Two squads that finished in the top three of the team standings at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational earlier this month will square off in dual action Sunday afternoon as South Dakota State hosts Nebraska.
The non-conference matchup is slated for a 2 p.m. start at Frost Arena. The dual will be streamed live through FloWrestling.org (subscription required).
Nebraska, which won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on the strength of crowning three individual champions (Brock Hardy-141; Peyton Robb-157; Mikey Labriola-174), enters the week ranked 16th in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association poll. The Cornhuskers are 1-2 in duals this season but haven’t wrestled in that format since splitting duals against Army (W, 25-9) and North Carolina State (L, 10-23) at the Journeymen Wranglemania in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 12.
Watch Nebraska at South Dakota State
South Dakota State, which placed third at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, is ranked 18th by the NWCA this week. The Jackrabbits bring a 1-1 dual mark into Sunday’s meet after dropping a 19-16 decision to Minnesota on Nov. 27.
THE SERIES: Sunday’s match will mark the 38th time South Dakota State and Nebraska have met in dual action, with the Cornhuskers holding a 19-16-2 series advantage. The series dates back to a 30-0 Nebraska victory during the 1949-50 season, but the two squads haven’t squared off against each other since the Cornhuskers recorded a 36-6 victory at Frost Arena on Nov. 24, 2013. Cody Pack notched the lone victory for SDSU with a second-period fall over John Svoboda in the 157-pound bout.
Nebraska has won 11 meetings in a row against the Jackrabbits. SDSU’s last win in the series was a 28-14 victory during the 1979-80 campaign. The Jackrabbits put together an eight-match winning streak against their neighbors to the south between the 1967-68 and 1976-77 seasons.
Nebraska 36, South Dakota State 6 (Nov. 24, 2013 • Frost Arena)
125: Tim Lambert (NEB) major dec. Isaac Andrade, 9-1
133: Colton McCrystal (NEB) dec. Brance Simms, 8-3
141: Anthony Abidin (NEB) dec. Eric Orozco, 9-3
149: Jake Sueflohn (NEB) major dec. Alex Kocer, 13-0
157: Cody Pack (SDSU) def. John Svoboda, by fall 4:47
165: Austin Wilson (NEB) dec. Joe Brewster, 6-2
174: Robert Kokesh (NEB) def. John Nething II, by fall 6:53
184: T.J. Dudley (NEB) major dec. Ben Schwery, 9-1
197: Spencer Johnson (NEB) dec. Trey Hable, 6-2
285: Collin Jensen (NEB) def. J.J. Everard, by fall 1:43
RABBITS RANKED: The South Dakota State wrestling team began the season ranked in the top 25 after being included in a pair of national polls and have continued to climb up the rankings during the first two months of the 2022-23 campaign.
The Jackrabbits checked in at No. 22 in the preseason poll conducted by InterMat and were ranked 25th in the initial National Wrestling Coaches Association survey. SDSU was one of five Big 12 Conference programs ranked in the NWCA top 25, joining No. 4 Missouri, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Iowa State and No. 20 Northern Iowa.
Since their strong showing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the Jackrabbits have climbed seven spots in the NWCA poll to their current ranking of No. 18. SDSU also is ranked 22nd in the InterMat team dual standings.
SDSU also has a season-high eight wrestlers ranked individually for the second week in a row, with 165-pounder Tanner Cook (FloWrestling), 184-pounder Cade King (InterMat) and heavyweight A.J. Nevills (WIN Magazine) all holding an 11th-place ranking from at least one organization.
Tanner Jordan at 125 pounds (28th by InterMat) and redshirt freshman Cael Swensen at 157 pounds (22nd by InterMat) joined the rankings after their outings at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Returning NCAA qualifiers Tanner Sloan (12th at 197 pounds by InterMat), Clay Carlson (13th by InterMat at 141 pounds) and Cade DeVos (16th at 174 pounds by FloWrestling) round out the list of ranked wrestlers for the Jackrabbits.
Following is a full listing of Jackrabbit individual rankings:
- Clay Carlson — 141 Pounds / 13th by InterMat / 14th by WIN Magazine / 15th by FloWrestling
- Tanner Cook — 165 Pounds / 11th by FloWrestling / 15th by WIN Magazine / 18th by InterMat
- Cade DeVos — 174 Pounds / 16th by FloWrestling / 18th by InterMat
- Tanner Jordan — 125 Pounds / 13th by WIN Magazine / 28th by InterMat / HM by FloWrestling
- Cade King — 184 Pounds / 11th by InterMat / 16th by FloWrestling / 17th by WIN Magazine
- A.J. Nevills — 285 Pounds / 11th by WIN Magazine / 12th by FloWrestling / 14th by InterMat
- Tanner Sloan — 197 Pounds / 12th by InterMat / 17th by FloWrestling / 17th by WIN Magazine
- Cael Swensen — 157 Pounds / 22nd by InterMat / 23rd by FloWrestling
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits return to competition Dec. 29-30 at the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa. The inaugural event will be held at Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Iowa, with more than a dozen teams entered in the two-day tournament. Session times are 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 29, followed by 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 30.
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