JACKS TAKE SECOND AT NATIONAL DUALS

Friday, January 9

Cedar Falls, Iowa

South Dakota State University

NWCA National Duals

A wrestler in a blue singlet, Cael Swensen, picks up his opponent a wrestler in a red singlet during a match

Photo by: Amber Seaton

1/10/2026 6:25:00 PM | Wrestling

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The Jackrabbit wrestling team suffered their first loss on Saturday as it finished second at the NWCA National Duals.

The Jackrabbits started their day off with duals against Campbell and Central Michigan. The Jacks made quick work of Campbell, putting them away by a score of 45-3 in a rematch from Dec. 23rd. Logan Swensen scored a win over Jonathan Chang at 149 pounds, the first dual victory of his career and his first win at 149 pounds. Moses Espinoza-Owens scored his first pin of the season after putting Ryan Bolletino on his back at 174 pounds, and Brock Fettig got some revenge over Brant Cracraft as he majored him at 184 pounds.

The Jackrabbits then faced a tough opponent in Central Michigan, which features three nationally ranked wrestlers in its starting lineup. The dual was highlighted by ranked victories by Cale Seaton at 133 pounds, Cael Swensen at 157 pounds and Micah Hach at 285 pounds. Seaton took down No. 33 Andrew Austin using a pair of takedowns to secure a 7-3 decision. Swensen bested No. 23 Mason Shrader, 4-2, with a takedown in the second and Micah Hach scored his first collegiate pin over No. 32 Bryan Caves in the second period, solidifying a 28-10 dual win for the Jacks.

The Jackrabbits ran into familiar foes, Northern Iowa, in the finals of the National Duals. Brady Roark got the dual started with his third win of the weekend as he scored twice on Bowen Downey, grabbing a 6-2 decision.

UNI answered back at 133 pounds as Julian Farber scored three times in the first period against Cale Seaton. But Seaton recovered and scored a takedown of his own in the third to hold Farber to a decision.

Julian Tagg faced off with Max Brady at 141 pounds. Brady was able to score in all three periods on his way to an upset victory over Tagg by a score of 12-10. At 149 pounds, Logan Swensen struggled against Ethan Basile on the way to a 15-0 tech fall loss, putting the JAcks down 11-3 in the dual.

But the Jackrabbits rallied, with Cael Swensen picking up his fifth win of the weekend in spectacular fashion, taking down Cael Rahnavardi by tech fall to cut the Panther lead to 11-8.

Freshman Jacob Herm faced a daunting task in No. 12 Ryder Downey at 165 pounds. Herm gave a good effort but ultimately fell by decision to Downeu, 0-7, extending the Panther lead to 14-8.

Moses Espinoza-Owens answered the bell at 174 pounds and took the fight to Izzy Moreno. After being stifled on attempts in the first and second periods, Espinoza-Owens was able to score on two takedowns in the third, en route to a 7-2 decision over Moreno.

Brock Fettig went up against Nick Fox at 184 pounds. After a scoreless first, Fettig was able to rack up a minute of riding time in the second, but was unable to escape in the third before the riding time got below 1:00. After several attempts from both wrestlers, Fox was ultimately victorious, scoring a late takedown to secure the match, 4-2.

Bennett Berge went up against John Gunderson at 197 pounds. Berge got to Gunderson's legs multiple times but was only able to finish on two takedowns as he scored a 7-3 win over Gunderson.

It all came down to the heavyweights as Luke Rasmussen took on Adam Ahrendsen. Rasmussen struck first but got caught by Ahrendsen late in the first period as Ahrendsen took a 7-3 lead into the second. After getting ridden out in the second, Rasmussen needed a takedown to get back into the match. Ahrendsen struck again in the third, but Rasmussen answered back with a late takedown of his own and what was called at the time as two near-fall swipes. But after a review, no back points were awarded, and Rasmussen had dropped the match, 10-7. The Jacks had fallen by a score of 20-14

NOTES:

First collegiate pin and ranked win for Micah Hach
First pin of the season for Moses Espinoza-Owens
Cael Swensen won all 5 matches this weekend, including two top-25 wins
Logan Swensen picked up his first win at 149 pounds.
Ranked wins for Swensen, Seaton and Hach against Central Michigan

UP NEXT
The Jacks return to action on Friday on the road against Utah Valley at 8 p.m. CT.

RESULTS:#8 SDSU 45, Campbell 3
125| Daniel Guanajuato (South Dakota State) over Colby Crouch (Campbell) Inj 1:23
133| Cale Seaton (South Dakota State) over Logan Heil (Campbell) Maj 13-4
141| Julian Tagg (South Dakota State) over Zander Phaturos (Campbell) Maj 17-5
149| Logan Swensen (South Dakota State) over Jonathan Chang (Campbell) Maj 14-4
157| Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) over Kendrick Hodge (Campbell) Dec 7-0
165| Jacob Herm (South Dakota State) over Unknown (Unattached) FF
174| Moses Espinoza-Owens (South Dakota State) over Ryan Bolletino (Campbell) Fall 5:29
184| Brock Fettig (South Dakota State) over Brant Cracraft (Campbell) Maj 9-0
197| Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) over Unknown (Unattached) FF
285| Sawyer VanRider (Campbell) over Micah Hach (South Dakota State) Dec 3-2

#8 SDSU 28, Central Michigan 10
125| Brady Roark (South Dakota State) over Archer Anderson (Central Michigan) Maj 15-7
133| Cale Seaton (South Dakota State) over Andrew Austin (Central Michigan) Dec 7-3
141| Julian Tagg (South Dakota State) over Nick Blackburn (Central Michigan) Dec 8-2
149| Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) over Logan Swensen (South Dakota State) Maj 12-1
157| Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) over Mason Shrader (Central Michigan) Dec 4-2
165| Jacob Herm (South Dakota State) over Chandler Amaker (Central Michigan) Fall 2:57
174| Moses Espinoza-Owens (South Dakota State) over Brayden Gautreau (CMU) Dec 4-2
184| Adrien Cramer (Central Michigan) over Jarrett Wadsen (South Dakota State) Dec 8-6
197| Luke Cochran (Central Michigan) over Quin Morgan (South Dakota State) Dec 13-7
285| Micah Hach (South Dakota State) over Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) Fall 3:24

#8 SDSU 14, #17 UNI 20
125| Brady Roark (South Dakota State) over Bowen Downey (Northern Iowa) Dec 6-2
133| Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) over Cale Seaton (South Dakota State) Dec 12-6
141| Max Brady (Northern Iowa) over Julian Tagg (South Dakota State) Dec 12-10
149| Ethan Basile (Northern Iowa) over Logan Swensen (South Dakota State) TF 15-0
157| Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) over Cael Rahnavardi (Northern Iowa) TF 19-4
165 | Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) over Jacob Herm (South Dakota State) Dec 7-0
174| Moses Espinoza-Owens (South Dakota State) over Izzy Moreno (Northern Iowa) Dec 7-2
184| Nick Fox (Northern Iowa) over Brock Fettig (South Dakota State) Dec 4-2
197| Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) over John Gunderson (Northern Iowa) Dec 7-3
285| Adam Ahrendsen (Northern Iowa) over Luke Rasmussen (South Dakota State) Dec 10-7