JACKS PREP FOR TWO BIG 12 DUALS

Friday, January 23

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Cal Baptist

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A wrestler in a blue singlet picks up a wrestler on his shoulders during a match.

Photo by: Evan Patzwald

1/22/2026 11:24:00 AM | Wrestling

Week 10: #15 South Dakota State vs. Cal Baptist, #3 Iowa State
Date and Time	Friday, Jan. 23, 6 p.m. CT; Sunday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
Location	Brookings, S.D.; Humboldt, Iowa
Site	First Bank & Trust Arena; Humboldt High School
Television/Stream	Midco Sports Plus, Iowa PBS
Live Stats	TrackWrestling, TrackWrestling
South Dakota State	Game Notes \| Home Page

Brookings, S.D. - The Jackrabbits are looking to bounce back after two tough road duals last weekend against Utah Valley and Wyoming. This week, the Jacks are back home against Cal Baptist before heading out on the road to Humboldt, Iowa, to take on the No. 3 team in the nation, the Iowa State Cyclones. The Jacks are 3-0 all-time against the Lancers, with their last win coming by a score of 38-3. On the other side, the Jacks are 2-13 all-time against Iowa State, dropping their last bout by a score of 15- 20.

THE LINEUP: This is the probable lineup for this week's contest:
125: No. 21 Brady Roark (17-2) or Daniel Guanajuato (11-5)
133: No. 23 Derrick Cardinal (6-2) or Cale Seaton (8-6)
141: No. 23 Julian Tagg (12-4) or Tyson Peach (1-6)
149: Colin Dupill (4-6)
157: No. 18 Cael Swensen (16-4)
165: No. 26 Marcus Espinoza-Owens (10-7) or Jacob Herm (12-4)
174: No. 18 Moses Espinoza-Owens (20-4)
184: Brock Fettig (9-9)
197: No. 6 Bennett Berge (8-1) or Quin Morgan (6-5)
HWT: No.24 Luke Rasmussen (7-5)

LAST TIME OUT: Wyoming

The Jackrabbits fell short against Wyoming on Sunday afternoon as the Cowboys upset the Jacks, 24-18.

The dual started at 125 pounds, where No. 22 Brady Roark took on Sefton Douglass. Roark dominated the match from start to finish, scoring an escape and a reversal in the second and third periods before picking up the ride time point, securing a 4-0 decision and giving the Jacks a 3-0 lead.

Cale Seaton faced off with a tough opponent at 133 pounds, taking on No. 28 Luke Willochell. The crafty Willochell was able to score on a slide-by in the first and picked up multiple near-fall swipes on his way to a 15-0 tech fall, putting the Cowboys up 5-3.

Julian Tagg returned to the mat at 141 pounds as he faced off with John Alden. Tagg scored in all three periods and finally caught Alden in the third, pinning his shoulders to the mat with 12 seconds left in the match for the six-point victory. Tagg's win put the Jackrabbits back ahead, 9-5.

The Jacks struggled in the middleweights of the dual, which ultimately ended up being the turning point of the match. The Cowboys were able to string together wins at 149, 157 and 165 pounds, picking up a few upsets along the way.

Colin Dupill filled in for Alek Martin at 149 against No. 18 Gabe Willochell. The other Willochell brought the funk against Dupill and scored a 9-2 decision, cutting the Jackrabbit lead to 1.

In one of three ranked matchups during the dual, No. 18 Cael Swensen faced off with No. 32 Jared Hill. After three periods, the score was tied 1-1 with each wrestler having a stall warning against them. Swensen was the aggressor in sudden victory, but Hill used that against him, turning a double leg attempt into a throw and putting Swensen on his back for the pin. Heading into the break, Wyoming had gotten its first lead, 14-9.

At 165 pounds, No. 27 Marcus Espinoza-Owens found himself in a tough matchup with Sloan Swan. Espinoza-Owens was the aggressor throughout the match but a late neutral danger takedown for Swan stole the match and increased the Cowboy's lead, 17-9.

The Jacks got back on track at 174 pounds as No. 18 Moses Espinoza-Owens took on No. 29 Riley Davis. After a scoreless first, Moses got to his offense in the second and third, racking up two takedowns for the 8-2 decision win over Davis, cutting the Cowboy lead to 17-12.

Brock Fettig faced a tough task at 184 pounds, taking on No. 12 Eddie Neitenbach. Fettig hung in there with Neitenbach throughout the match but gave up the deciding takedown with 20 seconds left, securing the decision for Neitenbach.

No. 7 Bennett Berge faced off with Gunner Henry at 197 pounds, with the Jacks needing bonus points in the last two matches to stave off the upset. After a scoreless first, Berge was able to score in the second and third periods before eventually putting Henry on his back for the pin, giving the Jacks a lifeline heading into heavyweights, down 18-20.

In a clash of styles, No. 19 Luke Rasmussen took on No. 9 Christian Carroll. Carroll dominated the first period, scoring three takedowns before Rasmussen chose the top position in the second. Rasmussen rolled all around the mat with Carroll in the second, riding out the top-10 wrestler, but was unable to score any points. Carroll chose neutral for the third period and went back to work, racking up two more takedowns and securing the major decision and the dual for the Cowboys, 24-18.

JACKS IN THE RANKINGS
125: Brady Roark 20/21
133: Derrick Cardinal 29/23
141: Julian Tagg 22/23
149: Alek Martin 21/25
157: Cael Swensen 22/20
165: Marcus Espinoza-Owens 31/26
174: Moses Espinoza-Owens 17/18
197: Bennett Berge 5/6
285: Luke Rasmussen 27/24

NWCA COACHES POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points
1 Penn St.(14) (9-0) 398
2 Ohio State (2) (12-0) 386
3 Iowa State (6-1) 368
4 Iowa (8-3) 350
5 Oklahoma St. (9-1) 338
6 Nebraska (9-3) 320
7 Virginia Tech (6-2) 302
8 NC State (11-3) 284
9 Minnesota (7-3) 269
10 Michigan (7-2) 240
11 North Carolina (8-1) 233
12 Illinois (8-4) 219
13 Northern Iowa (8-4) 209
14 Pittsburgh (9-2) 185
15 SDSU (9-2) 179
16 Wisconsin (10-1) 148
17 Rutgers (7-4) 135
18 Missouri (8-6) 11
19 West Virginia (8-3) 105
20 Lehigh (7-6) 102
21 Oklahoma (7-3) 89
22 Cornell (3-4) 63
23 Wyoming (4-3) 48
24 Stanford (3-5) 45
25 Indiana (6-2) 34
Others Receiving Votes: Oregon State 14, Penn 8, SIU Edwardsville 8, Drexel 6, Purdue 1.

NWCA MID-MAJOR POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points Conference
1 UNI (5) (8-4) 119 Big 12
2 Lehigh (1) (7-6) 112 EIWA
3t Cornell (3-4) 103 Ivy League
3t SDSU (9-2) 103 Big 12
5 Oregon State (4-1) 88 Pac-12
6 Penn (4-0) 85 Ivy League
7 Wyoming (4-3) 83 Big 12
8 Drexel (10-3) 68 EIWA
9t Lock Haven (7-3) 57 MAC
9t Navy (3-4) 57 EIWA
11 Utah Valley (3-6) 53 Big 12
12 SIUE (7-1) 40 MAC
13 Rider (6-4) 38 MAC
14 Cal Poly (3-3) 32 Pac-12
15 Army (1-4) 31 EIWA
16 Columbia (5-3) 26 Ivy League
17 NIU (5-5) 24 MAC
18 Princeton (2-5) 22 Ivy League
19t Bucknell (5-7) 19 EIWA
19t CMU (6-4)

Others Receiving Votes: Little Rock 17, Ohio 11, The Citadel 9, Appalachian State 7, North Dakota State 4, Binghamton 1.

WRESTLER TO WATCH: Julian Tagg

Julian Tagg will have two high-level matchups this weekend going up against Jesse Vazquez of Cal Baptist and No. 4 Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State.

Tagg is 12-4 on the season and sports an 8-2 dual record. In his last match, Tagg put John Alden on his back for the pin, Tagg's second pin of the year. Tagg has seven wins with bonus points this year including two pins and three tech falls.

Vazquez is a former NCAA Qualifer at 141 and a former Pac-12 Champion. He currently sits at 7-4 on the year. Echemendia is a former NCAA All-American, Big 12 Champion and currently sit at 11-1 this year, with his only loss coming to No. 1 Jesse Mendez. With these tasks in front of him, Tagg will need to be at his best to come away with the points this weekend.

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. 5, Cael Swensen at No. 20 and Moses Espinoza-Owens at No. 17. The Jacks also dropped to number 15 in the NWCA Division 1 Coaches Poll.
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 81 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.