Jacks prepare for South Beach Duals, Midlands

Duals 4-7: South Dakota State (1-2) at South Beach Duals

When	Sunday-Monday, Dec. 29-30
Where	Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center \| Fort Lauderdale, Florida
TV	TrackWrestling.com (subscription)
Schedule	Sunday, Dec. 29 • vs. Cornell (N.Y.), 11 a.m. ET \| • vs. Duke, 1 p.m. ET Monday, Dec. 30 • vs. Michigan State, 11 a.m. ET \| vs. Old Dominion, 1 p.m. ET
Live Stats	TrackWrestling.com
Match Notes	South Dakota State \| Tournament Website
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GetJacked

South Dakota State at Midlands Championships

When	Sunday-Monday, Dec. 29-30
Where	Sears Centre \| Hoffman Estates, Illinois
TV	FloWrestling.org (subscription)
Schedule	Sunday, Dec. 29 • Sessions at 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 30 • Sessions at noon and 7 p.m.
Live Stats	F loArena
Match Notes	South Dakota State \| Tournament Website
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GetJacked

The South Dakota State University wrestling team returns to the mats this weekend with the Jackrabbits splitting their squad and competing in a pair of high-profile tournaments.

The starting lineup and key reserves will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the South Beach Duals Sunday and Monday. SDSU, which enters the tournament with a 1-2 dual mark, is slated to wrestle four duals over the two days at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. Following dual competition each day, wrestlers will compete in an open tournament format.

The Jackrabbits' schedule at the South Beach Duals follows:
Sunday, Dec. 29
• vs. #18 Cornell (N.Y.), 11 a.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. Central)
• vs. Duke, 1 p.m. ET (noon CT)
Monday, Dec. 30
• vs. Michigan State, 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT)
• vs. Old Dominion, 1 p.m. ET (noon CT)

Coverage of the South Beach Duals will be available through TrackWrestling.com.

Another contingent of Jackrabbit wrestlers is slated to compete Sunday and Monday at the 57th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University. The event will be held at Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, with competition beginning at 9:30 a.m. Sunday and noon Monday.

Complete coverage of the Midlands will be available through FloWrestling.org.

THE SERIES: Each of the Jackrabbits' foes at the South Beach Duals will be first-time opponents.

SDSU has had a wrestler advance to the finals of the Midlands Championships each of the past five seasons. Cody Pack began the streak with consecutive 157-pound championship-bout appearances in 2014 and 2015, followed by a run to the finals in 2016 by Nate Rotert in the 197-pound division. En route to a national championship during the 2017-18 season, Seth Gross became the first Jackrabbit to win a Midlands individual title as he was victorious in the 133-pound weight class.

Last season, Tanner Sloan, who was competing unattached as a true freshman, advanced all the way to the 197-pound finals, while Henry Pohlmeyer placed eighth in the 149-pound weight class. As a team, the Jackrabbits finished tied for 24th at the 2018 Midlands Championships, ending a streak of three consecutive top-10 showings.

SDSU's best finish in the team standings was in 2017 when the Jackrabbits had six wrestlers place in the top eight of their respective weight classes.

BIG RED REUNION: Sunday's opening dual against Cornell at the South Beach Duals has the makings of a reunion for two members of the South Dakota State coaching staff.

Head coach Damion Hahn served as an assistant coach and later associate head coach at Cornell for 12 seasons before taking his first head coaching position with the Jackrabbits in the spring of 2018. During his tenure, the Big Red recorded 11 top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Championships, including consecutive runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011. He mentored 50 All-Americans, 12 of whom were individual NCAA champions. Cornell also won 12 straight Ivy League dual championships and 11 consecutive Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association team titles.

SDSU assistant coach Cam Simaz wrestled at Cornell and earned All-America honors four times, including winning a national title at 197 pounds as a senior in 2012 after runner-up finishes the previous two seasons.

LAST TIME OUT: Thirteenth-ranked Minnesota won seven of 10 matches, defeating South Dakota State, 22-10, in a college wrestling dual Dec. 20 at Frost Arena.

The Golden Gophers improved to 2-2 overall, while SDSU dropped to 1-2.

In the first match of the night, at 125 pounds, the Jackrabbits' Danny Vega scored an early takedown against Patrick McKee, before the 19th-ranked McKee countered with a reversal to knot the match at 2-all. McKee gained a 3-2 lead with an escape in the second period, but Vega posted his second takedown of the match to open the scoring in the third period. However, McKee again scored on a reversal seconds later and gained the final point via riding time for the final point in a 6-4 decision.

Redshirt freshman Zach Price gave SDSU a 4-3 lead in the team score with a dominating performance in the 133-pound matchup. The Johnston, Iowa, native posted a takedown in each period and racked up more than five minutes of riding time en route to shutting out Brent Jones, 10-0.

The Jackrabbit lead was short-lived however as Minnesota notched five consecutive victories by decision for an 18-4 lead. Brayton Lee scored a 4-3 decision over Henry Pohlmeyer in a matchup between the fifth- and 15th-ranked wrestlers in the 149-pound division, while second-ranked Mitch McKee started the string of Golden Gopher wins with a 6-1 decision over Clay Carlson at 141 pounds.

After seventh-ranked Devin Skatza of Minnesota posted a 6-1 decision over Cade King in the 174-pound bout, the Jackrabbits' Zach Carlson ended the run with a 4-1 decision over Owen Webster. Carlson entered the match ranked 17th at 184 pounds and earned his second win of the season over the 18th-ranked Webster.

SDSU's third ranked wrestler in the lineup, Tanner Sloan, followed with a 5-0 decision over Hunter Ritter. A redshirt freshman from Alburnett, Iowa, Sloan is ranked 19th at 197 pounds.

Minnesota heavyweight Gable Stevenson, a returning All-American who was making his season debut, closed the dual with the lone bonus-point win for the Gophers, scoring a 21-8 major decision over Blake Wolters.

#13 MINNESOTA 22, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 10
125: #19 Patrick McKee (MINN) dec. Danny Vega (SDSU), 6-4
133: Zach Price (SDSU) major dec. Brent Jones (MINN), 10-0
141: #2 Mitchell McKee (MINN) dec. Clay Carlson (SDSU), 6-1
149: #5 Brayton Lee (MINN) dec. #15 Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU), 4-3
157: Carson Brolsma (MINN) dec. Colten Carlson (SDSU), 6-3
165: Bailee O'Reilly (MINN) dec. Garrett Jordan (SDSU), 9-4
174: #7 Devin Skatzka (MINN) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 6-1
184: #17 Zach Carlson (SDSU) dec. #18 Owen Webster (MINN), 4-1
197: #19 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) dec. Hunter Ritter (MINN), 5-0
285: Gable Steveson (MINN) major dec. Blake Wolters (SDSU), 21-8
Note: Rankings by FloWrestling

BIG 12 SUCCESS: Now in its fifth season as an affiliate member of the Big 12 Conference for wrestling, South Dakota State has proven it can contend in one of the top wrestling leagues in the country.

Since joining the league at the start of the 2015-16 season, the Jackrabbits have combined to post a 25-9 record in duals against Big 12 foes. SDSU posted an 8-0 mark in Big 12 duals during the 2017-18 season.

The Jackrabbits also turned in back-to-back third-place efforts at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship in both 2017 and 2018, after a fourth-place finish at their inaugural league meet in 2016.

RABBITS RANKED: Following their performances in the first two months of the season, four South Dakota State wrestlers appear in the NCAA Division I rankings compiled by a variety of media outlets.

Ranked throughout the season have been Henry Pohlmeyer at 149 pounds and Tanner Sloan at 197 pounds. A two-time NCAA qualifier and a senior from Johnston, Iowa, Pohlmeyer's highest ranking is 15th by FloWrestling. Pohlmeyer also is currently ranked 18th by TrackWrestling.

Sloan, a redshirt freshman from Alburnett, Iowa, was ranked in the top 10 by three media outlets earlier in the season. He is currently ranked 14th by Intermat, 18th by TrackWrestling and 19th by FloWrestling.

At 184 pounds, Zach Carlson has moved into all three rankings, holding spots of 16th by Intermat, 17th by FloWrestling and 24th by TrackWrestling.

Also appearing in the rankings is 141-pounder Clay Carlson, who is ranked 33rd by TrackWrestling.

JACKS ADD THREE: South Dakota State University head coach Damion Hahn announced that two high school state champions have signed National Letters of Intent, indicating they will enroll next fall and compete for the Jackrabbit wrestling program.

The signees are:
• Joey Thompson, Maple Grove, Minn. (Totino-Grace High School), and
• Jack Thomsen, La Porte City, Iowa (Union High School).

Thompson has won a pair of Minnesota state championships, claiming the Class AAA 106-pound title as a sophomore while wrestling for Maple Grove High School and the Class AA 113-pound title last season as a member of the Totino-Grace High School squad.

In other competition, Thompson has been a two-time USA Wrestling All-American in the junior freestyle division each of the past two years, placing sixth at 113 pounds in 2018 and sixth at 120 pounds this past summer.

Thomsen has placed at the Iowa state meet each of the past three seasons, highlighted by winning the Class 2A championship at 138 pounds as a junior. He finished third at 120 pounds as a sophomore and seventh in the 106-pound division his freshman year.

In addition, Vermillion High School standout Lucus Anglin has been accepted for admission to South Dakota State and plans to join the Jackrabbit wrestling team in the fall of 2020.

Anglin enters his senior season having won Class A South Dakota state titles at 126 pounds and 138 pounds in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Anglin also was a state finalist at 113 pounds as a freshman and placed third in the 106-pound division as an eighth-grader.

COACH HAHN: Damion Hahn, who helped build Cornell into a national power as an assistant coach, was hired on April 9, 2018, to lead the South Dakota State University wrestling program.

"Damion represents everything we are looking for in being able to take our wrestling program to the next level," said SDSU Director of Athletics Justin Sell in announcing the hire. "His success both as a collegiate wrestler and coach, along with his ability to recruit high-achieving student-athletes on and off the mat, made him the ideal candidate. He is a tremendous ambassador for the sport who will work tirelessly to ensure wrestling thrives both on our campus and across the country."

During his first season with the Jackrabbits, Hahn faced a rebuilding task as SDSU featured new starters in six spots in the lineup. SDSU finished with a 3-10 dual record, including a 2-7 mark against Big 12 Conference opponents.

Hahn enters this week with a 4-12 career dual record at SDSU.

The Jackrabbits ended the 2018-19 season with a 10th-place finish at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship and had one NCAA qualifier in 149-pounder Henry Pohlmeyer.

Hahn spent 12 years as an assistant coach and later the associate head coach at Cornell in Ithaca, New York. During his tenure, the Big Red recorded 11 top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Championships, including consecutive runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011. He mentored 50 All-Americans, 12 of whom were individual NCAA champions. Cornell also won 12 straight Ivy League dual championships and 11 consecutive Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association team titles.

In accepting his first head coaching position, Hahn made a return to the Midwest. As a collegiate wrestler at Minnesota, Hahn won NCAA individual national titles as a junior and senior. A four-time All-American, he also was a three-time Big 10 individual champion and was named the Jesse Owens Big 10 Male Athlete of the Year in 2004. The Golden Gophers won team NCAA championships during both his freshman and sophomore seasons. He finished his collegiate career with a 118-21 record.

Hahn was inducted into the University of Minnesota's M Club Hall of Fame in 2018.

THE ROSTER: The 2019-20 SDSU wrestling roster features 36 student-athletes from 12 different states. Of the 36 wrestlers, 10 are from Minnesota, followed by nine who are native South Dakotans. Iowa is represented by seven wrestlers, while two wrestlers hail from New York. Eight states — Arizona, California, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin — each have one wrestler.

By class, five are seniors, four are juniors, eight are sophomores, seven are redshirt freshmen and 12 are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits begin the new calendar year with a Big 12 Conference dual Jan. 10 at nationally ranked Northern Iowa. Start time is set for 7 p.m. in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

SDSU returns home on the back half of that weekend for a Jan. 12 dual versus anothger Big 12 foe in Wyoming. Action is set for a 1 p.m. start at Frost Arena.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Clay Carlson

Colten Carlson

Zach Carlson

Seth Gross

Garrett Jordan

Cade King

Henry Pohlmeyer

Zach Price

Nate Rotert

Tanner Sloan

Danny Vega

Blake Wolters

Completed Event: Wrestling at NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on March 20, 2025 , , 23rd Place - 19.0 Points (1 All-American)

Completed Event: Wrestling versus Big 12 Championships on March 8, 2025 , , 3rd of 14 Teams - 110.0 Points (1 Finalist)

Completed Event: Wrestling at North Dakota State on February 23, 2025 , Win , 23, to, 10

Completed Event: Wrestling versus Iowa State on February 14, 2025 , Loss , 15, to, 20

Completed Event: Wrestling versus Northern Colorado on February 7, 2025 , Win , 30, to, 10

Completed Event: Wrestling versus Wyoming on February 1, 2025 , Win , 31, to, 3

South Dakota State University Athletics