Swensen leads Jackrabbits at Soldier Salute

CORALVILLE, Iowa — Cael Swensen reached the 157-pound finals and a trio of South Dakota State wrestlers turned in third-place finishes as the Jackrabbits wrapped up competition at the inaugural Soldier Salute Friday at Xtream Arena with a fifth-place finish in the team standings.

A redshirt freshman from Plymouth, Minnesota, Swensen earned his berth in the championship with a 7-2 decision over Northern Iowa’s R.J. Weston during the afternoon session.

In the championship bout, Swensen fell behind 11th-ranked Jacob Wright of Wyoming by a 4-0 count in the second period after Wright scored on a reversal and two-point near-fall. Swensen managed escapes in both the second and third periods, and drew to within 4-3 on a penalty point for stalling against Wright in the closing seconds, but couldn’t come up the decisive takedown.

Caleb Gross turned in the first third-place finish of the day for the Jackrabbits in the 141-pound division. Gross trailed Iowa’s Drew Bennett, 6-3, late in their consolation semifinal matchup Friday afternoon, but Gross countered with an escape and takedown to force overtime at 6-all. In the extra session, Gross capped his comeback with a takedown with just over 30 seconds remaining to pull out the 8-6 sudden victory.

A junior from Pound, Wisconsin, Gross was awarded third place after his scheduled opponent Friday night, Columbia’s Matt Kazimir, withdrew from the tournament for medical reasons.

Gross began the day with a semifinal major-decision loss to second-ranked Real Woods of Iowa.

For the second time in the tournament, 184-pounder Roman Rogotzke notched an overtime decision over Army’s Sahm Addulrazzaq to claim third place. In a back-and-forth matchup that was tied at 6-all at the end of regulation, Rogotzke took his nationally ranked opponent down with about 30 seconds remaining in overtime to finish the tournament with a 4-1 mark.

Rogotzke, a redshirt freshman from Stillwater, Minnesota, began the day with a 9-6 loss against Assad. He came back with an 11-4 decision against Guillermo Escobedo of Wyoming later in the afternoon to move into the third-place bout.

Freshman and Brookings native Luke Rasmussen closed out the Jackrabbit effort with a bronze medal in the heavyweight division. After starting the day with a loss by fall to third-ranked Tony Cassioppi of Iowa, Rasmussen rebounded with a 7-4 victory over Jonathan Chesser of The Citadel, followed by a second-period pin against Wisconsin’s Gannon Rosenfeld in the third-place match.

Also earning a spot on the podium for the Jackrabbits was redshirt freshman Alek Martin with a seventh-place showing in the 149-pound weight class. Martin compiled a 4-2 record in the tournament, culminating with a 12-2 major decision over Wyoming’s Chase Zollmann.

Two other South Dakota State wrestlers competed unattached and reached the finals of their respective weight classes. At 165 pounds, Jack Thomsen dropped a 10-5 decision to nationally ranked Patrick Kennedy of Iowa, while freshman Bennett Berge took the Hawkeyes’ Assad to overtime in the 184-pound final before falling by a 6-4 count.

Iowa claimed the team title with 228 points, more than doubling up runner-up Army with 106 points. Wyoming was third with 99.5 points, followed by Columbia with 88.5 points and the Jackrabbits with 79.5.

Soldier Salute Results

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The Jackrabbits return to dual competition by facing Northern Illinois and Big 12 Conference newcomer California Baptist in a triangular Jan. 7 in Riverside, California.

COMPLETE SDSU RESULTS
133: Derrick Cardinal, R-Fr., Forest Lake, Minn. (3-2 record)
lost to Cullan Schriever, Iowa, by dec., 9-2
def. Dyson Dunham, Virginia Military Institute, by tech. fall, 19-2 [5:27]
lost to Jace Rhodes, Iowa, by dec., 2-1 [SV-1]
def. Brayton Killiri, The Citadel, by fall 2:42
def. Dyson Dunham, Virginia Military Institute, by major dec., 9-1
First place in consolation bracket

141: Caleb Gross, Jr., Pound, Wis. (3-1 record)
def. Kenny Duschek, Columbia, by dec. 3-1 [SV-1]
def. Tyler Morris, Army, by dec., 4-0
lost to #2 Real Woods, Iowa, by major dec., 12-1
def. Drew Bennett, Iowa, by dec., 8-6 [SV-1]
Third Place

149: Alek Martin, R-Fr., St. Paris, Ohio (4-2 record)
def. Cody Goebel, Wisconsin, by major dec., 10-1
def. Leif Schroeder, Iowa, by dec., 3-1
lost to #6 Max Murin, Iowa, by tech. fall, 20-4 [5:19]
def. Trae McDaniel, Army, by dec., 8-3
lost to Danny Fongaro, Columbia, by dec., 6-0
def. Chase Zollmann, Wyoming, by major dec., 12-2
Seventh Place

157: #21 Cael Swensen, R-Fr., Plymouth, Minn. (2-1 record)
def. Cooper Voorhees, Wyoming, by major dec., 11-2
def. R.J. Weston, Northern Iowa, by dec., 7-2
lost to #11 Jacob Wright, Wyoming, by dec., 4-3
Second Place

174: Brock Fettig, Fr., Bismarck, N.D. (2-3 record)
lost to Benjam Pasiuk, Army, by tech. fall, 18-2 [4:16]
lost to Kyle Mosher, Columbia, by dec., 7-3
lost to Dillon Sheehy, Army, by dec., 3-2
def. Cade Tenold, unattached, by dec., 6-4
def. Brett McIntosh, Wyoming, by dec., 10-5
Placed third in consolation bracket

184: Roman Rogotzke, R-Fr., Stillwater, Minn. (4-1 record)
def. Aidan McCain, Iowa, by fall 1:09
def. #33 Sahm Addulrazzaq, Army, by dec., 9-7 [SV-1]
lost to #6 Abe Assad, Iowa, by dec., 9-6
dec. Guillermo Escobedo, Wyoming, by dec., 11-4
def. #33 Sahm Addulrazzaq, Army, by dec., 8-6 [SV-1]
Third Place

184: Jaxon Bowes, Fr., Brookings, S.D. (1-4 record)
lost to Micah DiCarlo, The Citadel, by dec., 2-1
lost to Guillermo Escobedo, Wyoming, by major dec., 10-1
lost to Eric Vermillion, Indiana Tech, by fall 6:57
def. Jai Sodhi, unattached, by dec., 9-7
lost to Isaac Dolph, Virginia Military Institute, by fall 0:51

197: Nick Casperson, Sr., Beresford, S.D. (1-1 record)
def. Daniel Lawrence, Army, by dec., 7-3
lost to Kolby Franklin, Iowa, by dec., 6-4 [SV-1]
Withdrew from tournament due to injury

197: Cody Donnelly, R-Fr., Philip, S.D. (2-2 record)
lost to Adam Ahrendsen, Northern Iowa, by dec., 14-9
dec. Jose Valdez, Northern Iowa, by dec., 11-9
lost to Patrick Brophy, The Citadel, by dec., 7-2
def. Daniel Lawrence, Army, by fall 1:01

285: Luke Rasmussen, Fr., Brookings,S.D. (4-1 record)
def. Mason Ding, Wyoming, by dec., 4-2
def. Kade Carlson, Army, by dec., 4-2
lost to #3 Tony Cassioppi, Iowa, by fall 2:17
def. Jonathan Chesser, The Citadel, by dec., 7-4
def. Gannon Rosenfeld, Wisconsin, by fall 4:07
Third Place

UNATTACHED WRESTLERS
165: Jack Thomsen, Jr., La Porte City, Iowa (3-1 record)
def. Alex Rivera, Bellarmine, by major dec., 15-5
def. Drake Rhodes, Iowa, by dec., 12-9
def. Dalton Harkins, Army, by dec., 3-2
lost to #13 Patrick Kennedy, Iowa, by dec., 10-5
Second Place

184: Bennett Berge, Fr., Mantorville, Minn. (3-1 record)
def. Eric Vermillion, Indiana Tech, by dec., 7-5
def. Isaac Dolph, Virginia Military Institute, by major dec., 21-8
def. Quayin Short, Wyoming, by dec., 9-6
lost to #8 Abe Assad, Iowa, by dec., 6-4 [SV-1]

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