The first home duals of the season for the Jackrabbits also marks the Jackrabbit Wrestling Endowment meet, with all proceeds directly benefiting the SDSU wrestling team.

“This endowment match shows how much (SDSU) is behind us and supports us,” said head wrestling coach Jason Liles. “Other wrestling teams have done this and now it’s our turn.”

The endowment match will feature three duals on Sunday, Dec. 12. SDSU will start the day by taking on Northern State at noon, which will be followed by Northern State going against Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville at 2 p.m. The final match of the day will feature the Jackrabbits facing SIU-Edwardsville at 4 p.m.

Liles has high hopes for the day and would like to see the program set a new record for attendance.

Everyone who attends the meet will not only be treated to a great day of Jackrabbit wrestling, there will also be other perks for all the fans. The first 500 people through the door are set to receive an official SDSU “Get Jacked” t-shirt. Fans are also welcomed to attend a meet and greet with all Jackrabbit wrestlers along with an autograph session. The SDSU drumline will also be performing the entertainment during the matches.

“This match is really going to go a long way to helping ensure the future of SDSU wrestling,” said coach Liles. “We get 100 percent of all the money and that is going to go right back to us (the wrestling program). The money is going to help us with scholarships, travel costs, everything really.”

The day is not all about fun and games for the Jacks though; they still have winning on their minds.

“The endowment meet is a good thing for us and the fans, but we still have to go out there and win to make the fans want to come back,” said assistant coach Zach Schafer. “If we don’t perform up to our abilities then the fans will not have a very good time.”

“They are coming to see high level wrestling and that’s what we plan on giving them.”

With two teams looking to pick up their first wins of the season in Brookings, Dec. 12 is looking like a good day to see quality wrestling matches at Frost Arena.

Doors open at 11 a.m. and tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children K-12. The Jacks would like anyone who can attend to come and join in on a exciting day with the SDSU wrestlers.

“We are hoping to get as many people into the arena as possible,” said Liles, “the more fans we have, the harder our guys compete on the mat.”

#1.1825389:1535941819.jpg:Wrestling.jpg:Dusty Walraven wrestles NDSU?s Joe Garner on Nov. 6.:Collegian Photo by Robby Gallagher

anksgiving weekend meet in Lincoln, Neb.

Senior Kevin Kelly posted the only win in a 38-3 dual loss to Bucknell (Pa.), while sophomore Aaron Pickrel and freshman Tony Vaske won against No. 22 Nebraska giving the Jacks their only points in the 36-6 loss.

The Jacks matched up first against Bucknell. SDSU came into the day with three open weights, at 133, 184 and 197. The dual began at 125 with Pickrel taking on 2010 national qualifier Derek Reber. Pickrel took an early lead in the match, opening with a takedown. After that it was all Reber, as he scored a reversal and racked up points on his way to a 10-4 victory.

At 141, Vaske faced Zac Hancock. Vaske would not fare well in the match, losing by 10 points, 16-6. Next up was another freshman, Jimmy Hamilton (149). Hamilton took on No. 5 Kevin LeValley. The match was one-sided from the start as LeValley jumped to an early lead and never looked back, winning by technical fall, 17-0.

The Jacks next two matches saw Nick Flynn (157), and John Nething II (165) lose close decisions, 6-3 and 8-5.

At 174, Seth Moe, bumped up two weight classes, but battling the difference proved to be too much, and he lost 11-0. The next weight also saw the Jacks move a wrestler up as David Michaud went from his spot at 174, up to 184. Michaud went on to lose 12-5.

The next weight, 197, was open for the Jacks, leaving only the heavyweight match remaining. At heavyweight Kelly went on to pick up SDSU’s only win in the dual, a 6-3 decision, giving the Jacks their only team points.

The Jacks competed next against No. 22 Nebraska. This dual began differently for the Jacks with Pickrel picking up the first win, giving the Jacks a 3-0 lead with his 3-0 win over Shawn Nagel.

“It was nice to pick up a win to start the dual and get us going. We wrestled very competitively against a top 25 school,” said Pickrel.

The lead would be short-lived for the Jacks, as 133 was forfeited, putting Nebraska up 6-3. The next wrestler for was Vaske (141). Vaske battled back from an early deficit to beat Mike Koehnlein 13-8, tying the dual at six.

“We came out and wrestled Nebraska very tough,” said Assistant Coach Zach Schafer. “Pickrel wrestled a smart match to open the dual and then Vaske came out and wrestled great, showing a lot of poise and toughness for a true freshman. The rest of the team battled hard after the great start from those two.”

The Jacks went on to lose their next four matches as Andrew Youngblom (149), Flynn (157), Nething (165) and Michaud (174) all recorded losses.

In the final match, SDSU’s Kelly was pitted against No. 7 Tucker Lane. Lane took the lead and posted a 4-0 win over Kelly.

The Jacks next action is a home triangular against Northern State and University of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Dec. 12.

The Jackrabbit wrestling team opened their season at the Warren Williamson/ Daktronics Open on Nov. 6 with 19 wrestlers competing.

The tournament, which featured over 10 teams, was the first of the season for wrestlers in our area, with all of the SDSU freshmen making their college wrestling debuts.

SDSU head wrestling coach Jason Liles felt good about the team’s performance.

“Overall it was good, we had some good showings, we had some not so good showings,” Liles said. “In an early tournament like that you can count on that to happen.”

On the mat, SDSU had its strongest finish from redshirt and junior, David Michaud, at 174. Michaud finished the day with the Jacks’ only first place finish, while recording four pins and receiving the Outstanding Wrestler award and Most Pins award.

Dustin Walraven, moving up to 149 this year, also put out a strong performance for the Jacks, placing third. On the way to his third place finish, Walraven defeated the No. 3 ranked wrestler in Division II, Augustana’s Nate Herda 7-3 in a thriller match that featured several overtimes.

In his semi-final match Walraven would lose to Division II’s top wrestler at 149, Esai Dominguez from University of Nebraska-Omaha. He would then battle his way through wrestle backs to take home third.

Another Jackrabbit wrestler took third as Aaron Pickrel came back from a quarterfinal defeat and made it to the consolation finals at 125. Pickrel lost to Josh Heinzer of Iowa Central, in a tight 6-5 match before rattling off four consecutive wins to take home third place. In the third place match Pickrel downed Al Meger of Augustana College, winning by a 4-1 decision.

Two Jackrabbit wrestlers placed fifth in SDSU’s home tournament. Senior heavyweight, Kevin Kelly, and junior 157 Nick Flynn, both won their final matches of the day, giving SDSU more placers in the Daktronics Open.

Kelly lost his second match of the day to Northern State’s Matt Meuleners 4-2 before reeling off two more wins. He then would fall into the fifth place match where he picked up the win via injury default.

Flynn got his day started with two wins, his first by pin over Ian Mills who was wrestling unattached. He would make it to the semi-finals before losing to NDSU’s Vince Salminen, who went on to take first.

His next match was against another Bison, Steven Monk, and the result was the same as Flynn dropped the match 15-3. Flynn’s final match of the day came against Austin Carmichael from Augustana. Flynn posted his second pin of the day to take the fifth place prize.

The Jackrabbit upperclassmen were not the only ones who placed for SDSU, freshman Tony Vaske and Chris Pilot both placed sixth in their first ever college tournament. Vaske and Pilot both finished the day 2-3, with Pilot injury defaulting out of his final match due to an ankle injury.

“The young guys competed well for their first competition. We definitely have some things to work on, but we’re focusing on the positives,” Schafer said.

There were several other freshmen competing for SDSU as well, and the coaches were pleased with what they saw.

“We learned how the young guys compete and how they battle on the mat,” said Liles. “We liked some of what we saw and we saw some things that we will need to change. We’re just going to keep working and getting better from here.”

SDSU will next travel to the Northwestern Duals on Sunday, Nov. 14 at Evanston, Ill.

Tyler Sorenson became the first SDSU wrestler since the transition to Division I to win a match at the national tournament. The tournament was held in Omaha, Neb., from March 18 to 20.

Sorenson’s opening match against fourth-seeded Cam Simaz of Cornell (who went on to place third) was not what the Jacks wanted, though. Simaz began the match quickly, going up 7-2 in the first period. The match would only get worse from there, as Sorenson would lose 15-7.

After losing his first match, Sorenson took on James Hamel of Buffalo on the first night of competition. Sorenson appeared to be on his way to another two-and-out like last year, going behind 3-0 at the start of the second.

“The first round I didn’t wrestle great and was flat on my feet,” said Sorenson. “I knew I just had to turn it up and keep on him, and I could break him.”

Sorenson was not to be denied, though, coming back strong to record a takedown and two-point nearfall to end the period up 4-3. At the start of the third period, Sorenson recorded a quick escape to push the lead to 5-3, where it would stay for the rest of the match.

“You go to the national tournament with the expectation to win and be an All-American, so there’s quite a bit of pressure there, especially after being there last year and not having the success he wanted,” said head coach Jason Liles. “The win gave Sorenson confidence and took some pressure off him.”

Sorenson kept the ball rolling in his next match against 10-seeded Jesse Strawn of Old Dominion.

“He was wrestling to win, trying not to make any mistakes going into this match, so we felt like we had a good chance,” said Liles.

The match started the same way as his previous win, with Sorenson getting taken-down. That would be all the offense Strawn had in the match, though. Sorenson recorded a quick reversal, and from there it was the Jackrabbit’s match.

Tied at two with Sorenson where he is best at, on top, it was only a matter of time before he would record the near-fall. With the three point near-fall, Sorenson would take a 5-2 lead into the second period against the favored Strawn. The second period would end without either man scoring a point. In the third period Sorenson would score another three point near-fall and a riding time point to take the win 9-2, furthering his record-setting tournament.

That would be his last win and the end of his national tournament experience. His last match of the day came against unseeded Brent Jones of Virginia.

The match was not exactly what Sorenson wanted for the last match of his career, as he was pinned in 30 seconds by the man who went on to win the “most falls” award at the tournament.

“I think I would have been happy before the tournament if I knew that Sorenson would go 2-2. He got a taste of what it’s like to get some wins. He beat the 10th-seeded wrestler,” said Liles. “We wrestled some good people and had a good showing. I’m happy we wrestled well.”

Liles believes that Sorenson’s showing can only lead to good things for the Jacks going forward.

“Tyler set the standard that we can not only get to the national tournament but win matches there. It raises the bar that just qualifying isn’t good enough, you have to win while you’re there. That’s one step closer to our ultimate goal, which is to become an All-American,” said Liles.

Sorenson finishes his career tied for 24th on the all-time wins list. His season record ends at 31-7, SDSU’s second 30-win wrestler since the move to D-I. He was only the second Jackrabbit to qualify for the NCAA D-I tournament and the first two-time qualifier since the transition.

SDSU’s Tyler Sorenson won the 197 weight division at the Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) March 6 at Frost Arena, securing his second straight trip to nationals.

The Jacks placed four other wrestlers in the top four. David Michaud took home true second honors at 184 and Aaron Pickrel 125, Dustin Walraven 141 and Kevin Kelly 285 all recorded fourth-place finishes. As a team the Jacks placed sixth.

“Our kids wrestled well,” said head coach Jason Liles. “Getting a champ, a true second and three fourth-place finishes was good for us.”

The high point for the Jacks was the same as it had been all season, senior Tyler Sorenson. Sorenson entered the tournament with the No. 1 seed and left the same way. He won his first two matches 7-4 and 7-3 over Neil Delaney and Josh Wood before putting on his most impressive performance of the night.

In the finals, Sorenson met a familiar foe, NDSU’s Drew Ross. Having wrestled Ross only 16 days earlier, Sorenson was well aware of the challenges he presented. In this match, though, it appeared that there were no challenges at all. Sorenson went out fast and strong, taking an early lead and never looking back, winning the match by technical fall 17-2 at the end of regulation.

With this win, Sorenson becomes the first Jackrabbit wrestler in the Division I era to qualify for the national tournament twice.

“Sorenson had a great weekend and we look forward to him representing our university and wrestling program at the national tournament,” said assistant coach Zach Schaffer.

At 184, David Michaud entered the tournament unseeded but battled his way for a true second-place finish. Michaud’s first match looked like most of his others, as he lost to Air Force’s James Ciccone 11-5. That match would be Michaud’s only loss on the day.

Michaud would win his next four matches over Patrick Prentice of Northern Colorado, Kenny Moenkedick of NDSU, Monte Shmaulhaus of Utah Valley and Andy O’Loughlin of UNI. With the four wins in a row Michaud posted SDSU’s only true second of the tournament.

The heavyweight bracket offered a small surprise for the Jacks, as Kevin Kelly recorded his second win of the season to take a fourth-place finish for the Jacks. Kelly’s first match was another close battle as he lost to Christian Brantley of UNI 6-2. He would then get a bye and face No. 2 seed Justin Tell of Northern Colorado.

Kelly avenged a loss earlier in the season by beating Tell 3-1, putting him in the third place match. In the third place match Kelly would suffer his first pin-loss of the day against LJ Helbig of Wyoming, giving him fourth place.

At possibly the toughest weight class in the conference, 141, SDSU’s Dustin Walraven missed out on an automatic bid to nationals by one match.

In the only weight offering three automatic bids, Walraven needed to win his third-place bout against Kenneth Hashimoto in order to become only the third SDSU wrestler ever to qualify for the D-I national tournament.

It was not to be though, as Hashimoto again proved to be too good for Walraven to overcome.

With Hashimoto leading 4-3 at the end of the third period, Walraven had to go for anything he could get. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anything that would work against a savvy wrestler such as Hashimoto, as he instead recorded the takedown and the win 6-3. With the loss and fourth place finish, Walraven was knocked from making the national tournament.

The other SDSU place-winner was Aaron Pickrel at 125. Pickrel would go 2-2 on the day, recording another fourth place finish for the Jacks.

In his third-place match Pickrel faced a man he beat earlier in the day, Anthony Mustari of UNC. This match would be very different than the first, as Mustari would win 8-3.

Other SDSU wrestlers that competed in the meet were 133 Tyler Johnson, 149 Nick Hagar, 157 Nick Flynn and 165 Seth Moe. None of these wrestlers recorded any wins at the tournament.

SDSU’s only senior, Tyler Sorenson, will compete at the Division I National Tournament in Omaha, Neb. between March 18-20.

NCAA National Tournament qualifiers: the event that every team prepares all year for.

SDSU wrestlers have worked hard all year to prepare themselves for their upcoming tournament, the Western Wrestling Conference tournament. Every practice, every takedown, every sprint has all been for this.

On March 6, the wrestlers will get their chance to show off all their hard work. As an added bonus, they will get to show it off not in some random team’s gym, but right here in Brookings at Frost Arena.

The objective for the regional tournament is the same as it has been all year for the Jacks.

“Our goal is to qualify wrestlers for the National Tournament,” said head coach Jason Liles. “The NCAA has allocated 14 automatic bids to our regional tournament, and we plan on putting our guys in a position to earn some of those bids.”

SDSU’s top grappler, Tyler Sorenson, said that hosting the regional tournament in Brookings and the recent dual win over NDSU will help propel the Jacks through the tournament.

“As a team, we should have a big spark going into this after the big win over NDSU. That was the biggest dual win of my college career,” Sorenson said. “It’s also really nice to be wrestling my final regional tournament on my home mat. That will help us.”

The Jacks have been working hard all year, with an emphasis on improving everywhere. They have worked hard on the mat, in the weight room and most importantly in the classroom, said assistant coach Zach Schafer.

The emphasis on improvement was never more obvious than when SDSU defeated NDSU on Feb. 18, the first victory over NDSU in 13 years.

“The win over NDSU was huge,” said Schafer. “It definitely gives us a preview for the direction that our program is headed. It goes to show that hard work does will pay off if you keep at it.”

With the season so close to the finish, SDSU’s wrestlers are excited to see how their work will pay off.

“I think conference will be a great opportunity for us Jacks to display all the hard work and passion we put into this season,” said freshman Nick Hagar. “I feel that upon reaching the pinnacle of our season, the other wrestlers and I will get a sense of urgency being on our home mat with a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championship Tournament in Omaha, Neb.”

Things are looking good for the Jacks, heading into the regional tournament. They are coming off the biggest dual win they’ve had since moving to Division I, they are hosting the tournament on their home mat and most importantly, they have put in the hard work needed to improve throughout the year.

Now all they have to do is go out and use the advantages that they have to finish this year how they always wanted to: at the NCAA tournament.

“We haven’t had the season that we wanted to, but you know, if we come out and beat NDSU, that’s something that people are going to remember,” said wrestling head coach Jason Liles.

And the Jacks sure turned it into something worth remembering, coming from 12 down with only three matches remaining to defeat NDSU for the first time since 1997 and win the final dual of the season.

“It was the first time since I’ve been at SDSU that we beat them, and it was my last dual as a Jackrabbit.,” said Tyler Sorenson. “To go out like this, it’s really special.”

The Jacks started the dual on the right foot, as Aaron Pickrel turned out a big win against a highly regarded opponent, NDSU’s Justin Solberg.

“I thought everything went the way I wanted it to,” said Pickrel.

The Bison looked dominant from 141 to 174, though, winning every match by either major decision or pin.

At 174, senior Marc Wermersen, wrestling in his last match and filling in an otherwise open weight for the Jacks, did all he could against the bigger Mac Stoll. Yet, it wasn’t enough, as Stoll won 15-5, putting the Bison up 22-10 with only three matches to go.

If the Jacks were to come back, they needed big points from the big boys, and they got it.

The start of the 184 match looked similar to the previous five, as NDSU’s Kenny Moenkedick took down David Michaud early. Michaud scored an early escape, though, and from there it was all Jackrabbits.

Moenkedick got tied up with Michaud, which Michaud capitalized on by throwing him in a headlock. Michaud pinned Moenkedick in 2:13 and give the Jacks six points, putting the score at 22-16.

The next match went exactly as needed for SDSU with 197 Tyler Sorenson dominating Drew Ross throughout the final regular season match of his career. With the 15-4 win, Sorenson put SDSU down 22-20, in position to win the dual by winning the final match of the night.

At 285, Kevin Kelly had a chance to not only record his first win of the season, but to give SDSU it’s first conference dual win this year. He succeeded on both counts.

Kelly started the final period down 0-1 against the Bison’s Joe Arthur, but he would not be denied the win. With 1:15 remaining, Kelly scored his first point, an escape to tie the match at 1-1. Kelly continued to push the pace against his opponent before finally recording the takedown with 12 seconds remaining to give himself a 3-1 lead. The match ended at 4-1, with a riding time point given to Kelly.

The win gave SDSU the final three points they needed to beat NDSU, 23-22.

“I just thought, ‘We beat our rival, we beat NDSU’,” Kelly said.

“This win definitely gives us momentum heading into our conference tournament,” said Liles. “Now we just need to keep it going on March 6.”

The SDSU wrestling team competed against the Wyoming Cowboys in a Western Wrestling Conference dual on Feb. 5 in Frost Arena. The Jacks won three of the nine matches and lost with a score of 34-9.

The Jacks started the day out strong though, as 149 Nick Hagar came out with a big win in the night’s first match. This dual did not start at 125 as the coaches went by random weight class. Hagar scored a close, hard-fought decision 3-1 over Kasey Garnhart to give the Jacks an early spark.

That spark was quickly diminished by the Cowboys, as in the 157 match Nick Flynn was soundly defeated by Jimmy Belleville, 12-2. The match began the Cowboys’ three-match winning streak while they also received a forfeit.

“We were out-techniqued, out-muscled, out-worked and pretty much just out-wrestled all around,” said Flynn. “They were just better today.”

Out-muscled would be the best way to describe the 165 match, as Seth Moe moved up from 149 again to fill in an empty spot for the Jacks. Moe wrestled No. 9 Shane Onufer in a match where the contestants appeared 30 pounds apart. Onufer would have his way with Moe, winning by pin in 4 minutes, 19 seconds.

In the next weight class, the Jacks were again open, giving Brock Smith a forfeit and furthering the Cowboys’ lead.

At 184, SDSU put David Michaud on the mat against No. 9 Joe LeBlanc in an obvious mismatch. LeBlanc took an early lead before pinning Michaud at the 4:15 mark.

The next match would be one of the Jacks’ few bright spots, as 197 Tyler Sorenson padded his undefeated Conference dual record with a closer-than expected 3-2 win over Alfonso Hernandez.

The Heavyweight match featured Jackrabbit Kevin Kelly battling Lee Helbig. Kelly would keep the match close throughout, but fall 4-1 to the faster Helbig.

After the Hwt. match, the little guys came up, with SDSU’s 125 Aaron Pickrel grappling with No. 12 Michael Martinez. Pickrel took more shots, but Martinez had more points, winning 10-4.

For the Jacks at 133 was Tyler Johnson, against Cory VornBaur. VornBaur, like most of the Cowboys, had the lead from the beginning before putting Johnson on his back and recording Wyoming’s third and final pin.

In the final match of the night, the Jacks had 141 Dustin Walraven taking on Chase Smith. Walraven came out strong, scoring an early takedown, and never looking back from there. Walraven would push the score up to 8-1, the Jacks’ biggest victory of the night.

Assistant coach Zack Schaffer saw some good things in the dual, saying “we took three matches from the team favored to win our conference. We are improving in many areas, and it’s really great to see.”

The Jacks’ next match is Feb. 12 at Utah Valley State and then Feb. 14 at Northern Colorado.

The SDSU wrestling team lost to the Air Force Falcons 23-12 in their second conference dual of the year Jan. 30 in Frost Arena.

SDSU started the dual off on the right foot, as 125 Aaron Pickrel battled Andrew Zwirlein in the night’s first match. Pickrel picked up a takedown in less than one minute into the match and maintained a slight lead for the remaining time to take the win 5-4, giving the Jacks an early 3-0 lead.

The dual’s next match featured SDSU’s 133 Tyler Johnson taking on Falcon Tyler Untrauer. Johnson lost the match 12-1.

At 141, Dustin Walraven was the next Jackrabbit competitor, taking on No. 16-rated Cole VonOhlen. Walraven took an early lead 2-0, but VonOhlen quickly reversed him and never gave up the lead, taking the match 12-4 and putting Air Force up 8-3.

The Jacks’ next competitor was 149 Nick Hagar who took on Gabe Martinez. Martinez picked up an early lead, taking Hagar down in 58 seconds, but Hagar came from behind to close the lead and win the match on a takedown with eight seconds left.

The last match before intermission featured SDSU’s 157 Nick Flynn taking on Air Force’s Alec Williams. Flynn started the match strong with two takedowns in the first period to take a 4-3 lead. He picked up another takedown and a riding time point to win the match 7-5 and give SDSU a 9-6 lead at the halfway mark.

After intermission, the next Jackrabbit to wrestle was 149 Seth Moe, who took on Justin Shadrix in the 165 match. Shadrix dominated the match on his feet, getting three takedowns to win the match 9-3 over Moe.

Air Force got six team points from a forfeit as the Jacks were open at 174 with Joe Rasmussen out with an arm injury. The forfeit gave Air Force a 17-9 lead over the Jacks.

The Jacks, down by eight, needed to win the next three matches in order to take the dual.

Unfortunately for the Jacks, the next wrestler they put on the mat was 184 David Michaud to take on James Ciccone. In the beginning of the match, Michaud was on the offensive as he scored a takedown. However, that was all his offense, as Ciccone scored three takedowns to win the match 10-3 and put Air Force up by 11 points.

In the next match, 197 Tyler Sorenson took on Air Force’s Neil Delaney. Sorenson scored a takedown and shut out Delaney for a 5-0 win. The win gave the Jacks three points and put the dual at 20-12, out of reach for the Jacks.

The Heavyweight match featured Kevin Kelly for the Jacks taking on Stephen Larson. The match was a low-scoring affair with Larson and Kelly trading escapes to tie the match at one with 1:55 left in the match. Larson went on to score the only takedown of the match, which Kelly escaped from, giving Larson the match 3-2 and Air Force a 23-12 win.

The Jacks will next take on the Wyoming Cowboys on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. in Frost Arena.

In SDSU’s final non-conference dual of the year the scoreboard may have read a tie with SIUE, but to the Jacks, it felt like a loss.

“I thought it was a dual we could win – should have won – but we had some bad breaks,” said head coach Jason Liles.

On Jan. 20 at Edwardsville, Ill., SDSU started the dual strong, as 125 Aaron Pickrel took down Dustin Young and worked for a pin in less than 1:30, giving SDSU an early 6-0 lead.

SIUE’s Brendan Murphy turned the score around as he pinned Tyler Johnson in just 1:01. The 141 match was also an upset for SDSU, as Dustin Walraven was trapped in Dillon Pousson’s headlock for 1:44, giving SIUE the pin.

“Dustin not performing up to his ability really affected the outcome,” said Liles. “That was a match he should have won.”

The Jacks got back on board by winning the next two matches, taking the team lead 13-12.

Seth Moe, a 149-pound wrestler, went up two weight classes to 165. He took on Steve Ross, but lost the match 18-7.

The closest match was between 174 Joe Rasmussen and Blake Reed. After three periods, Rasmussen overpowered Reed at 5:44, giving SDSU 6 points and the lead in the dual.

“Rasmussen’s win really helped keep us in the dual,” said Liles.

David Michaud was next for the Jacks at 184. Robert Cooney defeated him at 9-0, giving SIUE a one-point lead with only two matches remaining.

Fortunately for the Jacks, the next wrestler to compete would be last year’s national qualifier Tyler Sorenson. Sorenson started the match as he finished it: on top. He crushed A.J. Smith 17-5, which gave SDSU a three-point lead over SIUE going into the final match of the day.

At heavyweight, Kevin Kelly was a new face in the lineup.

“Kelly wrestled really well for his first match of the season; he just came up short,” said Liles.

Kelly lost to David Devine 4-0, and gave SIUE three points to tie the dual at 23-23.

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