JACKS DOWN AIR FORCE TO RUN STREAK TO SIX

Friday, January 26

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Air Force

Photo by: Keith Lucas | Sideline Media Productions

1/26/2024 10:50:00 PM | Wrestling

POST-DUAL PRESS CONFERENCE DUAL SCORESHEET

South Dakota State swept the first half of its wrestling dual against Air Force and pulled away with three bonus-point wins down the stretch for a 32-9 victory Friday night at Frost Arena.

The 10^th-ranked Jackrabbits recorded their sixth consecutive dual victory to improve to 9-2 overall and 3-0 against Big 12 Conference opponents. Air Force dropped to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12.

SDSU won three narrow decisions to open an early 9-0 lead. Tanner Jordan recorded a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Tucker Owens at 125 pounds after allowing an early takedown, followed by backup 133-pounder Logan Graf posting a 4-3 victory over Brenden Barnes.

In the 141-pound matchup, Air Force's Garrett Kuchan jumped out to a 6-1 first-period lead over 25^th-ranked Clay Carlson with a pair of takedowns. Carlson trimmed the deficit to 6-2 by the end of the first period with an escape, then put together a seven-point second period with an escape and two takedowns of his own to grab the lead for good. He added a point for a minute-plus advantage in riding time to complete the 10-7 victory.

Alek Martin started a string of bonus-point victories with a 9-1 major decision over Joe Fernau in the 149-pound bout and Cael Swensen pushed his winning streak to six matches with a 17-2 technical fall against fellow 157-pounder Brooks Gable in a match that ended 23 seconds into the third period.

Air Force got on the board with a 5-0 decision by 14^th-ranked Giano Petrucelli over Tanner Cook in the 165-pound matchup.

The Jackrabbits, however, reeled off three more bonus-point wins in a row, starting with a 14-4 major decision by fourth-ranked Cade DeVos at 174 pounds.

The marquee matchup of the dual pitted seventh-ranked Sam Wolf of Air Force against the Jackrabbits' 13^th-ranked Bennett Berge in the 184-pound bout. A redshirt freshman from Mantorville, Minnesota, Berge opened the scoring with a takedown with 30 seconds remaining in the first period and carried that 3-0 lead into the final stanza after Wolf rode out the entire second period. After Wolf chose a neutral start to begin the third, Berge came up with his second takedown of the match and quickly put Wolf to his back for a two-point near-fall that provided the final points in an 8-0 major decision.

Tanner Sloan, ranked fifth at 197 pounds, continued his dual domination with a first-period fall against the Falcons' Calvin Sund. The victory was Sloan's 99^th of his career as he ran his dual winning streak to 33.

Second-ranked heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson closed the dual with a quick fall of his own versus SDSU redshirt freshman Luke Rasmussen.

#10 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 32, AIR FORCE 9
125: #18 Tanner Jordan (SDSU) dec. Tucker Owens (AF), 5-3
133: Logan Graf (SDSU) dec. Brenden Barnes (AF), 4-3
141: #25 Clay Carlson (SDSU) dec. Garrett Kuchan (AF), 10-7
149: #21 Alek Martin (SDSU) major dec. Joe Fernau (AF), 9-1
157: #15 Cael Swensen (SDSU) tech. fall Brooks Gable (AF), 17-2 [5:23}
165: #14 Giano Petrucelli (AF) dec. Tanner Cook (SDSU), 5-0
174: #4 Cade DeVos (SDSU) major dec. Gage Musser (AF), 14-4
184: #13 Bennett Berge (SDSU) major dec. #7 Sam Wolf (AF), 8-0
197: #5 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) def. Calvin Sund (AF), by fall 2:12
285: #2 Wyatt Hendrickson (AF) def. Luke Rasmussen (SDSU), by fall 2:01
Note: Ranking indicated is highest between FloWrestling and InterMat weekly rankings

NOTES

SDSU evened the all-time dual series against Air Force at nine wins apiece
The Jackrabbits have won the last eight meetings
SDSU hosted Air Force for the first time in dual competition since the 2015-16 season
The Jackrabbits have won 17 consecutive dual matches in the month of January over the last three seasons
Jordan avenged a 2-1 loss to Owens in the opening round of the NCAA Championships last March
Graf upped his record to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in duals while filling in for Derrick Cardinal
Swensen has won four matches by technical fall and two by major decision in his current six-match winning streak
Sloan improved to 57-4 in career dual matches
Sloan ran his season record to 13-1 and extended his personal winning streak to eight, with the last six victories by either technical fall or fall
Attendance was 1,581