The South Dakota State wrestling team begins a stretch of matches from coast to coast by wrestling a pair of duals Saturday evening in Riverside, California.
The Jackrabbits, 1-2 in duals overall, open the day with a nonconference matchup against Northern Illinois. Start time is slated for 3 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Central).
To close out the day, SDSU is slated to take on Big 12 Conference newcomer California Baptist. That dual, which is the Jackrabbits’ first against a Big 12 opponent this season, is set for a 6 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Central start). Both of SDSU’s matches will be contested on the Lancers’ home mat at Van Dyne Gym and are scheduled to be streamed via YouTube (links provided at GoJacks.com).
Watch CBU vs South Dakota State – 8 p.m. Central start
NIU comes into the weekend with a 4-2 overall record in duals, while CBU is 1-4 overall, including an 0-2 mark against Big 12 foes.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
125: #30 Tanner Jordan • Jr., St. Paris, Ohio (8-7 overall, 1-2 duals)
133: Derrick Cardinal • R-Fr., Forest Lake, Minn. (4-6 overall, 0-2 duals)
141: #11 Clay Carlson • Sr., Willmar, Minn. (7-4 overall, 1-2 duals)
149: Alek Martin • R-Fr., St. Paris, Ohio (9-7 overall, 1-1 duals)
157: #19 Cael Swensen • R-Fr., Plymouth, Minn. (8-5 overall, 1-1 duals)
165: #13 Tanner Cook • Jr., Ilion, N.Y. (8-1 overall, 3-0 duals)
174: #16 Cade DeVos • Jr., Altoona, Iowa (9-4 overall, 1-2 duals)
184: #16 Cade King • Sr., Waseca, Minn. (6-4 overall, 0-1 duals)
197: #11 Tanner Sloan • Sr., Alburnett, Iowa (8-1 overall, 2-0 duals)
285: #14 A.J. Nevills • Grad., Clovis, Calif. (7-3 overall, 3-0 duals)
Note: Rankings listed are highest of either Intermat or FloWrestling rankings as of Jan. 4, 2023
THE SERIES: Saturday’s dual against Northern Illinois will mark the eighth meeting between the Jackrabbits and Huskies. NIU holds a 4-3 series advantage over the Jackrabbits in a series that dates back to the 1966-67 season. The squads met on Dec. 18, 2021, in DeKalb, Illinois, with the Jackrabbits claiming a 26-9 victory on the strength of three bonus-point victories.
Tanner Jordan got things started with a 14-2 major decision over Bryce West in the 125-pound matchup, while Clay Carlson followed two matches later with a fall over Jaivon Jones. Nick Casperson added a win by major decision at 197 pounds for an SDSU squad that won seven of 10 bouts.
South Dakota State 26, Northern Illinois 9 (Dec. 18, 2021 • DeKalb, Illinois)
125: Tanner Jordan (SDSU) major dec. Bryce West (NIU), 14-2
133: Caleb Gross (SDSU) dec. Mikey Kaminski (NIU), 3-2
141: Clay Carlson (SDSU) def. Jaivon Jones (NIU), by fall 1:54
149: Daniel Kimball (SDSU) dec. Anthony Cheloni (NIU), 7-3
157: Anthony Gibson (NIU) dec. Kenny O’Neil (SDSU), 4-0
165: Izzak Olejnik (NIU) dec.Tanner Cook (SDSU), 8-3
174: Cade DeVos (SDSU) dec. Mason Kauffman (NIU), 3-1
184: Brit Wilson (NIU) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 5-2
197: Nick Casperson (SDSU) major dec. Tristin Guaman (NIU), 12-2
285: A.J. Nevills (SDSU) dec. Terrese Aaron (NIU), 7-4
Saturday’s dual against California Baptist will be the first-ever meeting between the Jackrabbits and Lancers on the wrestling mat.
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.
Following their strong showing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December, the Jackrabbits climbed seven spots to No. 18 in the NWCA poll for their highest ranking under head coach Damion Hahn. SDSU slipped one spot to 19th after its Dec. 18 dual loss to Nebraska.
SDSU also has a season-high eight wrestlers ranked individually for the fourth week in a row, with 141-pounder Clay Carlson holding the highest ranking at No. 11 in InterMat’s, followed by fellow NCAA?qualifier Tanner Sloan in 12th at 197 pounds.
Cael Swensen, who climbed to No. 19 in the 157-pound rankings by InterMat and Tanner at 125 pounds (30th by InterMat), each joined the rankings after their outings at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Other returning NCAA qualifiers Cade DeVos (16th at 174 pounds by FloWrestling) and A.J. Nevills (14th at heavyweight by FloWrestling) have maintained top-20 rankings throughout the season, while Cade King (16th at 184 pounds by both InterMat and FloWrestling) rounds out the list of SDSU’s ranked wrestlers.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits will head to the East Coast next weekend for the Virginia Duals. SDSU is scheduled to wrestle four duals Jan. 13-14 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.
Friday, Jan. 13 – vs. Navy, 11:30 a.m. ET // vs. Kent State, 2:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, Jan. 14 – vs. Campbell, 2:30 p.m. ET // vs. Ohio, 4 p.m. ET
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