BROOKINGS, S.D. -- After not facing each other last winter the South
Dakota State University wrestling team squares off against fellow
Western Wrestling Conference member North Dakota State Friday, when it
travels to Fargo, N.D. Action begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Bison Sports
Arena. Friday’s dual is a non-conference match.
South Dakota State opened its dual season last weekend against Nebraska
in Lincoln, Neb., falling to the Big 12 school, 9-32. Andy Everson, a
senior from Mitchell, secured the Jackrabbits lone win not by forfeit
in Lincoln. Jason Stripling, a junior out of Minneota, Minn., increased
his season mark to 10-2 by winning by forfeit.
For North Dakota State, Eric Sanders won the 133-pound championship,
while Jacob Bryce and Justin LaGosh were crowned co-champions at 197
pounds at the Dragon Open on Dec. 2. NDSU currently has three wrestlers
ranked in the top-30 in their respective weight classes. Friday’s
matchup with the Jacks will mark the first dual this winter for the
Bison.
SERIES RECORD: South Dakota
State, 0-1 this season, has faced off against North Dakota State on the
mat 49 times before this weekend. NDSU holds a 31-18-0 record against
the Jacks.
The last meeting between the Jackrabbits and Bison was in 2005. NDSU
breezed through the Jacks, 34-6, in Fargo. South Dakota State hasn’t
won against the Bison since 1996-97. The Jacks defeated North Dakota
State, 24-10, en route to a North Central Conference championship.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: SDSU 9, NEBRASKA 32
The South Dakota State University wrestling team won two matches,
including one by forfeit last Saturday night, but fell to No. 18
Nebraska, 32-9, at the Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb.
Andy Everson, a senior from Mitchell, gave the Jacks a 3-0 advantage in
the match by defeating Rob Plambeck, 5-3, at 157 pounds. Everson scored
a takedown in the first period, before Plambeck tied the match at 2-2
heading into the final period. Everson used a takedown with 1 minute,
24 seconds remaining and riding time to secure the 5-3 victory.
At 174 pounds, Chris Moran fell to nationally ranked Marc Underwood,
5-2. The redshirt freshman scored two reversals against the No. 20
ranked Underwood.
Garretson native Tyler Sorenson took Levi Wofford to extra periods at
184, but it wasn’t enough as the redshirt freshman was upended by
Wofford, 9-7. Sorenson took a 4-2 advantage into the final period, but
gave up two takedowns early to see the score tied at 6-6. Sorenson
increased his lead to 7-6 with 46 seconds left in the match, but was
called for stalling with 1 second left to send the match into overtime.
Jason Stripling, a junior from Minneota, Minn., won by forfeit at
heavyweight to give SDSU its only other points of the match.
At 133, sophomore Jeff Cooley was upended, 4-2, by No. 12 Mike Rowe.
With Rowe leading the match, 3-1, Cooley closed the gap to 3-2 with an
escape, but that was as close as the Minnesota native would come.
ON THE WEB: North Dakota State
will have live streaming video available for the match on the internet
at GoBison.com. Video is available by monthly subscription to NDSU’s
All Access service for $7.95. The live stream will be provided by NDSU
athletic media relations and will begin at 7:25 p.m., five minutes
before the match begins.
HEADING INTO THIS WEEK: SDSU
has scored a total of 891 match points this season, while Jackrabbit
opponents have tallied a total of 928. Redshirt freshman Tyler Sorenson
leads the Jacks by collecting 127 points, while fellow redshirt Chris
Moran is second on the team with 101. In all, South Dakota State has
posted 200 takedowns, 37 three-point near falls and 40 reversals as a
team during 2006-07.
EVERSON LATE MATCH HEROICS:
Jackrabbit senior Andy Everson, 4-1 on the young season, opened the
dual season by posting a 5-3 decision over Rob Plambeck of Nebraska,
but it wasn’t easy. Plambeck tied the match at 2-2 heading into the
final period. Everson used a takedown with 1 minute, 24 seconds
remaining and riding time to secure the victory.
WWC TWO-STEP: When SDSU takes
to the mats in Fargo this weekend it will mark the first of two matches
against the Bison the Jacks will have this winter. SDSU will also take
on NDSU in a home dual at Frost Arena on Feb. 18. It will mark the
final home dual this season and the first Western Wrestling Conference
match between the two storied programs.
BIG TIME MATCHES: When South
Dakota State faces NDSU this weekend it will mark the second straight
dual where it will face a team with one or more wrestlers ranked in the
USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches poll. NDSU junior
Eric Sanders is currently ranked No. 16 at 125 pounds. Sanders will
mark Marcus Waters’ second-straight opponent ranked in the top-20. Last
week’s opponent, Paul Donahoe, moved up to No. 11 in this week’s
rankings.
OPEN SEASON RECAP: South Dakota
State put an end to its open season last weekend in Cedar Falls.
Overall, the Jackrabbits recorded 101 victories during the open season
and posted 30 victories by fall. Leading the way for the Jacks is
redshirt freshman Tyler Sorenson who went 10-3 in four tournaments.
Junior Jason Stripling was also productive during the open season,
having collected nine wins in three tournaments.
Overall, South Dakota State wrestlers went 113-101 during the open
season.
ALMOST THERE: In its last three
outings during the open season, South Dakota State upended its opponent
by fall a total of 23 times. Individually, three different wrestlers
defeated their oppnent by fall at Northern Iowa on Dec. 3.
Overall, the Jackrabbits have won 30 matches by fall this winter and
are only four pins away from topping last year’s total for the entire
year. In 2005-06 SDSU only recorded 34 total pins on the season.
SORENSON STEPPING UP: Tyler
Sorenson, a redshirt freshman from Garretson, took second overall at
184 pounds to lead the South Dakota State University wrestling team at
the UNI Open on Dec. 3. It marked the second time this season Sorenson
had garnered second-place honors. Earlier in the year, Sorenson
finished second overall at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open.
Performing well during the open season is nothing new for the South
Dakota native as he finished last winter with a 15-6 record in open
tournaments.
A NEW YEAR: During the open
season, a total of eight Jackrabbit wrestlers improved upon their open
season records from a year ago.
The biggest increase came from redshirt freshman Ryan Meyer, who
improved in the win column a total of six matches during the open
season. During the 2005-06 open season Meyer only recorded five wins,
compared to his 11 this open season.
Sophomore Justin Retallic bettered his entire total of wins from last
winter (4) by going 5-8 during the open season. Senior Brad Gregory has
improved by five wins from a year ago. In 2005-06, Gregory was 3-8
heading into the first dual match, while this winter the Iowa native,
was 8-7 with three pins.
STRONG OUTING IN OHIO: Overall
in Ohio, the Jackrabbits had five wrestlers place in the tournament.
SDSU, which recorded 10 pins on the day, combined for a 35-20 record at
the open. Leading the way for the Jacks in total falls were Andy
Everson, Nick Herrboldt and Thomas Strubel. The three standouts each
collected two pins and combined for a 7-5 record. Senior Levi
Krehmeyer, who picked up third-place honors, went 3-1 overall marking
the first time in his career the Wyoming native had placed in an open
tournament.
WE’LL BE BACK: When SDSU took
to the mats in Cedar Falls last weekend it marked the first of two
trips to the Northern Iowa campus for the Jacks this winter. SDSU will
also take on the Panthers in a home dual on Feb. 17 before traveling to
the UNI-DOME for the West Regional Qualifier on March 3.
STRIPLING AT IT AGAIN: Jason
Stripling, a heavyweight from Minneota, Minn., went 6-1 in competition
Nov. 11 to finish third overall in the heavyweight division at the
Harold Nichols Open. After dropping his first match of the morning in
the closing seconds, the junior rattled off five straight victories by
pin. In his final match of the day, he defeated Tony Lewis of
Nebraska-Omaha, 3-2, to capture third-place honors. By posting five
pins in one day, Sripling became the first Jackrabbit wrestler to
record five pins in an open tournament in head coach Jason Liles’ 14
years at SDSU.
RETALLIC A FIRST: Justin
Retallic, a sophomore from Atlantic, Iowa, went 2-2 in competition on
Nov. 11. After picking up a bye in first-round action, Retallic used a
takedown and an escape to defeat Andrew Nash of Newman University. He
followed that up by recording his first collegiate pin over Jon
Terronez of Buena Vista. For the season, he has posted a 3-4 record.
His three wins are only one less win than he had during all of 2005-06.
GUESS WHO’S BACK: Heavyweight
Jason Stripling led the Jackrabbit program last winter in wins with 26.
At the Daktronics Open on Nov. 4 he picked up right where he left off,
winning three matches. For the open, the junior went 3-1 in
compeitition and garnered third place honors. He opened the tournament
defeating Todd Casselman by fall in 25 seconds and then defeated Jacob
Combs of Iowa Central, 3-1, to place third.
ONE TOUGH SCHEDULE: Five home
dual matches and matches against Nebraska, Pacific and Portland State
(Ore.) highlight the 2006-07 schedule. Included in the schedule are
matchups against Western Wrestling Conference members Utah Valley
State, Northern Colorado, Wyoming, Air Force, Northern Iowa and North
Dakota State. SDSU will be tested early in the year at the Harold
Nichols Open, Ashland Open, Northern Iowa Open and North Carolina State
and Virginia Duals.
“Once again, we have a very difficult schedule. In addidition to the
tough schedule, I like the fact that we are competing in the Western
Wrestling Conference and have a chance to advance to the NCAA Division
I National Championships come March,” said Liles.
NCAA TOURNAMENT BOUND: The NCAA
Membership Subcommittee during the summer of 2004 approved SDSU’s
request to fully reclassify its wrestling program to Division I status.
Jackrabbit wrestlers will now be eligible to qualify for the NCAA
Division I Championships beginning this season. This is two years ahead
of the original timeline set forth by the NCAA.
This year’s championships will be held in Auburn Hills, Mich., on March
15-17. SDSU’s regional qualifier will be March 3 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits
will have almost a month off before traveling to the North Carolina
State duals on Jan. 7. Start time has yet to be determined for the
matches in Raleigh, N.C.