South Dakota State off to Virginia for
Virginia Duals
January 10, 2007
BROOKINGS, SD -- The South
Dakota State University wrestling team returns to the mats Friday
morning, when it travels to Hampton, Va., for the Virginia Duals. The
Jackrabbits, who are the No. 1 seed in the American College Division,
will take to the mats at 9 a.m. (ET) against Anderson College (S.C.).
The Jacks will then either face No. 4 seed Franklin & Marshall
(Pa.) or Roger Williams (R.I.) in second round action. A more complete
schedule is listed below.
The American College Division consists of an eight-team bracket that
will feature: James Madison (Va.), Franklin & Marshall (Pa.),
Davidson (N.C.), SUNY-Brockport (N.Y.), Anderson College (S.C.), Roger
Williams (R.I.) and Newport News Apprentice School (Va.).
The Jacks, 1-4 on the season, won the American College Division in 2005.
South Dakota State continued its dual season this past weekend at the
North Carolina State Duals in Raleigh, N.C., going 1-2 in competition.
The Jacks opened the tournament by defeating Campbell (N.C.), 39-15.
Overall, SDSU won seven bouts against Campbell and then followed by
winning four weight classes in a 32-17 setback to host North Carolina
State. In its final outing in Raleigh, SDSU won three weight classes,
including one by forfeit, but dropped a 35-12 match.
In its last outing, Anderson had five wrestlers place at the Davidson
Open. The Trojans, who had three wrestlers go 5-1 in competition at
Davidson, bring a 2-5 record into this weekend.
SUNY-Brockport’s Don Ooton and Brett Giehl were the only winners for
SUNY- Brockport in a 31-6 loss at No. 7 Cortland (N.Y.) Dec. 6. The
Golden Eagles’ Ooton was a Division III 2006 All-American at 149
pounds. Heading into this weekend he was ranked No. 6 in the
Brute-Adidas Division III Individual Rankings. As a team,
SUNY-Brockport is ranked No. 15 in the Brute/NWCA Division III team
rankings.
Davidson, 2-3 on the season, upended Duke and Princeton last weekend to
record its first dual victories of the season. The Southern Conference
school earlier this year fell to nationally ranked Chattanooga, 46-6.
Franklin & Marshall, which dropped a 36-13 match to Rutgers this
past weekend, brings a 2-3 in dual record into this competition.
Against Rutgers, the Diplomats forfeited four weight classes. Overall,
F & M is led statistically by heavyweight Nico Somers, who has
recorded 12 wins on the year and is currently receiving honorable
mention status in Wrestling.Reports heavyweight Atlantic Regional
rankings.
James Madison, 3-13 on the season, placed sixth overall at the 2007
Virginia Intercollegiate State Wrestling Tournament this past weekend.
The Dukes’ three dual victories have come against Utah Valley State,
Delaware State and Johns Hopkins.
The Apprentice School finished seventh at the 2007 Virginia Division I
Intercollegiate Tournament this past weekend. The Builders, 5-3 in dual
competition, are part of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association.
Micah Amrozowicz is currenly ranked No. 1 at 133 in the NCWA Individual
rankings.
Roger Williams, 8-2, finished second overall at the RWU Mid-Winter
Classic this past weekend. The Hawks are led by Andy Lacroix and
Anthony Nicolicchia. Both wrestlers recently competed in the Collegiate
All-Star Challenge, on Dec. 30, in Sioux City, Iowa. Roger Williams is
currently ranked No. 29 in the Brute/NWCA Division III rankings.
HISTORY AT VIRGINIA DUALS: This
weekend will mark the third time in three years South Dakota State will
compete in the American College Division at the Virginia Duals.
In 2004-05, SDSU went 3-0 in matches against Millersville (Pa.),
Davidson (N.C.) and Duquesne (Pa.). The Jackrabbits captured the
American College Division title, defeating Duquesne, 29-12, in the
final round of competition. Both Andy Everson and Nate Althoff went 3-0
in competition at the tournament.
South Dakota State opened the Virginia Duals last winter downing
Delaware State, 44-0, but dropped two of its next three matches to
Duquesne and Franklin & Marshall. The Jacks finished the tournament
with a 2-2 record after defeating Anderson College, 22-18, on the final
day.
Virginia dual SCHEDULE: The
Jackrabbits will begin competition at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 12.
Weigh-ins for the top bracket will begin at 7 a.m., at Hampton
Coliseum. First-round of the American Division will be held at 9 a.m.
and 11 a.m., with the consolation rounds beginning at 1 and 3 p.m.
Semifinal action will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon, with the
consolation semifinals beginning at 4 p.m. Placement matches begin at 6
p.m., with finals beginning at 8:30 p.m. All start times are Eastern
Standard Time.
First Round
# 1 South Dakota State vs. Anderson
# 4 Franklin & Marshall vs. Roger Williams
# 3 Davidson vs. Newport News Apprentice School
# 2 SUNY-Brockport vs. James Madison
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
NORTH CAROLINA STATE DUALS
The South Dakota State University wrestling team defeated Campbell
University (N.C.), 39-15, Saturday morning, but dropped its final two
matches to North Carolina State and Ohio to finish 1-2 at the North
Carolina State Duals in Raleigh, N.C.
Against Campbell, Travis Gottschalk, a senior from Kimball, Minn., gave
the Jacks a 6-0 advantage in the match by pinning Rob Yoder in the
197-pound match at the 4 minute, 31 second mark. Junior heavyweight
Jason Stripling followed by defeating Jeremiah Fennell by fall in 2
minutes, 31 seconds.
After Derek Pirner, an Elk Point native, pinned Kelin Bidelspach in 4
minutes, 47 seconds in the 141-pound match, freshman Sean Flynn
recorded his first collegiate dual victory by upending Chris Mazzatta,
9-5. Ryan Meyer closed out the scoring for the Jacks by defeating Jeff
Cote by fall in 6 minutes, 41 seconds. Both Tyler Sorenson and senior
Brad Gregory won their respective weight classes by forfeit to give
SDSU its first dual victory this winter.
In its second match of the day, South Dakota State gave up forfeits in
two weight classes to host North Carolina State, but won four bouts in
a 32-17 defeat at the hands of the Wolfpack Saturday afternoon.
At 141 pounds, Pirner made quick work of Garrett Cummings by pinning
him 26 seconds into the match. The pin marked Pirner’s second
consecutive victory by fall in North Carolina. After Nate Althoff, a
Watertown native, defeated Jalil Dozier, 5-2, at 165, redshirt freshman
Chris Moran scored two takedowns to defeat Randy Goodman, 4-3. Sorenson
closed out the match tech falling Mark Jahad, 20-4.
Against Ohio, SDSU won three weight classes, including one by forfeit,
but dropped a 35-12 match to the Bobcats in Reynolds Coliseum.
Sophomore Alan Marvin put the Jacks on the board by winning the
133-pound class by forfeit, while freshman Sean Flynn upended Chad
Tucker by fall in 43 seconds. Meyer, a Parkston native, closed out the
scoring for SDSU by downing Jake Ison, 10-3.
Overall, SDSU pinned a combined total of six opponents. Pirner, who saw
his first action of the season, led the way with two victories by fall.
PIRNER REGAINING FORM: Derek
Pirner became only the second Jackrabbit wrestler in two years to win
his first dual match of the season by fall. Junior Marcus Waters
defeated Kip Watson of Portland State last winter after not competing
for the Jacks during the 2005-06 open season. Pirner, who saw his first
action of the season, led the way for South Dakota State with two
victories by fall this past weekend at the North Carolina State Duals.
Pirner, an Elk Point native, pinned Kelin Bidelspach of Campbell in 4
minutes, 47 seconds and then followed by making quick work of NC
State’s Garrett Cummings by pinning him 26 seconds into the match.
Pinning opponents in nothing new for Pirner, who tied for the team lead
in pins last year with five and went 10-1 in competition after moving
from 133 to 141, which is the weight he wrestled at this weekend.
IDENTICAL RECORDS: After its
first four matches of the season the SDSU wrestling team has the exact
same record it did at this point in time last winter. SDSU, 1-4, also
went into the Virginia Duals as the No. 1 seed a year ago as well, but
left with a 3-6 record after going 2-2 in Virginia. The Jackrabbits
will look to better that record this weekend.
FLYNN’S STARTING STRONG: True
freshman Sean Flynn, a Lansing, Kan., native, wrestled in his first
collegiate dual this past weekend in North Carolina. Flynn, didn’t
disappoint, as he went undefeated for the weekend and recorded his
first collegiate pin against Ohio’s Chad Tucker 43 seconds into the
match.
STRIPLING BACK AT IT: After not
wrestling for nearly two months, heavyweight Jason Stripling made his
return to the Jackrabbit lineup, seeing his first extensive action
since the Harold Nichols Open on Nov. 11. In his first match back
Stripling, who picked up a forfeit win against Nebraska on Dec. 9,
upended Jeremiah Fennell by fall in 2 minutes, 31 seconds.
AFTER BREAK: SDSU is a combined
3-7 in competition following Christmas break. The Jackrabbits competed
in the Lone Star Duals in Arlington, Texas, last winter and recorded an
overall record of 1-3 at the competition. SDSU’s lone win came against
Clarion (Pa.). South Dakota State defeated Clarion, 28-15.
In 2004-05, SDSU dropped two straight matches to Oregon and Pacific
(Calif.), but then rallied to defeat Portland State, 29-20, to close
out the Oregon Duals.
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 on
Dec. 9, 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.
BIG-TIME MATCHES: When South
Dakota State faced NDSU Dec. 15 it marked the second straight dual SDSU
faced 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 marked Marcus
Waters’ second-straight opponent ranked in the top-20. Nebraska’s 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 in Cedar Falls on Dec. 3. Overall,
the Jackrabbits recorded 101 victories during the open season and
posted 30 victories by fall. Leading the way for the Jacks was 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 a combined 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 has 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, is 8-7 with three pins.
STRONG OUTING IN OHIO: Overall
at the Ashland Open, 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 on Nov. 11 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: South Dakota
State will host its first Western Wrestling Conference and home match
of the year against Utah Valley State on Jan. 20. Start time is set for
7 p.m. at Frost Arena.