JACKS FACE BISON IN FINAL DUAL

Wrestling team has one last test before conference championships

The South Dakota State wrestling team will compete in its last dual of the season Sunday against rival North Dakota State in Fargo.

The 17th-ranked Jackrabbits are coming off close dual losses in Frost Arena against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. They look to rebound against the No. 15 Bison before the Big 12 Wrestling Championships in Tulsa.

“Nobody likes to lose, but let it be a learning lesson for our guys,” coach Damion Hahn said. “And now we have our final dual of the year, and then we get into the postseason. The best time of the year is around the corner, so I’m obviously disappointed about the overall result of the weekend, but I can’t dwell on that.”

SDSU is 11-4 overall in duals this season and 5-2 in the Big 12. They were on a 10-dual win streak before No. 7 Oklahoma State snapped it Friday. The Jacks were then narrowly defeated by Oklahoma two days later.

Against Oklahoma State, the Jackrabbits won four of the 10 total matchups, but the Cowboys controlled the first half of the dual, winning five of the first six matchups to defeat SDSU 19-12. Against Oklahoma Sunday, the dual was even until the Sooners won four-straight matchups that propelled them to an 18-13 win.

According to the InterMat NCAA Division I Rankings, the Jacks have eight nationally ranked wrestlers. Their highest-ranked wrestler is 197-pounder Tanner Sloan, ranked ninth in his weight class and undefeated in duals this season. His latest victory came by major decision against Oklahoma’s Carson Berryhill.

“I just want to put a show on for the fans,” Sloan said. “I made it a goal of mine when I was redshirting that I didn’t want to lose in front of my home crowd. I’m not trying to make too much pressure out of it but they’re behind me, my coach is behind me, my teammates are behind me, so success will come.”

Two other wrestlers for SDSU are ranked in the top 15 in their weight class. 141-pounder Clay Carlson is ranked No. 11 in the nation with a 16-7 record, and AJ Nevills is ranked No. 14 at heavyweight with a 17-4 record. The graduate student picked up two more wins in the final two home duals of his collegiate career.

“(Nevills) is going to be missed, there’s no doubt,” Hahn said. “He comes through, two solid heavyweights that he knocked off (last) weekend. He toughed it out and got it done, so I’m super happy for AJ.”

Other ranked Jackrabbits are No. 29 Tanner Jordan at 125 pounds, No. 19 Cael Swensen at 157 pounds, No. 24 Tanner Cook at 165 pounds, No. 23 Cade DeVoss at 174 pounds and No. 20 Cade King at 184 pounds.

For the Bison, they have an 11-2 dual record this season, including a 6-1 conference record. They opened their season with a top-10 win against No. 8 Nebraska. They have since won their last seven duals in a row, including their most recent win Friday against Oklahoma.

Their best wrestler this season has been Jared Franek. At 157 pounds, he has an 18-1 overall record and is ranked third in the nation. NDSU has another top-10 wrestler in 165-pounder Mikey Caliendo. He’s ranked 10th with a 19-2 record.

Other ranked wrestlers for the Bison are McGwire Midkiff, ranked No. 33 at 133 pounds, Dylan Droegemueller, No. 30 at 141 pounds, Kellyn March, No. 16 at 149 pounds, DJ Parker, No. 28 at 184 pounds and Owen Pentz, No. 11 at 197 pounds.

The dual between the Jackrabbits and Bison will start at 2 p.m. It will mark the 71st meeting between the two schools, with NDSU leading the all-time series 45-24-1, including a 15-6-1 advantage in the Division I era (since 2004-05).

Hahn said that he expects a close rivalry matchup Sunday as the two teams prepare for the postseason.

“It’ll be another good one, it always is. And for me, it’s fun, it truly is,” Hahn said. “Our guys are excited for it. This is probably the dual meet that they get most excited about because of the history of it.”

Story by EVAN PATZWALD CO-SPORTS EDITOR

A step-back 3-pointer from Zeke Mayo with 15 seconds left in the game would end up propelling the Jacks to a fivepoint win over South Dakota Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Frost Arena.

The SDSU men’s basketball team (1511, 10-4 Summit League) beat the Coyotes (11-15, 6-8) 72-67 Saturday and currently sit in second place in the conference standings with four games remaining in the regular season before the Summit League Tournament.

There were 4,421 fans in attendance to watch the Jacks pick up their sixthstraight win over USD and 20th out of the last 26 matchups.

“The atmosphere in Frost Arena was as special as I’ve been in and the support we get is incredible,” coach Eric Henderson said. “To be able to come away with a victory when our offense wasn’t at the top of its game was enjoyable.”

SDSU struggled from 3-point range in the game, going 7-of-26, at 26.9%, compared to the Coyotes shooting 10-of-22.

Mayo finished with 19 points on a poor shooting night, going 8-for-21 and 3-for-12 on 3-pointers in 38 minutes. He had the go-ahead layup to take the lead a 68-67 lead and his 3-pointer to seal the victory.

“They threw multiple things at him and did a good job,” Henderson said of the Coyotes’ defense. “Them switching kept Zeke in front of them and made him shoot the majority of those shots as jump shots and challenged him.”

The Jacks finished the game on an 8-0 run after trailing 67-64 with three minutes remaining. Mayo led the team with four assists.

“I was just trying to find open teammates, making simple plays, not trying to really force anything,” Mayo said. “I forced a couple plays today but guys like Will (Kyle III) and Matt (Dentlinger) finished strong at the rim today.”

Dentlinger led the team in scoring with 20 points and three rebounds. He shot 6-for-8 from the floor and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. Alex Arians had 13 points and Matt Mims contributed nine points.

A.J. Plitzuweit had 18 points to pace South Dakota, with Kruz Perrott-Hunt having 15 and Tasos Kamateros putting up 13 points.

Now, the Jacks turn their attention to their final two road games of the season at Denver Thursday at 8 p.m. and at Omaha Saturday at 7 p.m. SDSU has its final home games Feb. 23 against Kansas City and Feb. 25 for Senior Night against league-leading Oral Roberts.

Denver and Omaha are currently ninth and tenth respectively in the Summit League standings. The Pioneers have lost their last three games, losing to St. Thomas at home and then UND and NDSU on the road. For the Mavericks, they’ve lost nine straight games after starting conference play 3-3.

The Summit League Tournament takes place March 3-7 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. All 10 teams qualify for the tournament for the first time this season with the top six teams getting a first-round bye.

“We know when we get down to Sioux Falls, that’s when teams are going to have the most success,” Henderson said. “We’ve got great coaches and players in our league; teams are well prepared and to be able to get your team to play free and confident is really important.”

Remaining Schedule

• Feb. 16 at Denver:

13-15, 4-11, 9th in Summit

• Feb. 18 at Omaha

7-20, 3-12, 10th in Summit

• Feb. 23 vs. Kansas City

11-16, 7-7, 6th in Summit

• Feb. 25 vs. Oral Roberts

23-4, 14-0, 1st in Summit

• March 3-7: Summit League Tournament