SDSU wrestlers close out road dual slate

Friday, February 7

Morgantown, W. Va.

7 p.m. ET

South Dakota State University

West Virginia

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

2/5/2020 2:56:00 PM | Wrestling

Dual 14: South Dakota State (8-5, 4-2 Big 12) at West Virginia (3-8, 0-3 Big 12)

When	FrIday, Feb. 7 \| 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central)
Where	WVU Coliseum \| Morgantown, West Virginia
TV	WVUSports.com (free video)
Radio	None
Live Stats	TrackWrestling.com
Match Notes	South Dakota State Notes \| SDSU Statistics \| West Virginia Notes
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GetJacked

Dual 15: South Dakota State at Ohio (6-6)

When	Sunday, Feb. 9 \| 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central)
Where	Convocation Center \| Athens, Ohio
TV	ESPN+ (subscription)
Radio	None
Live Stats	TrackWrestling.com
Match Notes	South Dakota State Notes \| SDSU Statistics \| Ohio Notes
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GetJacked

BROOKINGS, S.D. — The South Dakota State University wrestling team closes out its away dual schedule with its second two-match road trip in as many weekends.

Winners of seven of their last nine duals, the Jackrabbits enter Friday's dual at West Virginia with an 8-5 overall record, including a 4-2 mark against Big 12 Conference opponents. SDSU began its road swing with a 35-3 loss at 11th-ranked Oklahoma State on Jan. 31, before rebounding with a 42-0 victory over Little Rock on Feb. 2.

West Virginia will be in search of its first Big 12 dual win of the season as the Mountaineers are 0-3 in league action and 3-8 overall in duals. WVU hasn't wrestled since dropping a Jan. 19 dual at Oklahoma, 22-18.

Friday's dual is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time (6 p.m. Central) at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia. Video coverage of the dual will be available at wvusports.com.

The Jackrabbits close out the weekend with a Sunday matinee at Ohio University, starting at 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central) at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats, who are scheduled to wrestle Mid-American Conference opponent Northern Illinois at noon Eastern Sunday, come into their double dual with a 6-6 dual mark.

Video of Sunday's wrestling action is slated to be aired through the ESPN+ streaming platform (subscription required).

SERIES VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA: South Dakota State and West Virginia are scheduled to meet in dual action for the fifth time in a series that began when the Jackrabbits joined the Big 12 Conference as an affiliate member for wrestling at the start of the 2015-16 season.

SDSU has won each of the first four meetings, posting an 18-15 victory at Frost Arena in the initial meeting on Feb. 12, 2016.

The Jackrabbits ran the winning streak to four with a 22-19 victory in the final dual of the 2018-19 season, Feb. 24, 2019, at Frost Arena. Samuel Grove and Zach Carlson paced SDSU by recording back-to-back pins.

Trailing 4-0 after the opening bout, Aric Williams put SDSU on the board with a 7-4 decision over Luke Martin in the 141-pound matchup. Williams trailed 4-1 after the first period, but dominated the final two periods. He scored on a reversal in the second period to cut the margin to 4-3, then picked up a point for stalling early in the third before recording a takedown and finishing the scoring with a point for riding time.

The Mountaineers' Christian Monserrat notched a 5-1 decision over SDSU's Henry Pohlmeyer in a match between wrestlers ranked in a variety of national polls, upping the West Virginia lead to 7-3.

However, SDSU put together a decisive four-match winning streak to go ahead 22-7.

Colten Carlson started the run with an 8-2 decision over Kyler Rea at 157 pounds and Logan Peterson followed with an impressive 15-6 major decision over Nick Kiussis in the 165-pound matchup. Peterson, the lone Jackrabbit senior in the lineup, jumped out to an 8-0 first-period lead with a takedown, four-point near-fall and two-point near-fall. He added another two-point near-fall in the second period of his final home competition.

Grove and Zach Carlson completed the Jackrabbit offensive with respective pins of James Wujek and Jackson Moomau at 174 and 184 pounds. Grove's victory was his first dual win of the season, while Carlson improved to a team-best 9-4 in duals.

West Virginia closed the dual with three consecutive wins, including bonus-point victories by Noah Adams (major decision) and Devin Brown (technical fall).

South Dakota State 22, West Virginia 19 (Feb. 24, 2019)
133: #20 Matthew Schmitt (WVU) major dec. Rylee Molitor (SDSU), 11-1
141: Aric Williams (SDSU) dec. Luke Martin (WVU), 7-4
149: #19 Christian Monserrat (WVU) dec. Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU), 5-1
157: Colten Carlson (SDSU) dec. Kyler Rea (WVU), 8-2
165: Logan Peterson (SDSU) major dec. Nick Kiussis (WVU), 15-6
174: Samuel Grove (SDSU) def. James Wujek (WVU), by fall 4:38
184: Zach Carlson (SDSU) def. Jackson Moomau (WVU), by fall 2:49
197: Noah Adams (WVU) major dec. Martin Mueller (SDSU), 10-1
285: Brandon Ngati (WVU) dec. Blake Wolters (SDSU), 5-3 [SV-2]
125: Devin Brown (WVU) tech. fall Gregory Coapstick (SDSU), 18-3 [4:39]

SERIES VERSUS OHIO: The Jackrabbits will be in search of their first dual victory against Ohio. Sunday's matchup will be the fourth in a series that began with a 35-12 Ohio victory at the North Carolina State Duals during the 2006-07 season.

Overall, the Bobcats hold a 2-0-1 series advantage, with all three previous matchups held at neutral sites. The two squads tied 21-all at the Indiana Duals during the 2007-08 season, with Ohio winning the most recent meeting, 32-6, during a triangular hosted by Northern Iowa during the 2013-14 campaign.

LAST WEEK: The Jackrabbits split a pair of weekend duals, falling 35-3 at 11th-ranked Oklahoma State on Jan. 31 before opening the final month of the dual season with a 42-0 shutout of Little Rock on Feb. 2.

Oklahoma State 35, South Dakota State 3
Eleventh-ranked Oklahoma State won the first nine matches, including three by major decision, to defeat South Dakota State, 35-3, in a Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Jan. 31 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

SDSU dropped to 7-5 overall and 4-2 in Big 12 duals. OSU, which featured nine ranked wrestlers in its lineup, improved to 9-2 overall and 5-1 in conference action.

The Cowboys claimed each of the five matches between ranked wrestlers, starting with the opening bout of the night as fourth-ranked Nick Piccininni posted a 17-1 technical-fall victory over 23rd-ranked Danny Vega of SDSU in the third period of their 125-pound matchup.

In the marquee matchup of the evening, top-ranked Boo Lewallen of Oklahoma State broke open his match against ninth-ranked Henry Pohlmeyer of SDSU in the third period. Lewallen took a 1-0 lead into the third period but cruised to a 10-0 major decision with a pair of four-point near-falls and an additional point for a riding-time advantage of more than a minute.

Lewallen's win was the first of three consecutive major decisions by OSU wrestlers. Wyatt Sheets, ranked 21st at 157 pounds downed Jackrabbit reserve Peyton Smith, 11-3, while 10th-ranked Travis Wittlake scored a 14-6 major over 26th-ranked Tanner Cook in the 165-pound weight class.

OSU also won some closely contested matches, highlighted by Anthony Montalvo's 3-1 buzzer-beating victory over 17th-ranked Zach Carlson in the 184-pound matchup. The match appeared headed for overtime tied at 1, but the 21st-ranked Montalvo was awarded a takedown just before the horn after a video review.

At 141 pounds, the Jackrabbits' Clay Carlson led 17th-ranked Dusty Hone of Oklahoma State, 2-1, after the first period. Hone took control in the second period, scoring on an escape and takedown for a 4-2 lead, then rode out the entire third period en route to a 5-2 decision.

Also winning by decision for Oklahoma State were 133-pounder Reece Witcraft, a 9-4 winner over Zach Price, and 174-pounder Joseph Smith, who downed Jackrabbit backup Kelby Hawkins, 9-3.

In the final matchup of the night between ranked foes, 18th-ranked Tanner Sloan of SDSU withdrew from his 197-pound match with ninth-ranked Dakota Geer after suffering an injury in the first period. Sloan finished the period, but could not continue.

SDSU heavyweight Blake Wolters ended the Cowboys' shutout bid with a 4-3 decision over Auston Harris in the final match of the night. Wolters opened the scoring with a takedown in the first period and came up with the tie-breaking takedown with about 40 seconds remaining in the match as he posted his second dual win in a row.

#11 Oklahoma State 35, South Dakota State 3
125: #4 Nick Piccininni (OSU) tech. fall #25 Danny Vega (SDSU), 17-1 [6:28]
133: #25 Reece Witcraft (OSU) dec. Zach Price (SDSU), 9-4
141: #17 Dusty Hone (OSU) dec. Clay Carlson (SDSU), 5-2
149: #1 Boo Lewallen (OSU) major dec. #10 Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU), 10-0
157: #21 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) major dec. Peyton Smith (SDSU), 11-3
165: #10 Travis Wittlake (OSU) major dec. Tanner Cook (SDSU), 14-6
174: #13 Joseph Smith (OSU) dec. Kelby Hawkins (SDSU), 9-3
184: #21 Anthony Montalvo (OSU) dec. #16 Zach Carlson (SDSU), 3-1
197: #9 Dakota Geer (OSU) def. #18 Tanner Sloan (SDSU), by injury default [3:00]
285: Blake Wolters (SDSU) dec. Auston Harris (OSU), 4-3
Note: Individual rankings by FloWrestling

South Dakota State 42, Little Rock 0
South Dakota State wrestlers won three matches by technical fall and another by pin in shutting out first-year program Little Rock, 42-0, in dual action Feb. 2 at Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Jackrabbits, who won for the seventh time in their last nine duals, improved to 8-5 overall. Little Rock dropped to 1-5 in its inaugural season.

After Peyton Smith (157 pounds) and Tanner Cook (165) won back-to-back decisions to open the dual, the Jackrabbits began to assert their dominance in the upper weights. Freshman 174-pounder Cade King marked his return to the lineup with an 18-2 technical fall over Tristan Tadeo in a match that was stopped 25 seconds into the third period.

Zach Carlson, ranked 16th at 184 pounds, needed only one period to post another 18-2 technical fall versus Matthew Muller. Carlson recorded three takedowns and added a trio of four-point near-falls in improving to 18-5 on the season.

To close the first half of the dual, Kelby Hawkins moved up a couple weight classes to fill in for an injured Tanner Sloan at 197 pounds and came away with a 6-3 decision over James Johnson.

Blake Wolters began the second half of the dual by receiving a forfeit that pushed the SDSU lead to 25-0.

Danny Vega then came through with the third technical fall of the afternoon for the Jackrabbits, posting an 18-3 victory over Jayden Carson. Vega raced out to an 8-1 first-period lead before building the lead to 14-1 through two periods with a takedown and four-point near-fall in the second stanza.

Following consecutive decisions by redshirt freshmen Zach Price (133) and Clay Carlson (141), 10th-ranked Henry Pohlmeyer put the exclamation point on the match with a pin in 36 seconds against Tyler Brennan in the 149-pound bout. Price's victory, a 10-7 decision, came against former North Dakota State wrestler Paul Bianchi.

In sealing the shutout, Pohlmeyer's pin was his second of the season as he upped his record to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in duals.

South Dakota State 42, Little Rock 0
157: Peyton Smith (SDSU) dec. Thomas Lisher (LR), 2-0
165: Tanner Cook (SDSU) dec. William Edgar (LR), 10-7
174: Cade King (SDSU) tech. fall Tristan Tadeo (LR), 18-2 [5:25]
184: #16 Zach Carlson (SDSU) tech. fall Matthew Muller (LR), 18-2 [3:00]
197: Kelby Hawkins (SDSU) dec. James Johnson (LR), 6-3
285: Blake Wolters (SDSU) won by forfeit
125: #25 Danny Vega (SDSU) tech. fall Jayden Carson (LR), 18-3 [7:00]
133: Zach Price (SDSU) dec. Paul Bianchi (LR), 10-7
141: Clay Carlson (SDSU) dec. Conner Ward (LR), 8-5
149: #10 Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) def. Tyler Brennan (LR), by fall 0:36

RARE SHUTOUT: South Dakota State's 42-0 victory at Little Rock on Feb. 2 marked the Jackrabbits' first shutout of a Division I opponent in 14 years.

SDSU last blanked an opponent on Jan. 13, 2006, when the Jackrabbits posted a 44-0 victory over Delaware State at the Virginia Duals.

Prior to last Sunday, the last time SDSU shut out any dual opponent was a 49-0 victory over Division II in-state opponent Augustana at the Dakota Showcase in Spearfish on Dec. 3, 2017

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 28-12 record in duals against Big 12 opponents, with seven of those losses coming during the 2018-19 campaign. 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.

CARLSON COMES UP BIG IN DUALS: Senior 184-pounder Zach Carlson has been the Jackrabbits' top performer in duals over the past two seasons. The Murdock, Minnesota, native has combined for a 19-7 dual record since becoming a full-time starter during the 2018-19 campaign. He led the squad with a 9-4 dual record as a junior and is a team-best 10-3 in duals so far this year.

His 19 dual wins have resulted in 76 team points for the Jackrabbits.

POHLMEYER HONORED: South Dakota State 149-pounder Henry Pohlmeyer was named as Big 12 Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 14 after helping lead the Jackrabbits to a pair of victories over conference opponents.

A senior from Johnston, Iowa, Pohlmeyer opened the week with a 9-1 major decision over seventh-ranked Max Thomsen in a Jan. 10 dual at Northern Iowa — a matchup in which the Jackrabbits came away with a 25-13 dual win over the 16th-ranked Panthers. He closed the weekend with a 6-2 decision over 19th-ranked Jaron Jensen of Wyoming on Jan. 12 as SDSU prevailed 17-16 in the dual.

Pohlmeyer enters the week with a 14-4 overall record and a 7-2 mark in dual competition. He leads active Jackrabbit wrestlers in career wins with 68.

MARKO JOINS SQUAD: Four-time Wisconsin state champion Hunter Marko recently joined the South Dakota State wrestling program after transferring from the University of Minnesota.

Marko saw limited action in three seasons at Minnesota, which included posting a 2-4 dual record as a redshirt freshman during the 2017-18 campaign.

A native of Amery, Wisconsin, Marko will be eligible to compete in the fall of 2020 and is projected as a 149-pounder.

RABBITS RANKED: Five 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 has been the big mover the past month, climbing to top-10 rankings by three organizations: WIN Magazine (eighth), FloWrestling (ninth) and TrackWrestling (ninth). He also is ranked 11th by Intermat.

Sloan, a redshirt freshman from Alburnett, Iowa, was ranked in the top 10 by three media outlets earlier in the season. He currently holds rankings by the same outlets as Pohlmeyer, ranging from 13th (WIN Magazine) to 18th (FloWrestling).

At 184 pounds, Zach Carlson has moved into all four rankings, including holding the eighth spot the WIN Magazine rankings. A senior from Murdock, Minnesota, Carlson also is ranked 16th by TrackWrestling and FloWrestling, and 17th by Intermat.

Also appearing in the rankings in recent weeks are 125-pounder Danny Vega and 165-pounder Tanner Cook. Vega, a junior who previously competed at Iowa State, is ranked as high as 14th by Intermat. He also stands 18th in the WIN Magazine rankings, 23rd by TrackWrestling and 24th by FloWrestling. He has an 8-3 mark in duals since entering the lineup Dec. 20 versus Minnesota.

Cook, a freshman from Ilion, New York, has solidified the 165-pound spot with a 13-3 overall record, including a 7-2 mark in duals since being inserted into the Jackrabbit lineup at the South Beach Duals in late December. Cook, who has a total of 11 wins by fall this season, is 26th in the TrackWrestling rankings for the third consecutive week. His nine pins against Division I competition rank in a tie for fourth among D-I wrestlers this season.

Other Jackrabbits to be ranked this season, but who currently are outside the rankings, are 133-pounder Zach Price and 141-pounder Clay Carlson. Both are redshirt freshmen.

As a team, the Jackrabbits are ranked 21st by WIN Magazine and 25th by Intermat in the organizations' dual rankings. SDSU also has received votes in the NWCA Division I Coaches' Poll in recent weeks.

PANEL RANKINGS: Five South Dakota State University wrestlers were included in the first of four coaches' panel rankings for the 2019-20 season, which were announced Jan. 24.

Ranked Jackrabbits are:

Danny Vega, 22nd at 125 pounds (16-7 overall record);
Henry Pohlmeyer, 10th at 149 pounds (14-4 overall);
Tanner Cook, 23rd at 165 pounds (13-3 overall);
Zach Carlson, 15th at 184 pounds (18-5 overall), and
Tanner Sloan, 17th at 197 pounds (14-5 overall).

The rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, EIWA, MAC, Pac-12 and SoCon), which is double the amount of voters that had previously been used for the coaches' panel rankings. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have participated in at least five matches against Division I opponents in the weight class and have wrestled within the last 30 days to be ranked.

The first two rankings (Jan. 24/Feb. 13) are used primarily for educational purposes to promote the selection criteria to coaches, student-athletes, media and fans. The third ranking (Feb. 27) will be the ranking that will be used by the NCAA Wrestling Committee to assist in determining the advance allocations to each qualifying tournament. The final ranking following conference tournaments will be used to provide the most accurate and up-to-date rankings to the committee as an important element of the selection criteria during the in-person selection meeting.

Wrestlers in each weight class will be measured by winning percentage, rating percentage index (RPI) and coaches' rankings to earn allocation spots for their qualifying tournaments for the championships.

The above criteria, in addition to head-to-head competition, quality wins, results against common opponents and qualifying tournament placement are all part of the evaluation process for selection and seeding the committee uses for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

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 Jackrabbit wrestling program.

"Damion represents everything we are looking for in being able to take our wrestling program to the next level," said South Dakota State University 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. He enters the week with an 11-15 career mark.

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, nine are from Minnesota and nine are native South Dakotans. Iowa is represented by seven wrestlers, while two wrestlers hail from New York and Wisconsin. Seven states — Arizona, California, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Washington — each have one wrestler.

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

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits will close out the regular season with three consecutive duals, starting with two over President's Day weekend. SDSU is scheduled to host Big 12 Conference opponent Fresno State on Feb. 15, followed by a Feb. 16 matchup with Pac-12 Conference foe Stanford. Both duals will follow Jackrabbit basketball games and are slated for 6 p.m. starts at Frost Arena.

The 2019-20 dual finale is set for Feb. 21 versus North Dakota State.

-GoJacks.com-