JACKS HIT ROAD FOR PAIR OF BIG 12 DUALS

Friday, January 16

Orem, Utah

8 p.m. CT

South Dakota State University

Utah Valley

A wrestler in a blue singlet grabs the legs of a wrestler in a black singlet during a wrestling match.

Photo by: Evan Patzwald

1/15/2026 12:55:00 PM | Wrestling

Week 9: #10 South Dakota State vs. Utah Valley, Wyoming
Date and Time	Friday, Jan. 16, 8 p.m. CT; Sunday, Jan. 18, 2 p.m.
Location	Orem, Utah; Laramie, Wyoming
Site	Lockhart Arena; UniWyo Sports Complex
Television/Stream	YouTube (UVU), FloWrestling (WYO)
Live Stats	TrackWrestling, TrackWrestling
South Dakota State	Game Notes \| Home Page

Brookings, S.D. - The Jackrabbits head back on the road this weekend as they make the trip into mountain time to take on Utah Valley and Wyoming. The Jackrabbits took care of business against these two squads last year by scores of 21-16 and 31-3, respectively. The Jacks are 9-11 all-time against Wyoming and on a 5-match winning streak. The Jacks hold an 11-8 series lead over Utah Valley, and are currently on a 10-match win streak against the Wolverines.

THE LINEUP: This is the probable lineup for this week's contest:
125 - #22 Brady Roark (15-2) or Daniel Guanajuato (11-5)
133 - Cale Seaton (8-4)
141 - #22 Julian Tagg (11-3)
149 - #22 Alek Martin (5-6) or Colin Dupill (4-5)
157 - #18 Cael Swensen (9-3)
165 - #27 Marcus Espinoza-Owens -or-Jacob Herm (9-2)
174 - #17 Moses Espinoza-Owens (18-4)
184 - Brock Fettig (9-7)
197 - #7 Bennett Berge (9-1) or Quin Morgan (6-5)
285 - #19 Luke Rasmussen (7-3)

LAST TIME OUT: National Duals
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.

JACKS IN THE RANKINGS
125: Brady Roark 20/22
133: Derrick Cardinal 30/23
141: Julian Tagg 16/22
149: Alek Martin 21/22
157: Cael Swensen 17/18
165: Marcus Espinoza-Owens 30/27
174: Moses Espinoza-Owens 18/18
197: Bennett Berge 6/7
285: Luke Rasmussen 23/19

NWCA COACHES POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points
1 Penn State (14)(7-0) 398
2 Ohio State (2) (12-0) 386
3 Iowa State (6-1) 368
4 Iowa (8-2) 351
5 Oklahoma St. (9-1) 337
6 Nebraska (8-3) 319
7 Virginia Tech (5-2) 301
8 NC State (9-3) 276
9 Minnesota (7-2) 272
10 SDSU (8-1) 243
11 Illinois (7-3) 234
12 North Carolina (7-1) 207
13 Michigan (5-2) 201
14 Northern Iowa (8-4) 187
15 Pittsburgh (7-2) 185
16 Oklahoma (6-2) 148
17 Rutgers (6-3) 145
18 Wisconsin (9-1) 143
19 Missouri (6-6) 115
20 Lehigh (5-6) 111
21 Cornell (2-4) 82
22 West Virginia (7-2) 77
23 Indiana (5-2) 35
24 Stanford (3-4) 29
25 Oregon State (2-1) 18
Others Receiving Votes: Drexel 14, Penn 6, SIU Edwardsville 4, Purdue 3, Wyoming 3, Columbia 1.

NWCA MID-MAJOR POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points Conference All-Sports
1 SDSU (6) (4-0) 120 Big 12 Summit
2 Northern Iowa (3-4) 114 Big 12 Missouri Valley
3 Cornell (1-3) 108 Ivy League Ivy League
4 Lehigh (3-6) 100 EIWA Patriot
5 Penn (3-0) 88 Ivy League Ivy League
6 Wyoming (2-3) 83 Big 12 Mountain West
7 Drexel (5-2) 76 EIWA CAA
8 Little Rock (2-6) 69 Pac-12 Ohio Valley
9 Lock Haven (4-3) 58 MAC PSAC (Division II)
10 Utah Valley (3-3) 56 Big 12 WAC
11 (tie) Army (0-3) 52 EIWA Patriot
11 (tie) Navy (2-3) 52 EIWA Patriot
13 Princeton (2-4) 40 Ivy League Ivy League
14 Cal Poly (2-2) 37 Pac-12 Big West
15 C. Michigan (3-1) 36 MAC MAC
16 Columbia (4-3) 29 Ivy League Ivy League
17 Rider (3-4) 27 MAC MAAC
18 Bucknell (3-5) 24 EIWA Patriot
19 SIUE (4-1) 15 MAC Ohio Valley
20 NDSU (1-5) 14 Big 12 Summit
Others Receiving Votes: American 13, Appalachian State 13, Ohio 13, George Mason 8, Northern Illinois 5, The Citadel 4, Kent State 3, Chattanooga 2, Edinboro 1.

WRESTLER TO WATCH: Bennett Berge
Bennett Berge returned to action last weekend at the NWCA National Duals for the first time since Dec. 5th at CKLV. Berge scored four wins, two by tech fall, one by decision and one by forfeit.

He'll likely have a ranked matchup with #28 Kael Bennie on Friday there's a possible top-10 matchup on Sunday against #3 Joey Novak of Wyoming.

Berge is a two-time NCAA Qualifier, and was an All-American in 2024 at 184 pounds. He put up back-to-back 25 win seasons in his redshirt freshman and sophomore years and will look to get back on track after getting injured earlier this year.

Key Storylines

BACK FOR MORE: The Jackrabbits return Cael Swensen and Alek Martin to their lineup after both sat out the 2024-25 season with injuries
PROGRAM RECORDS: The Jackrabbits continued to set program records under Damion Hahn in 2024-25, sending a record nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia
REPLACING DEVOS: The Jackrabbits will have a few options at 174 pounds this year as they try to replace two-time All-American and five-time NCAA Qualifier Cade DeVos. Fighting for the spot will be Connor Gaynor and Moses Espinoza-Owens.
MOVIN' ON, MOVIN' UP: All-American Bennett Berge will make the jump from 184 pounds, where he was a two-time NCAA Qualifier and a fourth-place finisher in 2024, to 197 pounds this year, replacing the graduated Zach Glazier. The jump to 197 pounds mirrors Coach Hahn's jump from 184 pounds to 197 pounds, where he won two National Championships.
RETURNING PRODUCTION: The Jacks will have an NCAA Qualifier at 7 of their 10 weights this year, while Moses Espinoza-Owens, Brock Fettig and Brady Roark all filled in at their respective weights due to injuries last season.
JACKS IN THE RANKINGS: SDSU has nine of its starters listed in InterMat's and FloWrestling's Rankings. Amongst the highest ranked are Berge at No. 6, Julian Tagg at No. 16, Cael Swensen at No. 17 and Moses Espinoza-Owens at No. 18 The Jacks also made an appearance in the top 10 of the NWCA Division 1 Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 10. The Jacks also come in ranked first in the NWCA Division 1 Mid-Major Poll after a 4-0 start to the year above UNI, Cornell and Lehigh.
PROVEN WINNER: Last season, Damion Hahn became the winningest coach at the D1 level in South Dakota State history, passing Chris Bono with 65 wins. Hahn's 80 dual wins for the Jackrabbits rank fourth all-time among all Jackrabbit Wrestling coaches behind Jason Liles, Warren Williamson and Mike Engels.
OFF-SEASON WORK: The JWC was incredibly successful on the freestyle and Greco-Roman circuits between March and August. Quin Morgan took home the U20 Greco-Roman Championship at 97kg at the US Open to start the season. Tommy Dineen and Daniel Guanajuato added runner-up finishes at their respective weights at the U23 Freestyle Nationals. Dineen also added a gold medal at the Junior Pan-American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay.
HOME COOKING: The Jacks have been consistent under head coach Damion Hahn at home. After posting a 7-1 record at home in 2023-24, the Jacks followed it up with a 4-2 record at home last year.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Last year's freshman class put up an impressive 92-28 total record through open competitions and duals. Leading the way was freshman Logan Swensen with a 28-6 record overall. Swensen looks to back up returning NCAA Qualifier Derrick Cardinal at 133 pounds this year.
STOP SIGNS IN BROOKINGS: The incoming freshmen at SDSU are coming off an impressive summer. Micah Hach (8th), Keenan Sheridan (8th), Conlan Carlson (8th) and Jarrett Wadsen (2nd) all earned All-American honors at the Fargo Nationals in Freestyle. Wadsen (4th) and Bas Diaz (2nd) earned All-American honors in Greco as well.

A Look Ahead
The Jacks return to Brookings next week to take on Cal Baptist at home on Jan. 23rd before heading to Humboldt, Iowa, for a dual against No. 3 Iowa St.

-GoJacks.com-