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.
UP NEXT
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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