SDSU WRESTLERS START SEASON SATURDAY IN FARGO AND MITCHELL

Saturday, November 9

Fargo, N.D.

10 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Bison Open

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

11/7/2024 12:28:00 PM | Wrestling

Week 1: South Dakota State at Bison, DWU Open
Date and Time	Sat. Nov. 9th, 9 a.m. (DWU), 10 a.m. (Bison)
Location	Mitchell, S.D. (DWU), Fargo, N.D. (Bison)
Site	Avera Fieldhouse (DWU), Scheels Center (Bison)
TV / Stream	N/A
Audio	N/A
Live Stats	TrackWrestling.com (DWU), TrackWrestling.com (Bison)
South Dakota State	Game Notes \| Home Page

Brookings, S.D. - The Jackrabbit wrestling program opens their season Saturday as they travel to Fargo, N.D. and Mitchell, S.D., to compete in the Bison Open and Dakota Wesleyan Open, respectively.

Action for the Bison Open will begin at 10 a.m. at the Scheels Center at North Dakota State. The Dakota Wesleyan Open will start at 9 a.m. at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. Both tournaments will last all day and live results will be available through TrackWrestling.com.

THE LINEUP:

The following Jackrabbit wrestlers are entered in the Bison Open*:

125 - Tanner Jordan (28-12 during the 2023-24 season, All-American)

125 - Brady Roark (12-3 in 2023-24)

133 - Derrick Cardinal (23-11 during 2023-24, NCAA Qualifier)

141 - Avery Allen (9-0 in 2023-24)

141 - Parker Janssen (11-9 in 2023-24)

149 - Daniel Kimball (14-4 in 2023-24)

149 - Colin Dupill (10-5 in 2023-24)

157 - Moses Espinoza-Owens (13-7 in 2023-24)

165 - Connor Gaynor (2-8 in 2023-24)

165 - Marcus Espinoza-Owens (15-8 in 2023-24)

165 - Drake Rhodes (16-5 in 2023-24 at Iowa)

165 - Ryan Dolezal (6-10 in 2023-24)

197 - Cody Donnelly (8-3 in 2023-24)

197- Thomas Dineen (17-6 in 2023-24)

197 - Brock Fettig (13-13 in 2023-24 at 165 pounds)

285 - Luke Rasmussen (17-13 in 2023-24)

The following Jackrabbit wrestlers are entered in the Dakota Wesleyan Open*:

133 - Cale Seaton (Freshman)

133 - Logan Swensen (Freshman)

141 - Tyson Peach (Freshman)

184 - Burk Blasius (Freshman)

184 - Jared Thiry (3-14 during 2023-24)

197 - Quin Morgan (Freshman)

285 - Regan Bollweg (2-5 during 2023-24)

*Participants are subject to change.

First-year wrestlers will compete as attached wrestlers during the Bison Open and DWU Open. NCAA rules dictate that freshmen are only allowed to compete in the first semester if designated as attached wrestlers and are allotted five competition dates to maintain full eligibility.

Jackrabbit Summary

The South Dakota State Jackrabbit Wrestling program is looking to capitalize on a successful 2023-24 season as they return to action in 2024-25 under head coach Damion Hahn.

The return of three All-Americans highlights the squad: Tanner Jordan (125), Cade DeVos (174), and Bennett Berge (184). They return alongside NCAA qualifiers Derrick Cardinal (133), Alek Martin (149), and Cael Swensen (157).

SDSU returns to the mat in 2024-25 after finishing third in the Big 12 Championships and 13th at the NCAA Championships in 2023-24. The Big 12 Championships were highlighted by the crowning of Cade DeVos (174) and Tanner Sloan (197) as champions in their respective weight classes.

The Jacks are coming off a season in 2023-24 where they had a program-record four All-Americans and a program-record-tying eight NCAA Qualifiers. The Jacks went 13-4 in dual meets and 7-2 in conference duals. This is highlighted by a 7-1 home record for South Dakota St. with wins over Air Force and Wyoming.

SDSU is full of new faces, as the program brought in 12 newcomers in the offseason. Six of the newcomers are freshmen. This includes Burk Blasius, Kenton Cooke, Shane McConville, Logan Swensen, Tyson Peach, and Quin Morgan. Sophomore Jacob Fistler wrestled with the JWC last year but has now been added to the 2024-25 squad.

In September, the Jackrabbits announced the addition of four transfers from the University of Iowa. Those include Zach Glazier, Cobe Siebrecht, Cade Siebrecht and Drake Rhodes.

Glazier was the runner-up at 197 pounds at the Big 10 Championships for Iowa in 2023-24. He put together a 37-9 record over 4 years with Iowa, including a 9-4 record against ranked opponents in 2023-24.

Cobe Siebrecht sat out of competition in 2023-24, but in 2022-23, Siebrecht was an NCAA Qualifier at 157 pounds and finished seventh at the Big 10 Championships. He put together a 21-11 record over three years of competition at Iowa.

The Jacks are led by head coach Damion Hahn, who is in his seventh year at the helm of SDSU. Hahn holds a record of 58-34 overall and a Big 12 dual record of 28-21. The 2023-24 season was his best mark by far as the leader of the Jackrabbit wrestling program, as the team went 13-4 in duals. SDSU received their highest preseason ranking from InterMat under Hahn as they are ranked No. 9 to start the season, and are No. 10 and No. 12 in the FloWrestling and NWCA Coaches polls, respectively. He is joined by Cam Simaz, Cody Caldwell, and Clay Carlson as his assistant coaches.

Key Storylines

The New: South Dakota State added four transfers in September from the University of Iowa: Zach Glazier, Cobe and Cade Siebrecht and Drake Rhodes. The transfers come in alongside six freshmen.
The Old: SDSU returns seven of its ten starters from last year, including All-Americans Tanner Jordan, Cade DeVos and Bennett Berge. The team also returns NCAA Qualifiers Derrick Cardinal, Alek Martin and Cael Swensen.
Program Records: The Jacks brought home a program record four All-Americans in 2023-24 with Tanner Jordan, Cade DeVos, Bennett Berge and Tanner Sloan. The Jacks tied their program record of eight NCAA Qualifiers by sending Cardinal, Martin, Swensen and Clay Carlson.
Experience Matters: The projected starting lineup for the Jackrabbits this year includes five athletes in their sixth year of collegiate eligibility. Those five athletes total eight NCAA Qualifications, one Big 12 Title and two All-American honors.
NWCA All-Star Classic: Tanner Jordan and Cade DeVos were selected to participate in the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic in State College, Pa. Tanner Jordan will take on Jore Volk from Wyoming in a matchup that will be No. 2 vs. No. 5 in the 125-pound weight class. Cade DeVos will take on Levi Haines from Penn State in a matchup of No. 2 vs. No. 3 in the 174-pound weight class. It will be Haines' debut at 174 pounds.
In the Rankings: SDSU received its highest pre-season ranking in program history from InterMat, ranked ninth to start the season. In Flo Wrestling's poll the Jackrabbits are tied at 10th to start the year. In the NWCA coaches poll, the Jacks are ranked no. 12, tying their best ranking in the coaches poll to start the season with 2023-24.
Home Mat Advantage: The Jackrabbits put up a home record in 2023-24 of 7-1. Their only loss came to fellow ranked program Missouri, only losing the dual 19-21. SDSU scored over 30 points in six of their eight home duals.
In the Classroom: The SDSU wrestling program had the fourth-highest team GPA in the country amongst wrestling programs last year, according to NWCA. The Jackrabbits compiled a 3.5416 team grade-point average to receive the team recognition for the fourth season and were the highest-ranking Big 12 Conference school.
New Staff, Old Faces: In the offseason, Two-Time All-American Clay Carlson was added to the wrestling coaching staff as an assistant coach. Carlson wrestled at SDSU for six years and was a four-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American, and two-time Big 12 Wrestling scholar-athlete of the year. Brady Berge was also promoted from volunteer assistant coach to head coach of the JWC regional training center.
New Home: The Jackrabbits will compete in First Bank & Trust Arena this year. The first home event for wrestling is their dual against Augustana on November 15th.
Offseason work: Cael Swensen finished second at the U23 National Duals in Geneva, Ohio, over the summer in the 74-kilogram division. Fellow Jackrabbits Marcus Espinoza Owens, Kail Wynia, Thomas Dineen, Derrick Cardinal and Brock Fettig competed at the event, with Wynia and Dineen placing fourth in their respective divisions.

A Look Ahead

The Jackrabbits will be home next weekend for their first home dual in First Bank & Trust Arena against Augustana on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. This marks the beginning of a busy weekend for the Jacks. On Saturday, Nov. 16, Tanner Jordan and Cade DeVos will compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic at Rec Hall in State College, Pa.

The Jacks will close the weekend with the annual Warren Williamson Daktronics Invitational on Nov. 17th at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex starting at 10 a.m.

-GoJacks.com-