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South Dakota State University Athletics
Friday, February 4
Stillwater, Okla.
7 p.m.
South Dakota State University
at
Oklahoma State
Photo by: Michael Houseman
JACKRABBITS MAKE SWING THROUGH OKLAHOMA
2/3/2022 10:11:00 AM | Wrestling
DUAL 13: #23 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (10-2, 3-0 Big 12) at #10 OKLAHOMA STATE (10-2, 4-2)
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DUAL 14: #23 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE at #25 OKLAHOMA (6-5, 2-4 Big 12)
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The 23rd-ranked South Dakota State University wrestling team faces its final two dual road tests of the season this weekend as it travels to the state of Oklahoma for matchups against ranked opponents.
The Jackrabbits, 10-2 overall and 3-0 against Big 12 Conference foes, will be in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Friday to square off against 10th-ranked Oklahoma State. Action is slated for a 7 p.m. start at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Friday's dual is scheduled to be available viewing online through ESPN+.
Oklahoma State also is 10-2 in duals this season, but dropped to 5-2 against Big 12 foes after falling twice at home last weekend. The Cowboys were upended by Northern Iowa, 19-15, on Jan. 29, then were downed by nationally ranked Iowa State, 20-12, a day later.
From there, the Jackrabbits will head to Norman for a Sunday dual at an Oklahoma squad that enters the week 6-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12. The Sooners, who host Little Rock on Friday, dropped a 17-15 decision to Northern Iowa in their most recent outing on Jan. 30.
Sunday's dual is slated to be televised by Bally Sports Oklahoma.
THE SERIES: South Dakota State holds a combined 3-9 record against its Big 12 rivals from Oklahoma.
vs. Oklahoma State
The Jackrabbits are in search of their first-ever dual win against Oklahoma State as the Cowboys have won all five meetings since the series began with a 25-9 victory during the 2014-15 season.
The two squads last met during the 2019-20 season, when Oklahoma State claimed a 35-3 victory on its home mat. The Jackrabbits averted a shutout when heavyweight Blake Wolters claimed a 4-3 decision in the final match of the night and the lone bout of the dual in which the Cowboys did not have a ranked wrestler.
#11 OKLAHOMA STATE 35, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 3 (Jan. 31, 2020, at Stillwater, Okla.)
125: #4 Nick Piccininni (OSU) tech. fall #23 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. #9 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. #17 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
vs. Oklahoma
The series against Oklahoma dates back to the 1969-70 season, when the Sooners recorded a 31-2 victory. Overall, OU?holds a 4-3 series advantage.
The two squads wouldn't meet again until South Dakota State joined the Big 12 as an affiliate member at the start of the 2015-16 season. The Jackrabbits and Sooners have met each season since then and have split those six dual matches.
The matchup during the 2020-21 season was part of a quadrangular in Little Rock, Arkansas, with Oklahoma coming away with a 21-13 victory. The 22nd-ranked Sooners were stingy in the lower weights, building a 15-3 lead at the halfway mark before holding off SDSU.
After the Jackrabbits' Danny Vega rallied for a 7-6 decision over Mason Naifeh in the opening bout of the dual, Oklahoma claimed the next four matches — all by ranked wrestlers — to build its cushion.
SDSU began to find its footing in the second half of the dual as Colten Carlson started a comeback bid with a 23-11 major decision over Jake Stiles.
Cade King pulled off an upset for the Jackrabbits, recording a late takedown to post a 7-5 decision over 22nd-ranked Anthony Mantanona at 174 pounds.
Ninth-ranked Tanner Sloan notched the final Jackrabbit victory, downing 12th-ranked Jake Woodley, 6-1.
#21 OKLAHOMA 21, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 13 (Jan. 31, 2021, at Little Rock, Arkansas)
125: Danny Vega (SDSU) dec. Mason Naifeh (OU), 7-6
133: #19 Anthony Madrigal (OU) def. Trayton Anderson (SDSU), by fall 2:40
141: #7 Dom Demas (OU) dec. #22 Clay Carlson, 3-2
149: #13 Mitch Moore (OU) dec. Hunter Marko (SDSU), 2-0
157: #11 Justin Thomas (OU) dec. #18 Cade DeVos (SDSU), 4-0
165: Colten Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Jake Stiles (OU), 23-11
174: Cade King (SDSU) dec. #22 Anthony Mantanona (OU), 7-5
184: Darrien Roberts (OU) dec. Jacob Schoon (SDSU), 7-5
197: #9 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) dec. #12 Jake Woodley (OU), 6-1
285: #24 Josh Heindselman (OU) dec. Blake Wolters (SDSU), 4-1 [TB-1]
LAST WEEK: South Dakota State's strength in the upper weights was on full display at Frost Arena on Jan. 28 as Jackrabbit wrestlers won the final four matches, including two for bonus points, in completing a 23-16 comeback victory over West Virginia before a season-high crowd of 1,406.
The 23rd-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 Conference duals. West Virginia dropped to 5-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12.
The Mountaineers held a 16-7 advantage through six matches after 12th-ranked Peyton Hall pinned SDSU's Tanner Cook in a battle between nationally ranked wrestlers in the 165-pound matchup.
SDSU's Cade DeVos started the comeback with an 11-1 major decision over Dennis Robin at 174 pounds. The 10th-ranked DeVos led 4-0 through two periods, but put together a strong third period in which he recorded a takedown and four-point near-fall before earning the final point with a riding-time advantage of more than four minutes.
The Jackrabbits' other Cade — Cade King — pulled SDSU to within 16-14 with a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Anthony Carman. King tallied the go-ahead takedown in the 184-pound bout with about 25 seconds remaining, with the final point coming via riding time.
Tanner Sloan, ranked 12th at 197 pounds by Intermat, gave SDSU its first lead of the night with a first-period pin of Jackson Moomau. The reigning Big 12 Wrestler of the Week ran his winning streak to seven matches with his third consecutive win by fall.
Sealing the Jackrabbit victory was heavyweight A.J. Nevills, who improved to 10-2 in duals this season with a 9-6 decision over Michael Wolfgram. Nevills entered the match ranked 20th, while Wolfgram was ranked 24th.
West Virginia got out to a quick start, leading 7-0 after a major decision victory by 11th-ranked Killian Cardinale at 125 pounds and an overtime win by Garett Lautzenheiser over Jackrabbit newcomer Gabriel Tagg in the 133-pound matchup.
WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK: South Dakota State 197-pounder Tanner Sloan was honored Jan. 25 as Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, becoming the second Jackrabbit to earn the award this season.
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.
Sloan joined teammate 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 third 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.
In addition, six Jackrabbit wrestlers are individually ranked by a variety of wrestling organizations. Returning All-American Clay Carlson is ranked as high as ninth by FloWrestling at 141 pounds, while Cade DeVos also is ranked ninth in the 174-pound division by Intermat and The Open Mat. 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 Cade King (184 pounds) is at No. 33 in the Intermat rankings after cracking the rankings for the first time this season last week.
The Jackrabbits also were ranked third in the first NWCA Mid-Major Division I Poll of the season.
20 AND 10: Three Jackrabbit wrestlers have reached the 20-win mark so far this season and all three have also posted 10 wins in dual competition.
Leading the way is 174-pounder Cade DeVos, who has tallied a team-best 23-3 overall record. After sitting out the team's opening dual Nov. 19 against Augustana, DeVos has turned in a 10-1 record in head-to-head competitions.
Clay Carlson is right behind DeVos with a 22-3 overall record and a 10-2 dual mark, while heavyweight A.J. Nevills reached both progress points in his Jan. 28 victory against West Virginia. Nevills enters the week with a 20-8 overall mark and 10-2 dual record.
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 35-18 record (.660 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.
COOK AMONG NCAA LEADERS: Jackrabbit 165-pounder Tanner Cook enters the week tied for third place among NCAA Division I wrestlers for falls. Cook has recorded 10 pins against D-I opponents so far this season, tying him with North Dakota State 197-pounder Owen Pentz and Binghamton 133-pounder Anthony Sobotker.
Overall, King has racked up 13 pins this season, with three coming against non-Division I opponents.
Leading the Division I ranks are Maryland 133-pounder King Sandoval and Air Force heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson with 12 falls each.
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 in early January and made his Jackrabbit debut by recording a 19-1 technical fall against Darrick Stacey of Wyoming in an additional match Jan. 9.
Tagg holds a 6-2 record, including a 4-2 mark in duals, since joining the lineup.
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 has compiled a 30-24 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 be home for the remainder of the dual season, starting with a weekend series against Northern Colorado and Little Rock at Frost Arena. The Feb. 11 Big 12 dual against Northern Colorado is set for a 7 p.m. start, while the Feb. 13 nonconference matchup with Little Rock is slated for 2 p.m.
Both duals will be available for viewing through FloWrestling.org (subscription required).
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