| Week 7: #8 South Dakota State vs. Arizona State, at Soldier Salute | |
| Date and Time | Friday, Jan. 2; 6 p.m. CT, Saturday-Sunday. Jan. 3-4; 10 a.m. (Soldier Salute) |
| Location | Sioux Falls, S.D.; Coralville, Iowa (Soldier Salute) |
| Site | Sanford Pentagon; XTream Arena (Soldier Salute) |
| Television/Stream | Midco Sports Plus; B10+ (Soldier Salute) |
| Live Stats | TrackWrestling, FloWrestling |
| South Dakota State | Game Notes | Home Page |
Brookings, S.D. – The Jacks ring in the new year with an action packed week as they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Pentagon for their first Big 12 dual of the season. The Jacks are 0-2 all-time against the Sun Devils and will look to put a win on the board heading into the Big 12 dual season. They then head to Coralville, Iowa to compete in the Soldier Salute, competing against wrestlers from 13 division one programs, including Iowa, Iowa State and North Carolina
THE LINEUP: This is the probable lineup for this week’s contest:
125 – #22 Brady Roark (11-2)
133 – #23 Derrick Cardinal (6-2)
141 – #18 Julian Tagg (6-2)
149 – #21 Alek Martin (5-5)
157 – #18 Cael Swensen (9-3)
165 – #28 Marcus Espinoza-Owens (9-5)
174 – #17 Moses Espinoza-Owens (12-4)
184 – Brock Fettig (5-6)
197 – #7 Bennett Berge (2-1) or Quin Morgan (4-4)
285 – #20 Luke Rasmussen (5-2)
SOLDIER SALUTE LINEUP:
125: Carson Dupill, Logan Graf, Daniel Guanajuato
133: Kenton Cooke, Cale Seaton
141: Tyson Peach, Liam Neitzel, Logan Swensen
149: Colin Dupill, Conlan Carlson
157: Zach Ballante, Bas Diaz
165: Jacob Herm
174: Jacob Fistler, Ryan Dolezal
184: Burk Blasius, Connor Gaynor, Shane McConville, Jared Thiry, Jarrett Wadsen
SOLDIER SALUTE SCHEDULE:
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2026
Session 1: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Session 2: 3:30 pm – 8:30 pm
SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2026
Session 3: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Finals: 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
LAST TIME OUT: Campbell
The Jackrabbits started Sunday night in First Bank & Trust Arena with three tech falls and never looked back from there, as they took down the Campbell Camels, 45-3.
No. 23 Derrick Cardinal started off the night for the Jacks as the dual began at 133 pounds. He took on Logan Heil and started off quickly, scoring a takedown in the opening seconds. Cardinal continued the offensive onslaught through the next two periods, securing a tech fall, 20-5, and five points for the Jacks.
No. 18 Julian Tagg built on Cardinal’s performance by scoring a 20-5 tech fall of his own in six minutes and 46 seconds against Zander Phaturos in the second bout of the night. With his first tech fall of the season, Tagg added another 5 points to the Jackrabbit lead.
Avery Allen got the start for the Jackrabbits at 149 pounds, taking on Jonathan Chang of Campbell. Allen got the better of Chang early in the first period, scoring a takedown and getting near-fall swipes on his way to a 16-1 tech fall, extending the Jackrabbit lead to 15.
At 157 pounds, Pablo Macias stepped up for the Camels and took on No. 18 Cael Swensen. Swensen was able to dominate most of the match but gave up a late takedown, missing out on bonus points but still scoring an 11-4 decision win, pushing the Jackrabbit lead to 18.
Marcus Espinoza-Owens accepted a forfeit at 165 pounds, the first of two forfeits for the Camels, setting the Jackrabbit lead at 24 heading into the break.
No. 17 Moses Espinoza-Owens took on Ryan Bolletino at 174 pounds after the break and started off strong, scoring two takedowns in the first period. But Bolletino would battle back and ride Espinoza-Owens out for the next two periods, holding Espinoza-Owens to a decision win, 10-4.
The lone Jackrabbit loss of the night was Brock Fettig, who dropped a competitive match to Brant Cracraft in sudden victory, 8-5.
But the Jacks bounced back in a big way, scoring consecutive pins at 197 and 285 pounds, as Quin Morgan and Luke Rasmussen battled their way to 12 combined team points.
Brady Roark finished off the dual by accepting a forfeit at 125 pounds, cementing the Jackrabbit win by a score of 45-3.
JACKS IN THE RANKINGS
125: Brady Roark 22/22
133:Derrick Cardinal 27/23
141: Julian Tagg 15/20
149: Alek Martin 21/20
157: Cael Swensen 17/19
165: Marcus Espinoza-Owens 32/28
174: Moses Espinoza-Owens 16/17
197: Bennett Berge 6/7
285: Luke Rasmussen 20/20
NWCA COACHES POLL
1 Penn State (14) (6-0) 398
2 Ohio State (2) (10-0) 386
3 Iowa State (3-1) 368
4 Iowa (7-2) 351
5 Oklahoma St. (8-1) 337
6 Nebraska (6-3) 320
7 Virginia Tech (4-2) 297
8 SDSU (3-0) 286
9 NC State (8-3) 267
10 Illinois (7-2) 257
11 Minnesota (6-2) 249
12 Michigan (4-2) 195
13 North Carolina (7-1) 191
14 Pittsburgh (7-1) 187
15 Oklahoma (6-1) 183
16 Northern Iowa (3-3) 158
17 Rutgers (6-2) 136
18 Missouri (6-6) 129
19 Wisconsin (8-0) 111
20 Cornell (1-3) 102
21 West Virginia (5-2) 69
22 Lehigh (3-6) 61
23 Oregon State (2-0) 43
24 Stanford (2-3) 40
25 Indiana (5-1) 36
Others Receiving Votes: Purdue 20, Penn 10, Wyoming 5, Utah Valley 4, Rider 3, Columbia 1
WRESTLER TO WATCH: Derrick Cardinal
Derrick Cardinal will have a tough matchup ahead of him as he squares up with true freshman phenom Kyler Larkin of Arizona State on Friday.
Larkin is 10-1 on the year, with his only loss coming by medical forfeit at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He has wins over ranked wrestlers Tyler Knox, Dillon Campbell and Richard Figueroa and has looked impressive in his first season at Arizona State.
After starting the year sidelined with an injury, Cardinal has found his groove, putting up a 6-2 record capped by a tech fall over Campbell’s Logan Heil in his last match. Cardinal is a two-time NCAA Qualifier, and the last time he visited the Sanford Pentagon picked up a win by pinning Nolan Wertanen in 6:39. With a tough matchup in front of him, Cardinal will look to use his experience to come out on top against the freshman.
Key Storylines
- BACK FOR MORE: The Jackrabbits return Cael Swensen and Alek Martin to their lineup after both sat out the 2024-25 season with injuries
- PROGRAM RECORDS: The Jackrabbits continued to set program records under Damion Hahn in 2024-25, sending a record nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia
- REPLACING DEVOS: The Jackrabbits will have a few options at 174 pounds this year as they try to replace two-time All-American and five-time NCAA Qualifier Cade DeVos. Fighting for the spot will be Connor Gaynor and Moses Espinoza-Owens.
- MOVIN’ ON, MOVIN’ UP: All-American Bennett Berge will make the jump from 184 pounds, where he was a two-time NCAA Qualifier and a fourth-place finisher in 2024, to 197 pounds this year, replacing the graduated Zach Glazier. The jump to 197 pounds mirrors Coach Hahn’s jump from 184 pounds to 197 pounds, where he won two National Championships.
- RETURNING PRODUCTION: The Jacks will have an NCAA Qualifier at 7 of their 10 weights this year, while Moses Espinoza-Owens, Brock Fettig and Brady Roark all filled in at their respective weights due to injuries last season.
- JACKS IN THE RANKINGS: SDSU has nine of it’s starters listed in InterMat’s and FloWrestling’s Rankings. Amongst the highest ranked are Berge at No. 6, Julian Tagg at No. 15, Cael Swensen at No. 17 and Moses Espinoza-Owens at 16. The Jacks also made an appearance in the top 10 of the NWCA Division 1 Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 8, the highest ranking in school history.
- PROVEN WINNER: Last season, Damion Hahn became the winningest coach at the D1 level in South Dakota State history, passing Chris Bono with 65 wins. Hahn’s 75 dual wins for the Jackrabbits rank fourth all-time among all Jackrabbit Wrestling coaches behind Jason Liles, Warren Williamson and Mike Engels.
- OFF-SEASON WORK: The JWC was incredibly successful on the freestyle and Greco-Roman circuits between March and August. Quin Morgan took home the U20 Greco-Roman Championship at 97kg at the US Open to start the season. Tommy Dineen and Daniel Guanajuato added runner-up finishes at their respective weights at the U23 Freestyle Nationals. Dineen also added a gold medal at the Junior Pan-American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay.
- HOME COOKING: The Jacks have been consistent under head coach Damion Hahn at home. After posting a 7-1 record at home in 2023-24, the Jacks followed it up with a 4-2 record at home last year.
- THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Last year’s freshman class put up an impressive 92-28 total record through open competitions and duals. Leading the way was freshman Logan Swensen with a 28-6 record overall. Swensen looks to back up returning NCAA Qualifier Derrick Cardinal at 133 pounds this year.
- STOP SIGNS IN BROOKINGS: The incoming freshmen at SDSU are coming off an impressive summer. Micah Hach (8th), Keenan Sheridan (8th), Conlan Carlson (8th) and Jarrett Wadsen (2nd) all earned All-American honors at the Fargo Nationals in Freestyle. Wadsen (4th) and Bas Diaz (2nd) earned All-American honors in Greco as well.
A Look Ahead
The Jacks head to Cedar Falls next to compete in the NWCA National Duals against some of the top mid-major Division 1 programs in the country on January 9th and 10th.
-GoJacks.com-