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South Dakota State University Athletics
Thursday, March 21
Kansas City, Mo.
11 a.m./7 p.m.
South Dakota State University
vs
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
JACKS SEND EIGHT TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
3/20/2024 8:22:00 AM | Wrestling
#11 South Dakota State at NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
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For the second year in a row, South Dakota State will send a program-record eight wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
The 2024 edition of the national tournament runs Thursday through Saturday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Video coverage of the entire tournament will be available through the ESPN family of networks.
Of SDSU's eight qualifiers, five are making at least their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships, including five-time qualifier and 2023 runner-up at 197 pounds, Tanner Sloan, and two-time All-American at 141 pounds, Clay Carlson. Tanner Jordan (125 pounds), Cael Swensen (157 pounds) and Cade DeVos (174 pounds) also return to national competition.
Earning nationals berths for the first time were Derrick Cardinal (133 pounds), Alek Martin (149 pounds) and Bennett Berge (184 pounds). Redshirt freshman heavyweight Luke Rasmussen has been selected as an alternate.
NATIONAL QUALIFIERS
125: #23 Tanner Jordan • Sr., St. Paris, Ohio (24-9 overall)
133: #18 Derrick Cardinal • So., Forest Lake, Minn. (22-9 overall)
141: #30 Clay Carlson • Sr., Willmar, Minn. (15-7 overall)
149: #29 Alek Martin • So., St. Paris, Ohio (20-10 overall)
157: #15 Cael Swensen • So., Plymouth, Minn. (20-9 overall)
174: #2 Cade DeVos • Sr., Altoona, Iowa (23-1 overall)
184: #9 Bennett Berge • R-Fr., Mantorville, Minn. (19-5 overall)
197: #3 Tanner Sloan • Sr., Alburnett, Iowa (23-1 overall)
Alternate
197: Luke Rasmussen • R-Fr., Brookings, S.D. (17-13 overall)
Note: Seed for NCAA Championships listed
SEEDINGS AND PAIRINGS: South Dakota State's Cade DeVos has been awarded the No. 2 seed at 174 pounds and returning finalist Tanner Sloan is seeded third in the 197-pound weight class as seedings and pairings for the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which were revealed March 13.
A senior from. Altoona, Iowa, DeVos enters his fourth tournament appearance with a 23-1 overall record after claiming the 174-pound title March 10 at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship. He will meet No. 31 Michael Wilson of Rider (21-11 overall) in the opening round.
Sloan, a senior from Alburnett, Iowa, also has posted a 23-1 overall record this season while claiming the 197-pound title at the Big 12 tournament. Sloan is a five-time NCAA qualifier who finished as runner-up at 197 pounds last season in earning All-America honors for the first time. He is scheduled to square off against No. 30 Sam Mitchell of Buffalo (23-6 overall) in the opening round.
Also awarded a top-10 seed was redshirt freshman Bennett Berge, who is seeded ninth in the 184-pound weight class. A native of Mantorville, Minnesota, Berge holds a 19-5 record and is slated to meet No. 24 Shane Liegel of Wisconsin (19-12 record) in opening-round action.
Two-time All-American Clay Carlson qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time and is seeded 30th at 141 pounds with a 15-7 record. Carlson is matched up against No. 3 Real Woods of Iowa (18-3 record).
A senior from Willmar, Minnesota, Carlson placed eighth at 141 pounds in 2021 and wrestled his way to a fifth-place showing in 2023.
Other 2023 national qualifiers returning to the championships this season are 125-pounder Tanner Jordan and Cael Swensen in the 157-pound division. A senior from St. Paris, Ohio, Jordan is seeded 23rd with a 24-9 record and will meet 10th-seeded Eric Barnett of Wisconsin (26-6 record).
Swensen, a sophomore from Plymouth, Minnesota, earned the No. 15 seed at 157 pounds and is matched up against No. 18 Vinny Zerban of Northern Colorado (24-2). Swensen is coming off a third-place finish at the Big 12 Championship and is 20-8 overall.
First-time NCAA qualifiers for the Jackrabbits include sophomores Derrick Cardinal at 133 pounds and 149-pounder Alek Martin. Cardinal, from Forest Lake, Minnesota, is seeded 18th with a 22-9 mark and will square off against 15th-seeded Brody Teske of Iowa (13-5) in first-round action.
Martin is seeded 29th and matched up against fourth-seeded Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech (25-2) after earning an at-large selection. Also a St. Paris, Ohio, native, Martin has compiled a 20-10 record so far this season.
BIG 12 RECAP: Cade DeVos and Tanner Sloan lived up their top-seed billing as the South Dakota State wrestlers captured individual titles March 10 at the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship contested at BOK Center.
The duo became the first SDSU wrestlers to win Big 12 titles since Seth Gross (133 pounds) and Nate Rotert (197 pounds) in 2018.
A senior from Altoona, Iowa, DeVos claimed the 174-pound title with a 6-4 decision over seventh-seeded Gaven Sax of North Dakota State. DeVos took down Sax about 30 seconds into the opening period and rode out the remainder of the opening stanza to build up a big advantage in riding time.
DeVos added to his lead with an escape early in the second period before Sax mounted a comeback in the third with an escape and takedown to momentarily tie the match at 4-all. After a stoppage due to a scoring error, DeVos regained the lead with an escape on the restart and tacked on another point via riding time while holding off some late takedown attempts by Sax.
Sloan, meanwhile, was making his fourth appearance in a 197-pound championship bout while squaring off against third-seeded Rocky Elam of Missouri in a rematch of last year's final. Sloan fended off a couple takedown attempts from Elam over the first two periods, which remained scoreless.
To start the third period, Sloan chose the down position and recorded an early escape for what would be the lone point of the match as the Jackrabbit wrestler was able to apply enough pressure to keep his opponent off the board.
Sloan's victory also secured third place in the team standings for the Jackrabbits, who topped the century mark for team points for the first time at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship. SDSU's third-place finish matched the program's best, tying the placing of the 2016-17 and 2017-18 squads.
Iowa State won the team title with 152.5 points, followed by Oklahoma State with 141.5. SDSU's 122 points were good for third place, with defending champion Missouri (115.5) and Northern Iowa (100) rounding out the top five.
SDSU, Iowa State and Northern Iowa all led the way with two individual champions.
In all, nine of the 10 Jackrabbit wrestlers earned spots on the podium with top-eight finishes. Seven of SDSU's wrestlers earned automatic berths in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships based on their individual finishes at the Big 12 tournament.
Cale Swensen recorded a third-place finish at 157 pounds after collecting a pair of one-point victories on the second day of competition, starting with a 4-3 victory over Brock Mauller of Missouri in the consolation semifinals.
That set up a rematch with third-seeded Teague Travis of Oklahoma State in the third-place match. The sixth-seeded Swensen scored on takedown late in the second period for a 3-1 lead and added an escape early in the third stanza en route to a 5-4 decision for his second win of the tournament over Teague.
Two other Jackrabbits wrestled in third-place matches, but came up short to improve their tournament standing. Derrick Cardinal, who advanced by injury default against Hunter Leake of California Baptist in the consolation semifinals, dropped a 6-1 decision to Dominick Serrano of Northern Colorado in the 133-pound third-place match.
At 184 pounds, Bennett Berge secured a trip to the NCAA Championships with a 4-2 decision over Missouri's Colton Hawks in the consolation semifinals. Berge then squared off for a second time in as many days against Sam Wolf of Air Force, but again came up on the short end of 4-3 decision to finish fourth.
Also punching his ticket to Kansas City and the NCAA Championships was senior 141-pounder Clay Carlson. The Willmar, Minnesota, native will be making his fourth trip to nationals after a fifth-place finish.
Carlson opened Day 2 with a 11-6 loss to Tagen Jamison of Oklahoma State, then was awarded a medical forfeit from his scheduled fifth-place opponent, Jordan Titus of West Virginia, to claim the final allocated spot at the weight class.
Tanner Jordan also finished with a fifth-place showing in the 125-pound weight. Jordan was upended by Kysen Terukina of Iowa State, 10-6, in the consolation semifinals, followed by receiving a medical forfeit from Missouri's Noah Surtin prior to the fifth-place match.
Rounding out the placewinners for the Jackrabbits were seventh-place finishers Alek Martin at 149 pounds and heavyweight Luke Rasmussen. Martin downed Max Petersen of North Dakota State, 5-2, while Rasmussen scored a 4-3 decision over Chase Trussell of Utah Valley.
RABBITS RANKED: South Dakota State has been climbing the rankings during the new calendar year, reaching its first-ever top-10 ranking in a Division I team poll Jan. 16, checking in at No. 10 in the rankings conducted by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The Jackrabbits ended the regular season at No. 11, a spot they held for the third week in a row.
The Jackrabbits began the 2023-24 season with their highest preseason ranking ever in the NWCA poll with a 12th-place showing in the initial survey, which was announced Oct. 31. That matched SDSU's previous high-water mark as the Jackrabbits were ranked 12th for five weeks during the 2017-18 season.
SDSU was one of six Big 12 Conference teams to be ranked in the preseason top 25. Missouri was ranked fourth, followed by Iowa State in 10th and Oklahoma State at No. 11. Also ranked were Northern Iowa at No. 17 and Oklahoma, which is tied for 20th. Defending national champion Penn State was a unanimous pick for the top spot.
In other team rankings, SDSU finished 12th in the dual rankings by both FloWrestling and 13th by InterMat, while standing 13th and 14th, respectively in team tournament surveys. The Jackrabbits also hold down the second spot in the NWCA Mid-Major Top 20.
WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK: South Dakota State 197-pounder Tanner Sloan was honored as Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Week twice in the final month of the 2023-24 regular season.
A senior from Alburnett, Iowa, Sloan's first award was presented Feb. 13 after he allowed only one point in his two matches on a weekend road trip to the state of Oklahoma. He downed No. 2/3 Stephen Buchanan of Oklahoma, 4-1, on Feb. 9, and recorded a 4-0 victory over No. 15 Luke Surber of Oklahoma State the next night. The victory over Buchanan sealed the Jackrabbits' 20-13 dual victory.
Sloan repeated as the award winner with his win by fall over No. 8 Rocky Elam of Missouri on Feb. 18.
Sloan is the second Jackrabbit to earn Big 12 Wrestler of the Week this season, joining 125-pound Tanner Jordan who was honored Nov. 28. It also marks the third and fourth times in his career Sloan has received the award.
A senior from St. Paris, Ohio, Jordan knocked off sixth-ranked Patrick McKee of Minnesota, 9-3, in dual action Nov. 26 in Minneapolis. Jordan held a 3-2 lead entering the third period and was able to extend his lead with a reversal and three-point near-fall, followed by a point for a minute advantage in riding time.
Jordan also was honored Nov. 28 on NCAA Wrestling social media channels as Wrestler of the Week for his win over McKee.
In addition, South Dakota State was recognized as the NCAA Wrestling Team of the Week following its Jan. 4 dual victory over Michigan.
100 WINS: For only the second time in program history, the South Dakota State wrestling program has two 100-win wrestlers in the lineup at the same time.
Tanner Sloan became the latest Jackrabbit wrestler to reach the milestone, recording career win No. 100 with a pin of Wyoming's Tyce Raddon in a Feb. 1 dual in Laramie, Wyoming. The 16th wrestler in program history to reach the century mark, Sloan added another dual victory two days later and now holds a 109-21 career record, which is good for a tie for ninth place on SDSU's all-time wins chart with Chad Wickman (109-36 record from 1996-99).
Wickman was part of the other previous 100-win tandem for the Jackrabbits, teaming with Ryan Resel, who compiled a 121-17 record en route to a pair of NCAA Division II national titles in the heavyweight division.
Sloan's totals while wrestling exclusively at 197 pounds throughout his Jackrabbit career include a 63-4 mark in duals, featuring a 39-match winning streak that dated back to early in the 2021-22 season to close out that portion of his career.
Previously, Clay Carlson accomplished the feat at the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Carlson's milestone victory came against Purdue's Parker Filius, 3-1, in the consolation semifinals. He added another victory the following day to close out his second career All-America performance with a fifth-place finish at nationals.
Carlson, who is 15-7 this season after missing the first two months due to injury, now holds a career record of 116-48. He has moved into sole possession of sixth place on the SDSU career victories list after entering the Big 12 Wrestling Championship tied with Aaron Veskrna (114-40 record from 1999-2002) and Cody Pack (114-36 record from 2012-16).
Cade DeVos was in a position to make run to the 100-win mark this season as he enters the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships with a 93-30 career mark. DeVos, who intends to return to the Jackrabbits next fall for a sixth season of eligibility, is 23-1 on the season, with his lone loss coming to former national champion Shane Griffith of Michigan (formerly of Stanford) in a Jan. 4 dual. DeVos opened the season with nine consecutive victories that included winning the 174-pound title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December.
CARLSON, SLOAN SELECTED FOR ALL-STAR CLASSIC: Returning All-Americans Clay Carlson and Tanner Sloan were selected to represent the South Dakota State University wrestling team at the 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic, presented by Cliff Keen, Nov. 21 in State College, Pennsylvania.
Sloan, the 2023 national runner-up at 197 pounds, squared off against top-ranked Aaron Brooks of Penn State and dropped an 11-2 major decision.
A native of Alburnett, Iowa, Sloan compiled a 27-3 record in advancing to the national championship bout last season, while Brooks is a three-time NCAA champion at 184 pounds who is moving up a weight class this season.
Carlson, a two-time All-American at 141 pounds, was slated to face Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina, but withdrew from the event due to injury.
A native of Willmar, Minnesota, Carlson placed fifth at 141 pounds at the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, finishing the season with a 27-10 record.
BIG 12 SUCCESS: Now in its ninth season as an affiliate member of the Big 12 Conference for wrestling, South Dakota State has proven to be a contender 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 50-24 record (.676 winning percentage) in duals against Big 12 foes. SDSU posted an 8-0 mark in Big 12 duals during the 2017-18 campaign and has turned in respective 6-2 and 7-2 marks the past two seasons.
The Jacks 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 championship in 2016. SDSU finished sixth out of 13 teams at the 2023 meet.
10-WIN SEASONS: With its 33-3 victory at Wyoming on Feb. 1, South Dakota State posted its third consecutive 10-win season under head coach Damion Hahn.
The Jackrabbits have reached double figures in dual victories nine times in the Division I era (since 2004-05), including eight of the last 10 seasons. The most dual wins by a Jackrabbit squad in the D-I era is 14, which was accomplished in three consecutive seasons (2015-16 through 2017-18), while the overall record is 17 (17-5) during the 1972-73 campaign, which was Warren Williamson's final season as head coach.
NEW STANDARD: The Jackrabbits recorded their highest point total and largest margin of victory ever against a Division I opponent by blanking Kent State, 50-0, in dual action Jan. 12 at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Virginia.
The Jackrabbits tallied five wins by technical fall and three more via pin.
WORLD MEDALIST: South Dakota State wrestler Bennett Berge earned his second career individual medal at the United World Wrestling U20 World Championships, claiming bronze as competition wrapped up in September.
Competing in the 86-kilogram freestyle division, Berge compiled a 3-1 record over two days of wrestling in Amman City, Jordan. He began the tournament with back-to-back victories over Ivan Chornohuz, Ukraine (9-5, VPO1) and Slavi Stamenov, Bulgaria (11-0, VSU 1:49), but dropped his semifinal match later in the day to France's Rakhim Madmadov by a 9-4 (VPO1) score.
In his final match of the competition, Berge wasted little time in posting an 11-0 (VSU 2:09) victory over Shakjir Bislimi of North Macedonia.
Berge was part of a Team USA squad that came in second in the team standings behind Iran. As a unit, Team USA set a record with medalists in eight of 10 weight classes — two gold, two silver and four bronze.
A native of Mantorville, Minnesota, Berge previously won an individual silver medal at the 2022 U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
NEW FACILITY OPENS: South Dakota State marked the start of the calendar year by moving into a new home with the opening of the 16,000-square-foot Kurtenbach Family Wrestling Center.
The South Dakota Board of Regents approved plans for the project in December 2020 and ground was broken in September 2021 for the $4 million on-campus training facility, which is located 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 features four competition mats, a strength and conditioning area, locker rooms, team room, coaches' offices and spaces for academics and nutrition.
"This 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 were 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."
COACH HAHN: Damion Hahn is overseeing a successful rebuilding of South Dakota State University wrestling as he completes his sixth season at the helm of the Jackrabbits' program. Hahn has compiled a 58-34 career dual record and has coached six All-Americans and 38 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 next 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 sent four wrestlers on to the NCAA Championships in Detroit.
The 2022-23 season included a 10-dual winning streak en route to a 12-4 record. The Jackrabbits also were strong in tournament settings, placing third at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December and posting a sixth-place finish at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship.
SDSU went on to send a program-record eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, coming away with a 14th-place finish and two All-Americans — Clay Carlson, who placed fifth at 141 pounds and 197-pound runner-up Tanner Sloan.
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 three 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.). He 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. He was inducted into the University of Minnesota's M Club Hall of Fame in 2018.
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.
THE ROSTER: The 2023-24 South Dakota State wrestling roster is made up of 35 student-athletes from 15 different states from coast to coast. Minnesota has the most wrestlers with seven, followed by six from Iowa, while five hail from South Dakota. Three Jackrabbit wrestlers are from Ohio and Utah, with a pair from Wisconsin. Nine states have produced one wrestler each: Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington.
By class, 11 are seniors, six are sophomores and eight are redshirt freshmen. Ten are incoming freshmen. There are no juniors on this season's squad.
A LOOK AHEAD: The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships mark the final competition of the 2023-24 season.
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Players Mentioned
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