the third time South Dakota State and Oregon State have wrestled each other in dual competition. The Beavers won both previous duals, starting with a 45-3 decision at the 2011 NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Oregon State later claimed a 35-6 victory at Frost Arena on Jan. 25, 2015.

RABBITS RANKED: South Dakota State is well represented both individually and as a team in rankings conducted by a number of wrestling-related media outlets.
The Jackrabbits opened the 2017-18 season with a No. 16 ranking in the first USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, and have since moved up one spot to 15th — their highest-ever ranking at the D-I level — a spot they have held the last two weeks.
Defending national champion Penn State is the top-ranked team in the poll, followed by Ohio State. Reigning Big 12 Conference champion Oklahoma State is third.
Besides Oklahoma State and the Jackrabbits, the Big 12 is represented in the poll by newcomer Northern Iowa (11th), Oklahoma (18th) and North Dakota State (25th).
Other current top-25 opponents on the Jackrabbits' dual schedule this season include Arizona State (10th), Minnesota (14th) and Central Michigan (21st).
The Jackrabbits also are ranked 11th by FloWrestling and 13th by TrackWrestling. SDSU stands 11th in tournament rankings conducted by both Intermat and WIN Magazine, as well as 15th in the dual rankings from both outlets.
Individually, all four of the Jackrabbits' returning national qualifiers appear in at least one Division I poll, highlighted by Seth Gross' No. 1 ranking by all four rating services, although TrackWrestling is the only rating service to release updated rankings since the start of the new calendar year.
A junior from Apple Valley, Minnesota, Gross is undefeated so far this season with a 12-0 record.
Three-time NCAA qualifier Nate Rotert at 197 pounds is ranked sixth by both Intermat and FloWrestling, as well as eighth by WIN Magazine and 13th by TrackWrestling, Senior 174-pounder David Kocer is ranked as high as ninth by FloWrestling, followed by an 11th-place showing by Intermat and respective 12th- and 15th-place showings in the Track Wrestling and WIN Magazine rankings. A Wagner native, Kocer is a two-time NCAA qualifier.
Completing the Jackrabbit rankings is Luke Zilverberg, who has dropped down to the 157-pound weight class for his senior season. An NCAA qualifer at 165 pounds during the 2016-17 season, the Belle Plaine, Minnesota, native checks in at No. 9 in the WIN Magazine rankings, followed by a pair of No. 11 showings in the latest FloWrestling and Intermat rankings. He also stands 11th in the most recent TrackWrestling survey.

MIDLANDS RECAP: South Dakota State's Seth Gross won the 133-pound title and five other Jackrabbit wrestlers placed in the top eight of their respective weight classes as competition wrapped up Dec. 30 at the 55th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships held at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
Gross concluded a dominant two-day performance by becoming the first SDSU wrestler to win an individual title at the Midlands. Neither of Gross' two matches Saturday lasted more than a period. In semifinal action during the afternoon session, Gross recorded a 16-1 technical fall over Dylan Duncan of Illinois.
Facing Buffalo's Bryan Lantry in the championship match Saturday night, Gross built a 10-0 lead before pinning his opponent with 13 seconds remaining in the first period. Gross was later named the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler as he won four matches by technical fall and two more by pin, racking up tournament bests of 93 match points and 31 team points.
Also reaching the finals was 174-pounder David Kocer. A senior from Wagner, Kocer blanked Purdue's Dylan Lydy, 13-0, in semifinal action before dropping an 18-7 major decision to top-ranked Zahid Valencia of Arizona State.
SDSU's two other semifinalists, 157-pounder Luke Zilverberg and Nate Rotert at 197 pounds, fell short in their bids to reach the finals. Rotert lost an 8-1 decision to Penn's Frank Mattiace in the semifinals before posting a 6-4 decision over Pat Brucki of Princeton to earn the right to wrestle for third place. However, Rotert did not wrestle a scheduled rematch with Purdue's Christian Brunner in the evening session for medical reasons, ending his tournament run with a fourth-place finish.
Zilverberg dropped each of his two matches in the afternoon session before coming back with a fifth-place finish Saturday night. A senior from Belle Plaine, Minnesota, Zilverberg dropped a 4-0 decision to Arizona State's Joshua Shields for the second time this season in the semifinals, then dropped a 9-6 decision to John Van Brill of Rutgers in the consolation semis.
In the evening session, Zilverberg recorded a 5-0 shutout of Brown's Justin Staudenmayer to place fifth.
Jackrabbit wrestlers Logan Peterson and Martin Mueller split their seventh-place matches. A junior from Lake Lillian, Minnesota, Peterson placed eighth at 165 pounds. He moved into the placing matches with a 7-6 decision over Brown's Jonathan Viruet to open the day, but fell 8-3 to Iowa's Kaleb Young and came up short in a 7-5 sudden-victory decision to Purdue's Jacob Morrissey.
Mueller, meanwhile, claimed seventh place in the 184-pound weight class with a 2-1 record on Saturday. The sophomore from Rapid City began the day with a 7-5 decision over Mitch Bowman of Iowa before falling to Pittsburgh's Nino Bonaccorsi in the next consolation rounds. Mueller closed his tournament showing by defeating Eastern Michigan's Kayne MacCallum, 10-4, in the seventh-place match.
Of the seven SDSU wrestlers to advance to the second day of competition at the Midlands, freshman 125-pounder Connor Brown was the lone Jackrabbit to not reach the placing rounds. Brown's four-match winning streak was ended by Purdue's Luke Welch, 13-4, in Saturday's opening round.
As a team, the Jackrabbits tallied their highest finish at the Midlands, ending the tournament in fifth place with 99 points. Iowa claimed the team title with 156.5 points, followed by Rutgers (109.5), Central Michigan (108) and Arizona State (106.5).

GROSS ON HODGE WATCH LIST: Nearing the halfway mark of the 2017-18 wrestling season, South Dakota State's Seth Gross is firmly in the discussion for the Hodge Trophy, which is awarded annually to the most outstanding collegiate wrestler.
A junior from Apple Valley, Minnesota, Gross is undefeated so far this season with a 12-0 record. Of his 12 victories, five have been by technical fall and five by fall. At last week's Midlands Championships, the top-ranked Gross cruised to the 133-pound title by recording four technical falls and two pins in his six matches, earning the two-day tournament's Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler award.
Hodge Trophy candidates are judged on the following criteria: record, number of pins, dominance, past credentials, quality of competition, sportsmanship/citizenship and heart.
Gross enters the 2018 calendar year with a 72-16 overall record in his three seasons at SDSU, including a 32-6 mark in duals. A two-time NCAA qualifier, Gross compiled a 34-2 record as a sophomore en route to a national runner-up at the 2017 NCAA Championships.

DUAL STREAK: Seth Gross brings a streak of 25 consecutive victories in dual competition into the new year. After winning his final five dual bouts at 141 pounds during the 2015-16 season, Gross posted a perfect 17-0 record in duals last season while wrestling at 133 pounds. He stayed unbeaten at 133 pounds this season and extended his winning streak to 25 with a 16-2 major decision over Central Michigan's Dresden Simon in his most recent action Dec. 8.
Of his 25 consecutive dual wins, 11 have been by fall, six by major decision, and four each by decision and technical fall to total 122 team dual points.
Gross' last dual loss was a 6-4 setback to Wyoming's Bryce Meredith on Jan. 29, 2016. Overall, he holds a 31-6 record in duals during his Jackrabbit career.

THREE JOIN TOP 25: Three South Dakota State University wrestlers have moved into the Jackrabbit top 25 for career wins during the 2017-18 season.
Senior 174-pounder David Kocer was the first to crack the top 25 en route to a runner-up finish at the season-opening Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open on Nov. 5. With a 13-3 record this season, Kocer has upped his career mark to 93-46 to move him into sole possession of 17th place on the SDSU all-time victories list.
David Kocer also joins his older brother, Alex, in the top 25. Alex Kocer is tied for 14th in career wins at SDSU after compiling a 96-44 record from 2014-17 and ending his career with an eighth-place All-America finish at 149 pounds in 2017.
Two other Jackrabbit wrestlers moved into the top 25 last weekend at the Midlands Championships. Luke Zilverberg enters the week with 85 career victories to be part of a four-way tie for 21st, while Nate Rotert has compiled 84 career wins to hold the 25th spot.

COACH BONO: Chris Bono has engineered a successful rebuilding process during his tenure as head coach of the South Dakota State University wrestling team and has the program's sights set high for the 2017-18 campaign.
Entering his sixth season, Bono has helped mentor Jackrabbit wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA Championships 17 times, including a program-best five wrestlers during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. At the 2017 NCAA Championships, Seth Gross finished as runner-up at 133 pounds and Alex Kocer placed eighth at 149 pounds, giving SDSU its first All-Americans in the Division I era. As a team, the Jackrabbits posted their highest-ever finish at the NCAA Division I Championships with a 16th-place showing.
SDSU was ranked nationally for all but the first week of the 2016-17 season, climbing as high as No. 16 in the USA Today/NWCA Top 25. Facing a challenging schedule, the Jackrabbits posted a 14-5 dual record, including an 8-1 mark against Big 12 Conference opponents. SDSU also was selected as a host site for the 2017 NWCA National Duals Championship Series.
The Jackrabbits notched a third-place finish at the 2017 Big 12 Wrestling Championship, with Seth Gross being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 133-pound title. Bono was also honored as the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
In dual competition, Bono has led the Jackrabbits to a 54-41 record that includes three consecutive winning seasons for the first time at the Division I level. Bono's career dual record stands at 93-58, including a highly successful three-year run at Chattanooga.
The Jackrabbits entered a new era during the 2015-16 season by joining the Big 12 Conference as an affiliate member. After dropping early season duals to nationally ranked Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State and Iowa, the Jackrabbits reeled off a school-record 12
consecutive dual victories that propelled them into the top 25 of the Division I team rankings for the first time.
While leading the Jackrabbits, Bono was also tabbed as coach for the U.S. Men's Freestyle team at the 2013 Pan American Championships. In the world event, Bono led Team USA to a 13-point victory.
Under Bono's leadership, the Jackrabbit wrestling program has consistently raised the bar in promoting the sport through innovative social media strategies. SDSU has received the Gold Standard honor from the National Wrestling Coaches Association and Elite Level Sport Marketing three times as part of their Best of Brand Awards.
His teams also have performed well in the classroom, placing in the top 25 for team grade-point average in rankings compiled by the National Wrestling Coaches Association each of the past three seasons. Individually, seven Jackrabbits wrestlers were honored on the 2017 Academic All-Big 12 Conference Wrestling Team.
Bono joined the UTC staff in 2005 after serving nine years as an assistant coach at Iowa State. He was the Cyclones' head assistant coach for five seasons.
Bono lettered at Iowa State from 1994-97 and ranks fifth on the program's all-time wins list with 130 victories. He won the NCAA 150-pound title as a junior and was a four-time NCAA participant. Bono won the Big Eight title as a junior and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the inaugural Big 12 Conference Championship in 1997.
He later served as an assistant coach at Iowa State for nine years, including holding the title of head assistant coach for five seasons before moving on to Chattanooga.

THE ROSTER: The 2017-18 SDSU wrestling roster features 31 student-athletes from 10 different states. Of the 31 wrestlers, 10 are from Minnesota, with eight from South Dakota. Missouri is represented by four wrestlers, while two wrestlers hail from California and Iowa. Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin each have one wrestler.
By class, seven are seniors, four are juniors, four are sophomores, five are redshirt freshmen and 11 are true freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: SDSU begins Big 12 Conference dual action with a trip to the Mountain West next weekend. The Jackrabbits are scheduled to wrestle Jan. 12 at Utah Valley, followed by a Jan. 14 matinee at Air Force.

-GoJacks.com-

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