FIVE JACKS PLACE IN VEGAS

Friday, December 5

Las Vegas, Nev.

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

A man in a blue singlet interlocks with another man, in a dark blue singlet, during a wrestling match.

Photo by: Sam Janicki

12/6/2025 6:26:00 PM | Wrestling

Las Vegas, Nev. - Five Jackrabbit wrestlers found their spots on the podium on Saturday at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Moses Espinoza-Owens started the day by dropping his semi-finals match against Oklahoma's Carter Schubert, 2-1, via the ride time point. Espinoza-Owens was able to bounce back later in session three, scoring a decision over Northwestern's Eddie Enwright, 4-2 to send him to session four where he would wrestle for third against Michigan's Beau Mantanona, in a rematch from Friday. In a back-and-forth match with Mantanona, Espinoza-Owens found himself tied 2-2 with 1:30 left in the third period. Espinoza-Owens would go for the takedown but was caught by Mantanona with 30 seconds remaining, ultimately dropping the match, 3-6. Espinoza-Owens finished fourth, the highest of any Jackrabbit wrestler.

Derrick Cardinal started his day off in the wrestlebacks against Tyler Ferrera. Cardinal struggled to get his offense in and ultimately dropped the match, 2-14. But against No. 15 overall and 4-seed Sean Spidle, Cardinal was able to grab more of a foothold in the match, scoring multiple takedowns and securing a major decision over Spidle, claiming 7th place at 133 pounds.

Luke Rasmussen dropped his opening bout to 8-seed David Szuba but rallied valiantly against Devon Dawson of NIU. After ending regulation tied at 2-2, Rasmussen was able to score a takedown and get two near-fall swipes against Dawson in sudden victory to secure 7th place.

After advancing to the semi-finals on Friday, Marcus Espinoza-Owens hit a wall on Saturday, dropping three consecutive major decisions and taking 6th at 165 pounds.

After a day of hard-fought bouts on Friday, Alek Martin struggled on Saturday, going 0-2 in his matches, ultimately taking 8th in a competitive 149-pound weight class.

UP NEXT

The Jackrabbits will finish out the calendar year at home as they take on the Campbell Fighting Camels in First Bank and Trust Arena on Dec. 21st.

RESULTS:

133: #5 Derrick Cardinal

Cons. Round of 4: MD loss to #6 Tyler Ferrera (Cornell), 2-14

7th Place Match: MD over #4 Sean Spidle (Northwestern), 14-2

- 7th place

149: #8 Alek Martin

Cons. Round of 4: Decision loss to #5 David Evans (Utah Valley), 6-8

7th Place Match: Pinned by Collin Gaj (VT), 0:56

- 8th Place

165: #6 Marcus Espinoza-Owens