JACKS PREPARE TO HOST JACKRABBITS OPEN

Sunday, February 15

Brookings, S.D.

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Jackrabbits Open

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A wrestler in a blue singlet lays on top of a wrestler in a black singlet during a wrestling match

Photo by: Evan Patzwald

2/13/2026 9:26:00 AM | Wrestling

Week 14: #19 South Dakota State vs. Jackrabbits Open
Date and Time	Sunday, Feb. 15th, 11 a.m. CT
Location	Brookings, S.D.
Site	Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex
Television/Stream	YouTube
Live Stats	TrackWrestling
South Dakota State	Game Notes \| Home Page

Brookings, S.D. - The Jacks are back in action this weekend as they host the Jackrabbits Open at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex, this Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. The Open gives the Jackrabbits an opportunity to rest their starters while also giving key matches to wrestlers who have dealt with injuries this season, for postseason allotment. The Jacks will field 19 wrestlers across nine different weight classes who will compete against wrestlers from schools across the country.

THE LINEUP: This is the probable lineup for this weekend's contest:
125 - Carson Dupill, Logan Graf
133 - Derrick Cardinal, Cale Seaton, Kenton Cooke
141 - Tyson Peach, Logan Swensen, Liam Neitzel
149 - No Entries
157 - Bas Diaz, Zach Ballante
165 - Jacob Herm
174 - Ryan Dolezal
184 - Jared Thiry, Jarrett Wadsen, Shane McConville, Keenan Sheridan, Burk Blasius
197 - Quin Morgan
285 - Micah Hach

LAST TIME OUT: UNI
The Jacks dropped four of the last five matches on Sunday, as they found themselves on the losing end of a dual, dropping a heartbreaker to #19 UNI, 13-19.

Daniel Guanajuato got the Jacks off to a good start when he faced Brandon Paez at 125 pounds. Guanajuato scored a takedown in the first off a Paez attack and never looked back, shutting out Paez and scoring the decision, 5-0.

Derrick Cardinal made his return to the lineup at 133 pounds, where he took on No. 21 Julian Farber. After a scoreless first, Farber made the first move, scoring on a takedown to get the advantage, 5-0, heading to the third. Farber went back to work in the third, scoring consecutive takedowns and getting the major decision, 10-1, giving the Panther the lead.

No. 11 Julian Tagg got some revenge on the Panthers when he went up against Connor Thorpe at 141 pounds. Tagg scored twice in the first and second periods and was hunting a tech fall going into the third. Thorpe battled back in the third and held Tagg to a major decision, giving the Jackrabbits back the lead, 7-4.

At 149 pounds, Colin Dupill stepped up against Iowa transfer Caleb Rathjen. After giving up an early takedown, Dupill battled back and scored one of his own to finish the first period. After giving up another takedown in the second, Dupill got to Rathjen's legs and almost finished a takedown with a minute remaining, but Rathjen was able to roll out of it and score a takedown of his own to get the decision, 10-6, tying the dual at 7-7.

In a rematch from a month ago at the NWCA National Duals, No. 15 Cael Swensen took on Cael Rahnavardi. Swensen scored takedowns in the first and third periods and locked up the ride time point, securing a decision over Rahnavardi, 8-2, giving the Jacks the lead heading into the break.

The freshman, Jacob Herm, got the nod at 165 pounds and took on No. 6 Ryder Downey. After a scoreless first, in which Downey fended off Herm's multiple attacks, Downey was able to scramble and score a takedown to give him a 3-0 lead heading to the third. Herm went back to work in the third, hunting the tying takedown, but after another scramble, Downey ended up with the deciding takedown, scoring a decision, 7-1.

A marquee matchup occurred at 174 pounds when No. 14 Moses Espinoza-Owens took on No. 12 Jared Simma. Not a lot separated the two wrestlers throughout the bout but Simma scored the deciding takedown in the second and never allowed Espinoza-Owens to wrestle back into the match. Espinoza-Owens forced two stall calls in the third, but it proved futile as he dropped the bout, 5-2.

Brock Fettig and Nick Fox matched up again at 184 pounds. Tied 1-1 in the third in a closely contested match, Fox ultimately got the better of Fettig again, scoring a takedown with under 20 seconds remaining in the bout, to secure a decision, 4-1.

Down 6 with two bouts to go, the Jacks would need to take both matches to come away with the win. No. 5 Bennett Berge took on Carson Babcock at 197 pounds. Berge got to Babcock's legs on a shot and lifted him over his head in the first, but couldn't finish the takedown as the score remained 0-0 heading to the second. Berge scored an escape and ran through Babcock in the second to score a double leg takedown that decided the match, scoring a decision 4-1.

A familiar position between the two schools, the dual came down to the heavyweights as No. 24 Luke Rasmussen took on Adam Ahrendsen. Ahrendsen struck first, scoring a takedown in the first and riding Rasmussen out to finish the period. After scoring an escape in the second, Rasmussen fought back and scored a takedown of his own in the third on an ankle pick. After much rolling around, Ahrendsen scored a reversal that sealed the dual, taking the match 5-4 and the dual, 13-19.

JACKS IN THE RANKINGS
125: Brady Roark                        19/20/19
133:Derrick Cardinal                    25/23/30
141: Julian Tagg                         19/19/10
149: Alek Martin                           22/26/25
157: Cael Swensen                   21/18/13
165: Marcus Espinoza-Owens    32/27/29
174: Moses Espinoza-Owens      16/18/15
197: Bennett Berge                     4/5/4
285: Luke Rasmussen               29/33/25
*Flo/Intermat/Coaches

NWCA COACHES POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points
1 Penn St. (15) (13-0) 399
2 Ohio State (1) (17-0) 385
3 Oklahoma St. (13-1) 368
4 Iowa State (9-2) 350
5 Nebraska (10-6) 333
6 Virginia Tech (9-2) 320
7 Iowa (10-5) 293
8 NC State (13-4) 291
9 Minnesota (10-5) 261
10 Michigan (8-4) 257
11 Illinois (11-4) 239
12 Pittsburgh (10-3) 213
13 North Carolina (9-3) 200
14 Rutgers (11-5) 199
15 Northern Iowa (10-6) 147
16 Oklahoma (9-4) 144
17 Missouri (11-7) 138
18 West Virginia (9-4) 136
19 SDSU (12-4) 133
20 Indiana (8-4) 92
21 Wisconsin (11-4) 86
22 Lehigh (9-6) 85
23 Stanford (5-6) 38
24 Wyoming (6-5) 26
25 Oregon State (6-2) 23
Others Receiving Votes: Columbia 16, Rider 11, Cornell 6, Drexel 4, SIU Edwardsville 4, Navy 2, Purdue 1.

NWCA MID-MAJOR POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points Conference
1 UNI (4) (9-6) 117 Big 12
2 SDSU (1) (12-3) 115 Big 12
3 Lehigh (1) (8-6) 107 EIWA
4 Oregon State (6-1) 103 Pac-12
5 Wyoming (4-5) 94 Big 12
6 Columbia (9-3) 80 Ivy League
7 Cornell (5-6) 78 Ivy League
8 Drexel (12-3) 75 EIWA
9 Penn (6-1) 70 Ivy League
10 Lock Haven (10-3) 66 MAC
11 Navy (5-4) 56 EIWA
12t Rider (9-5) 51 MAC
12t SIUE (8-1) 51 MAC
14 Utah Valley (3-6) 43 Big 12
15 Army (2-5) 31 EIWA
16 Cal Poly (4-4) 20 Pac-12
17 C. Michigan (7-5) 15 MAC
18 N.Illinois (7-6) 14 MAC
19 NDSU (6-7) 13 Big 12
20 Little Rock (3-9) 12 Pac-12

Others Receiving Votes: Appalachian State 10, Bucknell 9, Harvard 7, Clarion 6, Princeton 6, Ohio 4, Kent State 3, George Mason 2, The Citadel 2.

WRESTLERS TO WATCH: Jacob Herm
With a majority of starters resting this weekend for the Jackrabbits, some freshmen will be able to step up and compete for the Jacks. Jacob Herm has quietly put together a fantastic freshman season in the blue and yellow. Starting his career off with a win over No. 6 at the time Peyten Kellar, he has continued his solid work with a 12-5 record up to this point, with four of his five losses to opponents in the top-20 of his weight class. Herm finished third at the Soldier Salute at 165 pounds and will look to have another strong showing this weekend at the Jackrabbits Open.

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 to 197, during which 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. 4, Cael Swensen at No. 18, Brady Roark at No. 19, Julian Tagg at No. 19 and Moses Espinoza-Owens at No. 16. The Jacks also dropped to number 19 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 84 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 host Big 12 Rivals North Dakota State next weekend at First Bank & Trust in the Battle for the Border Bell at 2 p.m. CT, Feb. 22nd.

-GoJacks.com-