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South Dakota State University Athletics
Friday, January 13
Hampton, Va.
11:30 a.m. ET/10:30 a.m. CT
South Dakota State University
vs
Navy
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
JACKS CROSS COUNTRY TO VIRGINIA DUALS
1/12/2023 1:32:00 PM | Wrestling
DUALS 6-9: #19 South Dakota State (3-2) at Virginia Duals
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The South Dakota State wrestling team continues its cross-country travels this weekend by competing in the Virginia Duals.
The 19th-ranked Jackrabbits, 3-2 in duals this season, are scheduled to wrestle four times over two days at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. SDSU is slated to open the event by wrestling Navy at 11:30 a.m. Eastern (10:30 a.m. Central) on Friday, followed by a match at 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT) versus Kent State.
Saturday, the Jackrabbits are slated to close out action with duals against Campbell (2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT) and Ohio (4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT). Video coverage will be available through FloWrestling.org (subscription required).
SDSU began the new calendar year by sweeping a triangular Jan. 7 in Riverside, California. The Jackrabbits recorded a 31-6 nonconference victory over Northern Illinois to open the day, followed by a 44-0 blanking of Big 12 Conference newcomer and host California Baptist.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Following is the Jackrabbits' probable lineup for the Virginia Duals:
125: #30 Tanner Jordan • Jr., St. Paris, Ohio (10-7 overall, 3-2 duals)
133: Derrick Cardinal • R-Fr., Forest Lake, Minn. (6-6 overall, 2-2 duals)
141: #11 Clay Carlson • Sr., Willmar, Minn. (9-4 overall, 3-2 duals)
or Caleb Gross • Jr., Pound, Wis. (8-5 overall, 1-0 duals)
149: Alek Martin • R-Fr., St. Paris, Ohio (11-7 overall, 3-1 duals)
157: #19 Cael Swensen • R-Fr., Plymouth, Minn. (10-5 overall, 3-1 duals)
165: #13 Tanner Cook • Jr., Ilion, N.Y. (9-2 overall, 4-1 duals)
174: #16 Cade DeVos • Jr., Altoona, Iowa (11-4 overall, 3-2 duals)
184: #16 Cade King • Sr., Waseca, Minn. (7-5 overall, 1-2 duals)
or Roman Rogotzke • R-Fr., Stillwater, Minn. (8-7 overall, 1-0 duals)
197: #11 Tanner Sloan • Sr., Alburnett, Iowa (10-1 overall, 4-0 duals)
285: #14 A.J. Nevills • Grad., Clovis, Calif. (9-3 overall, 5-0 duals)
Bowen McConville • Sr., Renton, Wash. (5-2 overall, 0-0 duals)
Note: Rankings listed are highest of either Intermat or FloWrestling rankings as of Jan. 10, 2023
THE SERIES: South Dakota State enters the Virginia Duals with a combined 3-5-1 record against its four scheduled opponents. The Jacks have faced each opponent at least once in dual competition, with the most recent matchup taking place against Kent State during the 2021-22 season. SDSU came out on top with a 33-6 victory over the Golden Flashes in the neutral-site dual in DeKalb, Illinois.
South Dakota State 33, Kent State 6 (Dec. 18, 2021 • DeKalb, Illinois)
125: Jake Ferri (KENT) dec. Tanner Jordan (SDSU), 6-4
133: Brendon Fenton (KENT) dec. Caleb Gross (SDSU), 5-2
141: Clay Carlson (SDSU) fall Louis Newell (KENT), 3:19
149: Daniel Kimball (SDSU) dec. Kody Komara (KENT), 5-2
157: Kenny O'Neil (SDSU) dec. Enrique Mungia (KENT), 8-3
165: Tanner Cook (SDSU) fall Najee Lockett (KENT), 0:19
174: Cade DeVos (SDSU) tech fall Michael Ferree (KENT), 17-1; 2:16
184: Cade King, Jr. (SDSU) dec. Colin McCraken (KENT), 5-3
197: Nick Casperson, Jr. (SDSU) maj. dec. Tyler Bates (KENT), 12-0
285: A.J. Nevills (SDSU) def. Jacob Cover (KENT), 7-2
VIRGINIA DUALS HISTORY: South Dakota State will be making its fifth appearance at the Virginia Duals since moving to the NCAA Division I ranks at the start of the 2004-05 season.
The Jackrabbits have fared well in their previous Virginia Duals appearances, posting a combined record of 10-2, including a 2-0 mark last season as SDSU was a late addition to the event after having a previously scheduled dual canceled due to COVID-related protocols.
Following are the results of SDSU's previous matches at the Virginia Duals:
2004-05 Season (3-0)
• vs. Duquesne (W, 29-12); vs. Millersville (W, 21-19); vs. Davidson (W, 31-15)
2005-06 Season (2-2)
• vs. Delaware State (W, 44-0); vs. Duquesne (L, 15-28); vs. Franklin & Marshall (L, 18-23); vs. Anderson (S.C.) (W, 22-18)
2006-07 Season (3-0)
• vs. Roger Williams (W, 30-9); vs. Newport News Apprentice (W, 31-7); vs. Anderson (S.C.) (W, 49-6)
2021-22 Season (2-0)
• vs. Chattanooga (W, 35-10); vs. Maryland (W, 26-10)
#24 South Dakota State 35, Chattanooga 10 (Jan. 15, 2022 • Hampton, Virginia)
125: Tanner Jordan (SDSU) won by forfeit
133: #21 Brayden Palmer (CHATT) major dec. Gabriel Tagg (SDSU), 12-0
141: #5 Clay Carlson (SDSU) dec. Franco Valdes (CHATT), 6-2
149: Noah Castillo (CHATT) dec. Daniel Kimball (SDSU), 8-3
157: Kenny O'Neil (SDSU) dec. Lincoln Heck (CHATT), 3-2
165: #29 Tanner Cook (SDSU) def. Drew Nicholson (CHATT), by fall 1:24
174: #10 Cade DeVos (SDSU) tech. fall Carial Tarter (CHATT), 15-0 (5:26)
184: Matthew Waddell (CHATT) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 6-0
197: #21 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) def. Nick Benton (CHATT), by fall 3:33
285: #23 A.J. Nevills (SDSU) def. Grayson Walthall (CHATT), by fall 1:54
#24 South Dakota State 28 Maryland 6 (Jan. 15, 2022 • Hampton, Virginia)
125: Tanner Jordan (SDSU) won by forfeit
133: Gabriel Tagg (SDSU) dec. King Sandoval (MARY), 6-4
141: #5 Clay Carlson (SDSU) dec. Danny Bertoni (MARY), 11-5
149: Daniel Kimball (SDSU) major dec. Michael North (MARY), 8-0
157: Kenny O'Neil (SDSU) dec. Lucas Cordio (MARY), 7-0
165: Gaven Bell (MARY) dec. #29 Tanner Cook (SDSU), 12-8
174: #10 Cade DeVos (SDSU) dec. Dominic Solis (MARY), 9-5
184: #12 Kyle Cochran (MARY) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 4-0
197: #21 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) dec. #31 Jaron Smith (MARY), 6-2
285: #23 A.J. Nevills (SDSU) dec. #26 Zach Schrader (MARY), 2-1
LAST TIME OUT: The South Dakota State wrestling team turned in a pair of dominant performances in sweeping a triangular Jan. 7 at Van Dyne Gym in Riverside, California. The 19th-ranked Jackrabbits recorded 11 bonus-point victories in their two duals, defeating Northern Illinois, 31-6, and shutting out Big 12 newcomer California Baptist, 44-0.
With the two victories, SDSU improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 action.
South Dakota State 31, Northern Illinois 6
The Jackrabbits won each of the first five matches and eight bouts overall en route to the victory.
Tanner Jordan started the SDSU winning streak with a 2-0 decision over the Huskies' Blake West in the 125-pound matchup, while redshirt freshman Derrick Cardinal followed with a 12-1 major decision against Bryce West. Clay Carlson, Alek Martin and Cael Swensen all followed with narrow decisions to close out the first half of the dual with the Jackrabbits holding a 16-0 lead.
All three Jackrabbits victories in the second half of the dual were of the bonus-point variety by ranked wrestlers as Cade DeVos won by major decision at 174 pounds, Tanner Sloan earned a win by technical fall in the 197-pound matchup and heavyweight A.J. Nevills won by fall.
In a battle between ranked 165-pound wrestlers, NIU's ninth-ranked Izzak Olejnik put the Huskies on the board with a 3-1 decision over 13th-ranked Tanner Cook. Matt Zuber picked up the other win for NIU by outlasting SDSU's 16th-ranked Cade King, 12-8 in the 184-pound bout.
South Dakota State 44, California Baptist 0
SDSU reeled off five consecutive bonus-point wins and seven in the match in blanking California Baptist in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Carlson started a string of three consecutive technical falls for the Jackrabbits with an 18-3 victory over Christian Nunez at 141 pounds. Martin (20-3) and Swensen (17-1) followed with tech falls at 149 and 157 pounds.
Cook returned to his winning ways with his seventh pin of the season, putting Frank Almaguer's shoulders to the mat in 2 minutes and 27 seconds. DeVos added his second major decision of the night, topping Louis Rojas, 18-5, in the 174-pound matchup.
Also putting extra points on the board were Sloan with a major decision at 197 pounds and Nevills with his second pin of the evening and sixth of the season.
Jordan, Cardinal and King won by decision as the Jackrabbits shut out a Division I dual opponent for the first time since a 42-0 whitewashing of Little Rock on Feb. 2, 2020.
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 and have continued their climb up the rankings during the first two months of the 2022-23 campaign.
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 UNI.
Following their strong showing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December, the Jackrabbits climbed seven spots to No. 18 in the NWCA poll for their highest ranking under head coach Damion Hahn. SDSU slipped one spot to 19th after its Dec. 18 dual loss to Nebraska and remained in that spot again this week.
SDSU also has a season-high eight wrestlers ranked individually for the fifth week in a row, with 141-pounder Clay Carlson holding the highest ranking at No. 9 in both the InterMat and FloWrestling rankings, followed by fellow NCAA qualifier Tanner Sloan in 13th (InterMat) at 197 pounds.
Cael Swensen, who is ranked 22nd in the 157-pound rankings by InterMat and Tanner Jordan at 125 pounds (28th by InterMat) each joined the rankings after their outings at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Other returning NCAA qualifiers Cade DeVos (15th at 174 pounds by FloWrestling) and A.J. Nevills (14th at heavyweight by FloWrestling) have maintained top-20 rankings throughout the season, while Cade King (17th at 184 pounds by FloWrestling) rounds out the list of SDSU's ranked wrestlers .
COOK AMONG PIN LEADERS: Entering action this week, South Dakota State 165-pounder Tanner Cook ranked in a tie for third place among Division I wrestlers with seven wins by fall.
A junior from Ilion, New York, Cook has needed only 12 minutes and 12 seconds of mat time to post his seven falls, with five of those pins occurring in less than a minute.
Cook was honored Dec. 20 as Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Week after pinning 13th-ranked Bubba Wilson of Nebraska in only 29 seconds in dual action Dec. 18. He brings a 9-2 season record and 50-17 career mark into competition at the Virginia Duals.
DUAL-MEET DOMINANCE: South Dakota State has dominated the upper two weights in dual meets over the last two seasons thanks to the contributions of 197-pounder Tanner Sloan and heavyweight A.J. Nevills.
Sloan, a senior from Alburnett, Iowa, is 15-1 in duals over the last two seasons. Since dropping his first dual match of the 2021-22 season to Michial Foy of Minnesota, Sloan has won 15 consecutive dual matchups.
For his career, Sloan has compiled a 39-4 dual record and has yet to drop a home match. He went a perfect 11-0 in duals during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season after posting a 13-3 mark as a redshirt freshman.
Nevills, a graduate student from Clovis, California, has turned in a 19-3 dual record since joining the lineup at the start of the 2021-22 season as a transfer from Fresno State. Nevills went 14-3 in duals last season en route to a trip to nationals and is unbeaten so far this season at 5-0.
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.
In October, Tanner Sloan reached the finals of the 97-kilogram division at the U23 World Championships held in Pontevedra, Spain.
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 38-20 record (.655 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 record 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 2021 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 next few weeks.
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 36-28 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'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.
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 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 return home for a pair of Big 12 Conference duals next weekend at Frost Arena. South Dakota State is slated to host Utah Valley at 7 p.m. on Jan. 20, followed by a noon matchup versus Wyoming on Jan. 22.
-GoJacks.com-
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