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Wrestling
at Tiger Style Invite
South Dakota State University Athletics
Friday, December 2
Las Vegas, Nev.
9 a.m. PT/11 a.m. CT
South Dakota State University
at
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
JACKS PART OF TOUGH FIELD IN VEGAS
12/1/2022 4:39:00 PM | Wrestling
#25 South Dakota State at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
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The South Dakota State wrestling team is slated to compete in the premier early season tournament of the college wrestling campaign this weekend as it heads to the desert for the 2022 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Nearly 150 ranked wrestlers from teams entered in the tournament are expected to compete in the two-day event, Friday and Saturday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Action begins at 9 a.m. Pacific Time (11 a.m. Central) each day. Coverage of the event will be available through FloWrestling.org (subscription required).
Among the ranked wrestlers are six from South Dakota State. All six of those Jackrabbits are pre-seeded among the top 12 in their respective weight classes, including top-seeded Tanner Sloan (197 pounds) and second-seeded Clay Carlson (141). Other SDSU wrestlers expected to be seeded when brackets are finalized include: Tanner Cook, eighth at 165 pounds; Cade DeVos, eighth at 174 pounds; Cade King, 10th in the 184-pound weight class, and A.J. Nevills, eighth in the heavyweight division.
2021 CKLV RECAP: South Dakota State's Clay Carlson lived up to his top billing at the 2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, winning the 141-pound title in dramatic fashion.
Carlson trailed 6-3 to second-seeded Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado entering the final period of their championship bout. Carlson worked an escape early in the period to pull to within 6-4 before posting two takedowns in the final minute, the second of which he turned into a pin of Alirez on the edge of the mat with five seconds remaining.
Carlson, who stayed undefeated on the season at 10-0, moved into the title bout with a 6-1 decision over fifth-seeded Parker Filius of Purdue earlier in the day.
Two other Jackrabbits advanced to placing matches Saturday. At 174 pounds, Cade DeVos finished fourth after going 1-2 on the day. DeVos dropped a 6-2 decision to top-seeded Mikey Labriola of Nebraska in his first bout of the day, then scored a 5-1 decision over No. 6 Troy Fisher of Northwestern.
In the third-place match, DeVos fell 8-2 to third-seeded Christopher Foca of Cornell.
At heavyweight, A.J. Nevills completed a 4-3 record on the weekend with a sixth-place finish. In Saturday action, Nevills posted wins over Jayden Woodruff of Utah Valley (fall) and Michael McAleavey of The Citadel (decision) before being edged by top-seeded Tate Orndorff of Ohio State in the consolation semifinals.
LAST WEEK: Minnesota closed its wrestling dual with South Dakota State by winning the final four matches to pull out a 19-16 victory in a battle between ranked squads before a crowd of 1,603 Nov. 27 at Frost Arena.
The 13th-ranked Golden Gophers improved to 2-0 in duals. SDSU, which entered the matchup ranked 25th in the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, dropped to 1-1 in duals this season.
Back-to-back bonus-point victories by the Jackrabbits' Tanner Sloan and A.J. Nevills gave SDSU a 16-7 lead through six matches. Sloan, ranked 11th at 197 pounds by Intermat, looked dominant in his season debut against No. 20 Garrett Joles. After opening the scoring with a first-period takedown, Sloan ran his lead to 10-0 with a pair of four-point near-falls before ending with a 12-2 major decision.
Ranked 14th at heavyweight, Nevills wasted little time in his match against Keaton Kluever, posting an early takedown before notching a pin in 2 minutes and 33 seconds. Nevills improved to 3-0 on the season with all three of his victories by fall.
The rest of the dual belonged to the Golden Gophers, who reeled off four consecutive decisions to complete the comeback. Three of the victories were by ranked wrestlers, starting with third-ranked Patrick McKee holding off Tanner Jordan, 7-3.
Jordan led 3-2 after the first period, a margin that could have been larger as his attempt at back points at the end of the opening stanza was waved off as the horn sounded.
McKee put together a combination of a reversal and two-point near-fall to take the lead in the third period and closed out the scoring with a point for riding time.
After No. 18 Aaron Nagao pulled Minnesota to within 16-13, the Golden Gophers swung the momentum firmly in their favor with an upset at 141 pounds as backup Vance VomBaur stymied sixth-ranked Clay Carlson with a 6-4 decision that knotted the dual. Carlson suffered his second loss in a row to fall to 4-2 on the season.
That left the outcome to the 149-pound bout, where 17th-ranked Michael Blockhus of Minnesota took on Jackrabbit redshirt freshman Alek Martin. After a scoreless first period, Blockhus took a 2-1 lead on a takedown after Martin escaped to open the second stanza, then added to his lead in the third period with an escape and point for riding time to seal the comeback with a 4-1 decision.
SDSU got out of the gates quickly, winning the first two bouts of the afternoon. Redshirt freshman Cael Swensen notched an 8-4 decision over Sebas Swiggum at 157 pounds, while Tanner Cook came away with a 4-2 sudden-victory decision against Andrew Sparks in the 165-pound matchup.
Minnesota came back to take what would be its only lead until the very end with wins at 174 and 184 pounds. Bailee O'Reilly got the best of Cade DeVos, 6-5, in a battle between ranked 174-pounders, while 12th-ranked Isaiah Salazar turned in a 12-0 major decision over Jackrabbit newcomer Bennett Berge.
#13 MINNESOTA 19, #25 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 16 (Nov. 27, 2022, at Frost Arena)
157: Cael Swensen (SDSU) dec. Sebas Swiggum (MINN), 8-4
165: #21 Tanner Cook (SDSU) dec. #27 Andrew Sparks (MINN), 4-2 [SV-1]
174: #20 Bailee O'Reilly (MINN) dec. #12 Cade DeVos (SDSU), 6-5
184: #12 Isaiah Salazar (MINN) major dec. Bennett Berge (SDSU), 12-0
197: #11 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) major dec. #20 Garrett Joles (MINN), 12-2
285: #14 A.J. Nevills (SDSU) def. Keaton Kluever (MINN), by fall 2:23
125: #3 Patrick McKee (MINN) dec. Tanner Jordan (SDSU), 7-3
133: #18 Aaron Nagao (MINN) dec. Derrick Cardinal (SDSU), 6-2
141: Vance VomBaur (MINN) dec. #6 Clay Carlson (SDSU), 6-4
149: #17 Michael Blockhus (MINN) dec. Alek Martin (SDSU), 4-1
Note: Team rankings by NWCA; individual rankings highest between FloWrestling and Intermat
Cyclone Open Recap
In other action over the weekend, Jack Thomsen won the 165-pound title at the Harold Nichols Open Saturday in Ames, Iowa.
A junior from La Porte City, Iowa, Thomsen went 4-0 on the day, posting a 16-1 technical fall over Matt Mensen of the Iowa State Wrestling Club in the opening round before winning his next three matches by decision. After recording an 11-5 victory over Caden Schmidt of Iowa State in the quarterfinals, Thomsen moved into the championship with a 9-3 semifinal victory over Grant Stotts.
In the finals, Thomsen met yet another Cyclone wrestler, downing Carter Schmidt by a 4-3 count.
RABBITS RANKED: The South Dakota State wrestling team began the season ranked in the top 25 after being included in a pair of national polls.
The Jackrabbits checked in at No. 22 in the preseason poll conducted by Intermat and were ranked 25th in the initial National Wrestling Coaches Association survey. SDSU was one of five Big 12 Conference programs ranked in the NWCA top 25, joining No. 4 Missouri, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Iowa State and No. 20 Northern Iowa.
In this latest rankings, the Jackrabbits checked in at No. 24 in the Intermat dual poll and returned to the NWCA poll at No. 25.
SDSU also has seven wrestlers ranked individually, with Clay Carlson (141 pounds) and Tanner Sloan (197 pounds) leading the way with No. 11 rankings. from Intermat.
Fellow returning NCAA qualifiers A.J. Nevills (heavyweight) and Cade DeVos (174 pounds) are ranked 14th and 19th, respectively, by Intermat, with 2020 national qualifier Tanner Cook ranked 21st by FloWrestling. Other ranked wrestlers include Cade King (27th at 184 pounds by Intermat) and Gabriel Tagg (33rd by Intermat at 133 pounds).
SILVER MEDALISTS: Two members of the Jackrabbit wrestling team recently earned individual silver medals in international competition.
In August, incoming freshman Bennett Berge earned a silver medal in the 86-kilogram weight class at the 2022 U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
A native of Mantorville, Minnesota, and a member of the Pinnacle Wrestling Club, Berge posted a 4-1 record over two days of competition. He won his first three matches all by technical fall before recording a come-from-behind, 9-7 victory over Ismail Kucuksolak of Turkey in the semifinals.
In the championship bout against Rakhim Magamadov of France, Berge lost a 10-5 decision.
Besides his runner-up finish in his weight class, Berge brought home another silver medal as Team USA placed second in the team standings behind Iran. Berge was one of four Americans to medal in the freestyle division.
At the prep level, Berge totaled 241 career victories, posting a 124-1 record over his final three seasons at Kasson-Mantorvile High School. He won five consecutive individual state titles at five different weight classes (138, 160, 170, 182, 195), capping his senior season with a 52-0 record.
Last month in Pontevedra, Spain, Tanner Sloan reached the finals of the 97-kilogram division at the U23 World Championships.
Sloan, a three-time NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds from Alburnett, Iowa, posted a 3-1 record in a two-day span. After winning his first three bouts, Sloan dropped a 5-3 decision to Amirali Azarpira of Iran in the gold medal match on Oct. 22.
Sloan previously competed at the 2019 UWW Junior World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, after opening international competition by winning the gold medal at the UWW Pan American Championship in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
BIG 12 SUCCESS: Now in its eighth 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 37-20 record (.649 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 and turned in a 5-2 mark last 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.
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 January 2023.
COACH HAHN: Damion Hahn is overseeing a successful rebuilding of South Dakota State University wrestling as he enters his fifth season at the helm of the Jackrabbits' program. Hahn has compiled a 34-27 career dual record and has coached four All-Americans and 14 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.
Highlighting the 2020-21 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, an award he would receive again the following year.
In all, five SDSU wrestlers earned a trip to the NCAA Championships in March 2021.
The Jackrabbits returned to the winning side of the ledger during the 2021-22 campaign and also cracked the national rankings as a team for the first time since early in Hahn's first season. SDSU compiled a 13-4 dual record that included a 21-12 victory at ninth-ranked Missouri, marking the program's first dual win over a top-10 opponent.
In postseason competition, SDSU placed sixth at the 2022 Big 12 Wrestling Championship and set four wrestlers on to the NCAA Championships in Detroit.
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.).
Hahn's teams also have performed well in the classroom, earning Top 30 Scholar Team All-America honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association each of the past two seasons. The 2021-22 squad ranked seventh among Division I programs with a 3.465 grade-point average and six Jackrabbits were recognized individually as NWCA Scholar All-America honorees.
"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 2022-23 South Dakota State wrestling roster is made up of 35 student-athletes from 11 different states from coast to coast. South Dakota and Minnesota have the most wrestlers with eight, while seven hail from Iowa. Three Jackrabbit wrestlers are from Ohio, with a pair from North Dakota and Wisconsin. Five states have produced one wrestler each: California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington.
By class, six are seniors, 11 are juniors and nine are redshirt freshmen. Eight wrestlers are incoming freshman, with one being a graduate student. There are no sophomores on this season's squad.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits close out the calendar year by hosting Nebraska in dual action Dec. 18 at Frost Arena. Start time is set for 2 p.m.
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