For the third time in as many duals to start the 2016-17 season, the South Dakota State University wrestling team will take on a ranked opponent. Friday, third-ranked Iowa pays a visit to the Mount Rushmore State for a dual against the 20th-ranked Jackrabbits.
Start time is 7:30 p.m. at Frost Arena, with a record crowd anticipated. The match can be viewed via the FloWrestling.org subscription service.
The storied Hawkeye program is off to a 3-0 start to the 2016-17 dual campaign and features a lineup with seven individually ranked wrestlers. Iowa is especially loaded in the lower weights, where the Hawkeyes are led by two top-ranked wrestlers in 125-pounder Thomas Gilman and Cory Clark at 133 pounds.
SDSU, meanwhile, split its first two duals against ranked opponents, downing then-14th-ranked Iowa State, 27-9, on Nov. 4 at Frost Arena, before being edged by 16th-ranked Minnesota, 18-17, on Nov. 19 in Minneapolis.
The Jackrabbits will send three ranked wrestlers of their own to the mat — fourth-ranked Nate Rotert at 197 pounds, seventh-ranked Seth Gross at 133 pounds and 174-pounder David Kocer. Rotert’s fourth-place ranking by Intermatis the highest by an SDSU wrestler in the Division I era.
SDSU also is scheduled to compete in a pair of other events this weekend. Several Jackrabbit wrestlers are slated to compete Saturday at the UNI Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with SDSU returning to dual action Sunday in Sioux Falls with three duals in the South Dakota Showcase at the Sanford Pentagon.
THE SERIES VERSUS IOWA: Friday’s matchup against Iowa will mark the sixth dual meeting between the Jackrabbits and Hawkeyes. Iowa has won each of the previous five duals, starting with a 29-6 Hawkeye victory in 1996. The first four duals in the series were contested at neutral sites.
In last season’s meeting, Dec. 4, 2015, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes won two matches by fall and added a major decision to down SDSU, 28-15.
Winners by decision for the Jackrabbits were Seth Gross at 141 pounds, Cody Pack in the 157-pound bout and Luke Zilverberg at 165 pounds. Nate Rotert picked up the final SDSU victory of the night via forfeit at 197 pounds.
125: #2 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) def. Kahlen Morris (SDSU), by fall 1:34
133: #2 Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. #15 Brance Simms (SDSU), 4-1
141: Seth Gross (SDSU) dec. Logan Ryan (Iowa), 3-2
149: #1 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) major dec. Alex Kocer (SDSU), 8-0
157: #6 Cody Pack (SDSU) dec. Edwin Cooper Jr. (Iowa), 6-5
165: Luke Zilverberg (SDSU) dec. Burke Paddock (Iowa), 4-2
174: #6 Alex Meyer (Iowa) dec. David Kocer (SDSU), 5-2
184: #8 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) def. Brady Ayers (SDSU), by fall 0:43
197: #13 Nate Rotert (SDSU) won by forfeit
285: Sam Stoll (Iowa) def. Alex Macki (SDSU), by disqualification
SOUTH DAKOTA SHOWCASE: Sunday’s South Dakota Showcase is a dual quadrangular between the state’s four collegiate wrestling programs. Competition begins at noon, with the schedule as follows:
Noon: SDSU vs. Northern State • Augustana vs. Dakota Wesleyan
1:30 p.m.: SDSU vs. Dakota Wesleyan • Augustana vs. Northern State
3 p.m.: SDSU vs. Augustana • Northern State vs. Dakota Wesleyan
The Jackabbits are a combined 72-16-1 in dual action against their three opponents at the South Dakota Showcase. SDSU holds a 38-15 record against Augustana, including a 31-9 victory in the South Dakota Showcase last season. Against Northern State, the Jackrabbits lead the all-time series by a 29-1-1 mark and lead Dakota Wesleyan 5-0 in head-to-head matchups. SDSU completed its sweep of the 2015 South Dakota Showcase with respective 36-12 and 48-0 victories over Northern and Dakota Wesleyan.
HOT STREAK: With a split of their first two duals of the season, the Jackrabbit wrestling team has continued an impressive run of success in dual meets. Dating back to December 6, 2015, when it won all three duals at the South Dakota Showcase in Sioux Falls, SDSU has won 14 of its last 16 duals.
The victories at the South Dakota Showcase began a school-record streak of 12 consecutive dual victories, which was eventually snapped on Feb. 14, 2016, with a 19-13 loss at Oklahoma. SDSU later closed the 2015-16 dual season with a 23-14 victory against North Dakota State.
RABBITS RANKED: South Dakota State is well represented both individually and as a team in rankings conducted by a number of wrestling-related media outlets.
In the individual rankings, two-time NCAA qualifier Nate Rotert is the highest-ranked Jackrabbit wrestler with a fourth-place ranking at 197 pounds by Intermat. A junior from Spearfish, Rotert also is ranked fifth by both FloWrestling and Trackwrestling.
Seth Gross also appears in all three rankings, holding the seventh spot in the Intermat 133-pound rankings, while being tabbed sixth by both FloWrestling and Trackwrestling. Gross was a national qualifier in the 141-pound division last season, but is off to a 6-0 start in the 133-pound weight class during the 2016-17 campaign.
At 174 pounds, junior David Kocer cracked the rankings after a strong opening weekend in which he knocked off two ranked opponents. The Wagner native and returning national qualifier is ranked 15th by Intermat, 11th by Trackwrestling and 18th by FloWrestling. His older brother, Alex, is ranked 24that 149 pounds by Trackwrestling.
Luke Zilverberg holding the 23rd spot in the 165-pound weight class in the individual Trackwrestling rankings, while junior 157-pounder Colin Holler recently moved into the individual rankings with showings of 20th in FloWrestling’s poll and 21st by Trackwrestling.
After being the top team to receive votes in the USA Today/National Wrestling Coaches Association preseason poll, SDSU has held the No. 20 spot in the team rankings for the last three polls. The Jackrabbits first cracked the rankings Nov. 7 following their season-opening dual victory over Iowa State.
SDSU also is ranked 17th as a team by Trackwrestling and 19th by FloWrestling.
A LOOK AHEAD: Following this weekend, the Jackrabbits are scheduled to be off from competition until competing at the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois. The two-day event hosted by Northwestern University is slated for Dec. 29-30.
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