South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Carlson Earns Big 12 Scholar-Athlete Award

IRVING, Texas — South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson was honored Wednesday as the 2021 Big 12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Jackrabbit to receive the award.

A redshirt sophomore from Willmar, Minnesota, Carlson has compiled a 3.931 grade-point average as an animal science/pre-veterinary major. He became the first SDSU wrestler to earn All-America recognition at the NCAA Division I Championships since 2018, placing eighth in the 141-pound weight class at the national meet. He qualified for the NCAA Championships with a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship in early March en route to a 20-9 record.

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Carlson Wrestles To All-America Honors

ST. LOUIS – South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson secured All-America honors in dramatic fashion Friday night at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships held at Enterprise Center.

A sophomore from Willmar, Minnesota, Carlson led 3-1 through two periods in his matchup against Real Woods of Stanford. Woods escaped early in the final period and appeared to take an 8-3 lead after being awarded a takedown and four-point near-fall.

After a lengthy video review, however, Woods was ruled to have used an illegal hold, which negated the sequence and awarded a point to Carlson for a 4-2 lead. On the restart, though, Woods came up with a takedown to tie the match at 4-all with about a minute remaining in regulation.

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