BROOKINGS, S.D. – The South Dakota State wrestling team added the National Wrestling Coaches Association/Cliff Keen National Duals to the schedule Jan. 8-9 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The two-day event is hosted by Western Wrestling Conference foe no. 51 (Intermat) Northern Iowa for the sixth consecutive year. The Jacks face no. three Wisconsin Saturday at 11 a.m. in the first round of the tournament.
Other Division I teams set to compete in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals are no. 10 American, no. six Boise State, no. 25 Central Michigan, no. one Cornell, no. 21 Iowa State, no. 4 Minnesota, no. 23 Missouri, no. 60 Northern Illinois, no. 40 Ohio State, no. two Oklahoma State, no. 29 Oregon State, no. 34 Purdue and no. eight Virginia Tech.
The probable Jackrabbit lineup for the duals includes: Aaron Pickrel (125 pounds), open at 133 pounds, Tony Vaske (141 pounds), Tyler Johnson(141 pounds), Jimmy Hamilton (149 pounds), Nick Flynn (157 pounds), Seth Moe (157 pounds), Joe Rasmussen (165 pounds), John Nething II(165 pounds), David Michaud (174 pounds), Scott Elliott (184 pounds), Cord Willers (197 pounds) and Kevin Kelly (heavyweight).
Wrestlers on Facebook – Fans can show their support for the Jackrabbit wrestlers on Facebook. Log onto Facebook.com/JackrabbitWrestling to keep up with the Jackrabbit grapplers.
Last week – The Jacks competed in the Midlands Championships last week, hosted by no. nine Northwestern. Two Jacks advanced to day two of the tournament in Dustin Walraven and Scott Elliott.
Walraven, competing unattached, won his first match of the tournament 15-3 before falling to no. five seed and no. 15 ranked Chris Drouin of no. 21 Iowa State 4-2. On day two, the 141-pounder finished with a decision loss to Zac Hancock of no. 32 Bucknell.
Elliott, at 184 pounds, defeated no. six seed and no. 12 ranked Eric Schmditke of no. 11 Oklahoma 4-3 in his first match of the tournament before falling to Max Thomusseit of no. 17 Pittsburgh. In the wrestleback bracket, Elliot fell to Cameron Croy of no. 38 Harvard to end his run in the Midlands Championships.
Jackrabbit Extra – Subscribers to the Jackrabbit Extra on GoJacks.com can view select SDSU wrestling matches live on the Internet. To subscribe to the Jackrabbit Extra, log onto GoJacks.com, select Jackrabbit Extra on the Audio/Video tab and click “sign up.”
Jackrabbit Insider on Fox and FSN – “Jackrabbit Insider” airs at 10:30 p.m. Sundays on KTTW FOX 7. The show can also be seen on FOX Sports North Tuesdays at 6 p.m. CT. FOX College Sports Central airs the program Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. “Jackrabbit Insider” is also available through the Jackrabbit Extra video on-demand service at GoJacks.com.
Hosted by Tyler Merrium, “Jackrabbit Insider” is a weekly half-hour program that provides Jackrabbit fans with a behind-the-scenes look at South Dakota State University Athletics.
Next up – The wrestlers return to Frost Arena Jan. 15 when the host no. 51 Northern Iowa for a Western Wrestling Conference dual set to begin at 7 p.m.