JACKRABBIT WRESTLERS HOST WEST VIRGINIA

Friday, January 28

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

West Virginia

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Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

1/26/2022 4:18:00 PM | Wrestling

DUAL 12: #23 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (9-2, 2-0 Big 12) vs. WEST VIRGINIA (5-3, 0-1)

When	Friday, Jan. 28 \| 7 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D. \| ORDER TICKETS
TV	FloWrestling.org (subscription)
Live Results	Trackwrestling.com
Match Notes	South Dakota State \| West Virginia
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GetJacked

The 23rd-ranked South Dakota State University wrestling team returns to home action Friday, hosting West Virginia in a Big 12 dual.

Start time is set for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena. The match will be available for viewing through FloWrestling.org (subscription required).

The Jackrabbits enter the week with a 9-2 overall dual record, including a 2-0 mark against Big 12 opponents. South Dakota State ran its winning streak to seven matches with road wins at ninth-ranked Missouri (W, 21-12) and Southern Illinois Edwardsville (W, 39-3) before having the streak snapped with a neutral-site loss to nationally ranked Central Michigan (L, 17-21).

West Virginia will be wrestling in a dual for the first time since defeating Chattanooga (25-12) and Cleveland State (24-10) in a Dec. 20 home triangular. The Mountaineers, who had scheduled duals last week against Oklahoma State and Columbia canceled, are 5-3 overall and 0-1 against Big 12 opponents.

THE SERIES: South Dakota State will attempt to stay perfect in its wrestling series against West Virginia. The Jackrabbits have won all five previous duals against the Mountaineers since the series began with an 18-15 SDSU victory at Frost Arena during the 2015-16 season.

The most recent meeting between the two programs took place on Feb. 7, 2020, with SDSU posting a 29-15 victory in Morgantown, West Virginia. Three consecutive pins by Henry Pohlmeyer (149 pounds), Peyton Smith (157 pounds) and Tanner Cook (165 pounds) lifted the Jackrabbits to the victory.

Senior 184-pounder Zach Carlson added a win by technical fall for the Jackrabbits.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 29, WEST VIRGINIA 15 (Feb. 7, 2020, at Morgantown, W. Va.)
125: #24 Danny Vega (SDSU) dec. Joey Thomas (WVU), 15-10
133: Zach Price (SDSU) dec. Lucas Seibert (WVU), 6-4
141: Caleb Rea (WVU) dec. Clay Carlson (SDSU), 2-1 [TB-1]
149: #9 Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) def. Seth Hogue (WVU), by fall 2:08
157: Peyton Smith (SDSU) def. Alex Hornfeck (WVU), by fall 6:59
165: Tanner Cook (SDSU) def. Nick Kiussis (WVU), by fall 4:25
174: Scott Joll (WVU) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 8-3
184: #16 Zach Carlson (SDSU) tech. fall Hunter DeLong (WVU), 18-3 [7:00]
197: #2 Noah Adams (WVU) won by forfeit
285: Sean Mullican (WVU) dec. Blake Wolters (SDSU), 5-2

LAST WEEK: The Jackrabbits turned in a 2-1 record in dual competition, including defeating a top-10 opponent for the first time in program history at the Division I level.

No. 23 South Dakota State 21, No. 9 Missouri 12
South Dakota State wrestling swept the final five matches to rally for a 21-12 victory over ninth-ranked Missouri Jan. 22 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri.

"It was a full team effort," SDSU head coach Damion Hahn said. "I thought if we wrestled at our best we were going to be in the dual, but guys found something extra and came up with some big wins for us."

In running their winning streak to seven matches, the 23rd-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 8-1 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 Conference duals. Missouri, which suffered its first conference dual loss in nearly five years, dropped to 7-3 overall (5-1 in Big 12).

Tied at 12-all with three bouts remaining, Cade King gave the Jackrabbits a lead they would not relinquish as he pulled off the upset against No. 16 Jeremiah Kent in the 184-pound matchup. After shaking off an apparent injury in the opening minute of the match, King battled Kent to a 4-4 tie through regulation, then came up with a takedown in the opening minute of the extra session for a 6-4 sudden victory.

Tanner Sloan, ranked 22nd at 197 pounds, avenged a loss earlier in the month to fifth-ranked Rocky Elam at the Southern Scuffle with a 5-2 decision. Sloan took a 4-2 lead on a takedown in the closing seconds of the second period and added an escape for the final point of the match in the third period.

Needing only to avoid a pin to seal the victory, heavyweight A.J Nevills put an exclamation point on the Jackrabbits' upset with another win between nationally ranked wrestlers. The 22nd-ranked Nevills and No. 15 Zach Elam were scoreless entering the third period, although Nevills built up a two-minute riding time advantage in the second period.

In the final stanza, Nevills tallied the first point on an escape and tacked a second point on the board for riding time.

Tanner Cook, ranked 27th at 165 pounds, started the Jackrabbits' closing streak with a 5-2 decision over Mitchell Bohlken and eighth-ranked Cade DeVos drew SDSU even with a 7-4 decision against Sean Harman. DeVos' victory was his team-leading 21st win of the season and 12th in a row.

SDSU's lone victory in the lower weights was a big one as newcomer Gabriel Tagg pinned former Jackrabbit Connor Brown in only 27 seconds.

Missouri's early run was highlighted by Allan Hart's 4-2 decision over Clay Carlson in a battle between the ninth- and sixth-ranked wrestlers at 141 pounds, respectively. Hart has handed Carlson two losses this season.

No. 23 South Dakota State 39, Southern Illinois Edwardsville 3
The Jackrabbits earned bonus-point victories in five matches, including three by fall, as they ran their dual winning streak to eight in the opener of a Jan. 23 triangular in Edwardsville, Illinois.

All three pins came in the second half of the dual, starting with a second-period fall by Tanner Cook at 165 pounds. Tanner Sloan and A.J. Nevills each notched first-period pins at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, to close out the dual.

SDSU's Tanner Jordan and Gabriel Tagg opened the day with consecutive bonus-point wins for an early 9-0 lead. Jordan posted a 14-3 major decision over Austin Macias in the opening bout at 125 pounds, while Tagg added a 16-0 technical fall in his 133-pound matchup against Matt Malavsky.

No. 6 Clay Carlson earned a hard-fought 5-3 decision over 28th-ranked Saul Ervin at 141 pounds, with Daniel Kimball contributing a 4-2, overtime victory against Caleb Tyus in a 149-pound matchup.

Other winners by decision for the Jackrabbits included Cade DeVos (174 pounds) and Cade King (184 pounds).

Max Kristoff was the lone winner for the home-standing Cougars, tallying a 12-10 decision against Kenny O'Neil in the 157-pound division.

SIUE dropped to 0-10 in duals this season.

No. 25 Central Michigan 21, No. 23 South Dakota State 17
In a dual that wasn't decided until the final bout of the day, the Jackrabbits' comeback bid came up short in a dual between nationally ranked opponents.

The Chippewas, 8-2 overall, got out of the gates quickly as Brock Bergelin pinned SDSU's Tanner Jordan early in the second period.

After Tagg got the Jackrabbits on the board with a major decision at 133 pounds, CMU won each of the next three matchups to take a 15-2 lead,which was coupled with SDSU being deducted two team points for unsportsmanlike conduct.

In another battle between ranked wrestlers at 141 pounds, CMU's 10th-ranked Dresden Simon pulled away late for an 11-4 decision over Carlson. That was followed by two more decisions by ranked wrestlers for the Chippewas as Corbyn Munson won a 9-2 decision over Kimball at 149 pounds and Johnny Lovett rallied to first force overtime with a takedown in the final seconds and then recorded another takedown in the extra session for an 8-6 decision over O'Neil in the 157-pound matchup.

Cook started the Jackrabbits on the comeback trail with his second pin of the day — and 13th of the season — by putting Tracy Hubbard's shoulders to the mat in 69 seconds.

However, CMU's Bret Fedewa momentarily stemmed the tide by pulling an upset over DeVos with a 3-1 overtime decision in the 174-pound bout. The loss ended DeVos' 13-match winning streak.

A decision by King and Sloan's second pin of the day brought the Jackrabbits to within a single point at 18-17, setting up the heavyweight battle between 22nd-ranked Nevills and CMU's ninth-ranked Matt Stencel to decide the dual. Stencel scored first with a reversal early in the second period, but Nevills came back to tie the match at 2-all with escapes later in the second period and early in the third. However, Stencel tallied a takedown and added a two-point near-fall seconds later to build a cushion en route to a 6-3 victory.

SLOAN HONORED: South Dakota State 197-pounder Tanner Sloan was honored Tuesday as Big 12 Wrestler of the Week.

A junior from Alburnett, Iowa, Sloan posted a 3-0 record in dual competition over the weekend, starting with a 5-2 decision over fifth-ranked Rocky Elam of Missouri. The victory helped propel the Jackrabbits to their first-ever dual win over a top-10 team at the Division I level.

Sloan closed with weekend with a pair of first-period pins in a triangular at Southern Illinois Edwardsville and against Central Michigan. With his perfect weekend, the two-time NCAA qualifier improved to 11-4 overall this season, including a 5-1 mark in duals.

He is the second Jackrabbit to receive the award this season, joining Clay Carlson, who earned the honor Dec. 7 after winning the 141-pound title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

RABBITS RANKED: For the first time in three seasons, the South Dakota State University wrestling team is nationally ranked. The Jackrabbits cracked the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll by checking in at No. 24 in the Jan. 11 rankings, then moved up one spot to 23rd after winning twice at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 15. SDSU remains at No. 23 for the second week in a row.

SDSU was last ranked in the poll in November 2018. The Jackrabbits are one of five Big 12 squads in this week's poll, joining No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Iowa State, No. 13 Missouri and No. 21 Oklahoma. North Dakota State is receiving receiving votes.

In addition, a season-high seven Jackrabbit wrestlers are individually ranked by a variety of wrestling organizations. Returning All-American Clay Carlson is ranked as high as seventh by FloWrestling at 141 pounds, while Cade DeVos is ranked 10th in the 174-pound division by Intermat Two-time NCAA qualifier Tanner Sloan holds the 12th spot in the Intermat rankings at 197 pounds, with A.J. Nevills ranked 20th by FloWrestling in the heavyweight division.

Tanner Cook remains in the rankings with a 30th-place showing in the 165-pound division, while Gabriel Tagg (133 pounds) and Cade King (184 pounds) cracked the rankings this week.

The Jackrabbits also were ranked third in the first NWCA Mid-Major Division I Poll of the season.

BIG 12 SUCCESS: Now in its seventh 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 34-18 record (.654 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.

TAGG JOINS TEAM: The Jackrabbit wrestling team has received a boost in the lower weights with the addition of mid-year transfer Gabriel Tagg. The Lodi, Ohio, native, who previously wrestled at North Carolina, was officially cleared to practice earlier this month and made his Jackrabbit debut by recording a 19-1 technical fall against Darrick Stacey of Wyoming in an additional match Jan. 9.

Tagg ran his season record to 6-1 with victories in all three Jackrabbit duals last weekend, including recording a pin over former SDSU wrestler Connor Brown against Missouri.

Tagg posted a 15-5 record at 141 pounds as a freshman during the 2019-20 season at North Carolina. He also has competed in freestyle competition both nationally and internationally, including winning both the U.S. Junior World Championships at 61 kilograms and the Austria Flatz Open at 65 kilograms in 2019.

NEW FACILITY ON THE HORIZON: Ground was broken in September for a new $4 million on-campus wrestling training facility.

The nearly 16,000-square-foot Kurtenbach Family Wrestling Center is being 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."

The South Dakota Board of Regents approved plans for the project in December 2020. The facility is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022.

COACH HAHN: Damion Hahn is overseeing a successful rebuilding of South Dakota State University wrestling as he is in his fourth season at the helm of the Jackrabbits' program. Hahn holds a 29-24 career dual record.

Hahn has coached four All-Americans and 10 NCAA qualifiers during his tenure in Brookings. During the 2019-20 season, the National Wrestling Coaches Association selected 149-pounder Henry Pohlmeyer, 184-pounder Zach Carlson and 197-pounder Tanner Sloan as second-team All-Americans after the NCAA Championships were canceled at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also during the 2019-20 campaign, the Jackrabbits turned in their first winning dual season under Hahn by posting a 12-6 overall record, including a 6-3 mark in the Big 12. Included in the dual wins were victories over nationally ranked Northern Iowa and Stanford.

SDSU also improved by six spots in the Big 12 Conference tournament, finishing fourth in the team standings at the 2020 competition.

Last season, Clay Carlson wrestled his way to an eighth-place finish at nationals in the 141-pound division. Carlson also was honored as the 2021 Big 12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

In all, five SDSU wrestlers earned a trip to the NCAA Championships in March 2021.

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 champs.

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 2021-22 SDSU wrestling roster features 33 student-athletes from 12 different states. Of the 33 wrestlers, eight are from Iowa, followed by seven from Minnesota and six native South Dakotans. Three Jackrabbit wrestlers hail from Ohio, with two from California. Seven states — Illinois, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin — each are represented by one wrestler.

By class, one is a senior, eight are juniors, 11 are sophomores, one is a redshirt freshman and 12 are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits will embark on a trip to the Sooner State for their final two Big 12 Conference road duals of the season — both of which will be against ranked opponents. South Dakota State is slated to face third-ranked Oklahoma State on Friday, Feb. 4 in a 7 p.m. dual at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Completing the road trip is a dual at No. 21 Oklahoma on Sunday, Feb. 6. That dual is slated for a 3 p.m. start at McCasland Field House on the OU campus in Norman.

-GoJacks.com-