JACKS PREPARE FOR THREE-DUAL SUNDAY

Sunday, January 31

Little Rock, Ark.

10 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Oklahoma

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

1/28/2021 3:24:00 PM | Wrestling

Duals 7, 8 & 9: South Dakota State (2-3 overall, 1-2 Big 12) at Little Rock Quad

When	Sunday, Jan. 31 10 a.m. vs. No. 22 Oklahoma \| noon vs. No. 21 Stanford \| 2 p.m. at Little Rock
Where	Jack Stephens Center \| Little Rock, Arkansas
TV	Little Rock All-Access (vs. Little Rock only, subscription)
Radio	None
Live Stats	Trackwrestling.com
Match Notes	South Dakota State Notes \| Little Rock Home Page \| Stanford Home Page \| Oklahoma Home Page
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GetJacked

The South Dakota State University wrestling team is scheduled to return to action Sunday by meeting a pair of ranked squads in dual action at the Little Rock Quad.

The Jackrabbits, 2-3 overall and 1-2 against Big 12 opponents, are slated to open the day with a conference dual versus Oklahoma at 10 a.m. The 22nd-ranked Sooners feature seven wrestlers currently in the FloWrestling individual rankings and enter the dual 2-3 overall, with a 1-2 mark in Big 12 competition. OU dropped duals to Big 12 foes Iowa State (L, 16-18) and Northern Iowa (L, 13-23) last Sunday in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

SDSU, which was idle last week, also will wrestle Pac-12 Conference opponents Stanford at noon and Little Rock at 2 p.m. Stanford, ranked 21st in this week's coaches' poll, holds a 1-0 dual record heading into a Thursday triangular versus California Baptist and Cal Poly. The Cardinal defeated CSU Bakersfield, 29-13, in season-opening action Jan. 24.

Little Rock is 2-6 overall, but is on a two-dual winning streak after defeating both Fresno State and Cal State Bakersfield last weekend. The Trojans are in their second year as a program.

In between duals and to close out the day-long competition, several other Jackrabbit wrestlers are expected to compete in extra matches. All competition will be held at the Jack Stephens Center on the UA-Little Rock campus.

The order of duals is as follows:
10 a.m. – South Dakota State vs. Oklahoma • Stanford at Little Rock
Noon – South Dakota State vs. Stanford • Oklahoma at Little Rock
2 p.m. – South Dakota State at Little Rock • Stanford vs. Oklahoma

THE SERIES: South Dakota State holds a combined 6-5 dual record against its three weekend opponents. The Jackrabbits wrestled against each of their three opponents last season, coming away with three victories.

Series vs. Oklahoma
Sunday's dual will mark the seventh time South Dakota State and Oklahoma have met on the wrestling mat, dating back to a 31-2 OU victory during the 1969-70 season. The Jackrabbits tied the series at 3-3 by posting a 23-16 victory last season at Frost Arena.

In that dual, SDSU came up with three bonus-point wins, starting with a pin at 165 pounds by Tanner Cook. Zach Carlson followed two matches later with a major decision in the 184-pound bout.

Danny Vega recorded the final bonus-point victory, earning a 13-4 major decision over Christian Moody in the 125-pound matchup.

Winners by decision for the Jackrabbits were Tanner Sloan (197), Blake Wolters (285) and Henry Pohlmeyer (149).

South Dakota State 23, Oklahoma 16 (Jan. 26, 2020 • at Frost Arena)
157: #19 Justin Thomas (OU) major dec. Colten Carlson (SDSU), 16-3
165: Tanner Cook (SDSU) def. Jose Lao Cooper (OU), by fall 0:40
174: #10 Anthony Mantanona (OU) def. Cade King (SDSU), by fall 5:39
184: #16 Zach Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Darrien Roberts (OU), 10-0
197: #19 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) dec. #14 Jake Woodley (OU), 4-2
285: Blake Wolters (SDSU) dec. Josiah Jones (OU), 4-3 [TB-2]
125: #25 Danny Vega (SDSU) major dec. Christian Moody (OU), 13-4
133: #17 Anthony Madrigal (OU) dec. Zach Price (SDSU), 6-0
141: #7 Dom Demas (OU) dec. Clay Carlson (SDSU), 8-2
149: #10 Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) dec. #25 Jacob Butler (OU), 7-2
Note: Individual rankings by FloWrestling

Series vs. Stanford
SDSU pulled even in the all-time series against Stanford with a convincing 34-4 victory over the 21st-ranked Cardinal last season at Frost Arena. The series currently stands at two wins apiece, with two of the duals contested in Brookings and the other two at neutral sites.

In last season's matchup, SDSU won the first nine matches, highlighted by Tanner Sloan's 7-2 victory over Nathan Traxler in a battle between ranked 197-pounders.

The Jackrabbits racked up four bonus-point victories: a forfeit to Henry Pohlmeyer (149), a technical fall by Zach Price at 133 pounds, along with major decisions by Zach Carlson (184) and Clay Carlson (141).

South Dakota State 34, #21 Stanford 4 (Feb. 16, 2020 • at Frost Arena)
174: Tanner Cook (SDSU) dec. Gabe Dinette (STAN), 4-0
184: #17 Zach Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Jared Hill (STAN), 16-5
197: #19 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) dec. #13 Nathan Traxler (STAN), 7-2
285: Blake Wolters (SDSU) dec. Trevor Rasmussen (STAN), 7-1
125: #24 Danny Vega (SDSU) dec. Jackson DiSario (STAN), 6-3
133: Zach Price (SDSU) tech. fall Luciano Arroyo (STAN), 15-0 [6:23]
141: Clay Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Fabian Santillan (STAN), 10-2
149: Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) won by forfeit
157: Garrett Jordan (SDSU) dec. Ethan Woods (STAN), 9-3
165: #3 David Griffith (STAN) major dec. Kenny O'Neil (SDSU), 16-5
Notes: Cook ranked 25th at 165 pounds; rankings by FloWrestling

Series vs. Little Rock
South Dakota State blanked Little Rock, 42-0, in the first-ever meeting between the two progams last season on the Trojans' home mat. Henry Pohlmeyer capped the Jackrabbits' first shutout of a Division I opponent in 14 years with a first-period pin in the 149-pound bout.

Cade King (174), Zach Carlson (184) and Danny Vega (125) were all winners by technical fall, while Blake Wolters won by forfeit at heavyweight.

South Dakota State 42, Little Rock 0 (Feb. 2, 2020 • at Little Rock, Ark.)
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, 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
Note: Individual rankings by FloWrestling

BIG 12 SUCCESS: Now in its sixth 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 31-15 record (.674 winning percentage) 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. SDSU posted another fourth-place finish in 2020, improving six spots in the team standings from the previous season.

RABBITS RANKED: Five Jackrabbit wrestlers appear in individual national rankings heading into Sunday's quadrangular.

Sophomore 197-pounder Tanner Sloan leads the SDSU contingent, inching up the polls this week to seventh-place showings in the Intermat and WIN Magazine rankings. Sloan also holds rankings of eighth by Trackwrestling and ninth from FloWrestling.

The Alburnett, Iowa, native is undefeated so far this season with a 7-0 record, winning four matches by technical fall, two by pin and one by major decision. He is poised to further bolster his résumé this weekend with matches potentially looming against 10th-ranked Nathan Traxler (Stanford) and 12th-ranked Jake Woodley (Oklahoma).

Sloan is coming off a 2019-20 season in which he posted a 21-6 overall record and was an NCAA qualifier. He capped his first season with an All-America selection by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

Fellow NCAA qualifier Tanner Cook also is ranked a pair of polls despite not yet wrestling this season. The sophomore from Ilion, New York, holds spots of 16th in the WIN Magazine rankings and is ranked No. 18 at 165 pounds by FloWrestling. He burst onto the scene last season, compiling a 21-4 overall record with 14 pins.

The big mover in the polls so far this season is Zach Price, who vaulted 10-plus spots in the Trackwrestling and FloWrestling polls after downing a pair of higher-ranked opponents on the opening weekend of competition. With a 5-2 record so far this season, Price currently holds a 13th-place ranking from WIN Magazine and is No. 16 in the Flowrestling polls, followed by standings of 18th in the Trackwrestling rankings and 20th with Intermat.

Two other Jackrabbits are ranked in a pair of polls. Sophomore Clay Carlson stands 20th in Trackwrestling's 141-pound rankings and 22nd in the FloWrestling rankings, while redshirt freshman Cade DeVos moved back up in the 157-pound rankings with showings of 18th by FloWrestling and 20th from Trackwrestling.

LAST TIME OUT: Colten Carlson's pin at 165 pounds capped a momentum-changing four-match winning streak for South Dakota State and lifted the Jackrabbits to a 24-14 road victory over Air Force in a Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Jan. 17.

With the win SDSU improved to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference duals. Air Force was wrestling for the first time this season.

The Jackrabbits trailed 7-0 through two matches as Tanner Jordan dropped a 6-3 decision at 125 pounds and 13th-ranked Zach Price suffered a 14-4 loss by major decision to Jared Van Vleet.

Clay Carlson, ranked 22nd at 141 pounds, got the Jackrabbits headed in the right direction with an 18-6 major decision over Lenny Petersen. Hunter Marko and 18th-ranked Cade DeVos followed with decisions at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively, giving SDSU the lead for good at 10-9 at the halfway mark of the dual.

Marko's 5-3 decision over Dylan Martinez was highlighted by a reversal in the closing seconds of the match.

A senior from Willmar, Minnesota, Colten Carlson opened the second half of the dual trailing 5-4 after the first period of his match against Vincent Dolce. He gained a 7-6 lead through two periods and kept the momentum until putting Dolce's shoulders to the mat midway through the third and final stanza for a 16-9 lead.

The Jackrabbits sealed the dual victory with back-to-back wins by Nick Casperson (184 pounds) and Tanner Sloan (197). Casperson scored on a reversal in the final minute of the third period to pull out a 5-2 decision over Sam Wolf, while the 10th-ranked Sloan continued his dominant start to the season with a second-period technical fall over Kayne Hutchison.

The Jackrabbits' scheduled dual with Northern Colorado was canceled due to COVID protocols affecting the Bears, but several SDSU wrestlers competed in extra matches against competitors from UNC, Air Force and Wyoming. Both Carlsons each won a pair of extra matches to finish the day with 3-0 records. Clay Carlson's two extra-match wins were also by major decisions over wrestlers from Air Force.

Also going undefeated with 3-0 records on the day were 125-pounder Danny Vega, along with DeVos and freshman Jack Thomsen at 157 pounds. Sloan added two more technical-fall victories in the extra matches at 197 to also finish at 3-0.

Jordan won all three of his extra matches to finish the day with a 3-1 mark. The Jackrabbit contingent combined to post a 32-13 record in those extra matches.

Dual Results
125: Cody Phippen (AF) dec. Tanner Jordan (SDSU), 6-3
133: Jared Van Vleet (AF) major dec. #13 Zach Price (SDSU), 14-4
141: #22 Clay Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Lenny Petersen (AF), 18-6
149: Hunter Marko (SDSU) dec. Dylan Martinez (AF), 5-3
157: #18 Cade DeVos (SDSU) dec. Parker Simington (AF), 7-2
165: Colten Carlson (SDSU) def. Vincent Dolce (AF), by fall 6:04
174: Cody Surratt (AF) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 7-2
184: Nick Casperson (SDSU) dec. Sam Wolf (AF), 5-2
197: #10 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) tech. fall Kayne Hutchison (AF), 21-5
285: Wyatt Hendrickson (AF) major dec. Blake Wolters (SDSU), 9-0
Note: Rankings by FloWrestling

NEW FACILITY ON THE HORIZON: The South Dakota Board of Regents approved plans in December for South Dakota State University to move forward with a $4 million on-campus wrestling training facility.

The nearly 16,000-square-foot Kurtenbach Family Wrestling Center would be constructed on the southwest corner of the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Former SDSU wrestler and coach Frank Kurtenbach provided the lead gift for the facility, which will feature four competition mats, plus a strength and conditioning area, locker rooms, team room, coaches' offices and spaces for academics and nutrition.

"The approval from the Board of Regents to break ground on a state-of-the-art wrestling facility will forever change the landscape of SDSU Wrestling," SDSU head coach Damion Hahn said. "I can't thank our Jackrabbit family enough for the contributions that have been made toward this endeavor. I would like to make a special thank you to the Kurtenbach family for their vision and support of the project."

Pending final approval by the South Dakota Legislature, construction of the two-story structure is tentatively scheduled to begin in spring 2021.

COACH HAHN: Damion Hahn is overseeing a successful rebuilding of South Dakota State University wrestling as he is in his third season at the helm of the Jackrabbits' program. Hahn holds a 16-19 career dual record heading into the weekend.

During the 2019-20 season, the Jackrabbits returned to the winning side of the ledger in dual competition by posting a 12-6 overall record, including a 6-3 mark in the Big 12. Included in the dual victories were wins over nationally ranked Northern Iowa and Stanford.

SDSU also improved by six spots in the Big 12 Conference Wrestling Championship, finishing fourth in the team standings at the 2020 competition. Four Jackrabbit wrestlers earned automatic qualifying berths in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, with another receiving a bid as an alternate. The NCAA Championships were later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the National Wrestling Coaches Association selected 149-pounder Henry Pohlmeyer, 184-pounder Zach Carlson and 197-pounder Tanner Sloan as second-team All-Americans.

In his first season at SDSU, Hahn faced a rebuilding task as the Jackrabbits featured new starters in six spots in the lineup. SDSU finished with a 3-10 dual mark, including a 2-7 record against Big 12 foes. Pohlmeyer was the lone NCAA qualifier.

Hahn was hired at SDSU on April 9, 2018, following more than a decade of success as a member of the coaching staff at Cornell (N.Y.).

"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."

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 2020-21 SDSU wrestling roster features 30 student-athletes from 12 different states. Of the 30 wrestlers, eight are from Iowa, followed by seven from Minnesota and five native South Dakotans. Two Jackrabbit wrestlers hail from Wisconsin, while eight states — Arizona, California, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Washington — each are represented by one wrestler.

By class, four are seniors, three are juniors, 10 are sophomores, eight are redshirt freshmen and five are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits continue multi-team dual action Feb. 7 by traveling to Fargo, North Dakota. SDSU is slated to meet host North Dakota State at 11 a.m., followed by a matchup with nationally ranked Iowa State at 3 p.m.

The match with NDSU will mark the second meeting between the rivals this season, with Border Bell bragging rights at stake.

Competition will be held at Scheels Center on the NDSU campus.

-GoJacks.com-