Shane KoobSportswriter

The Jackrabbit wrestling team showed their youth last Saturday night at Frost Arena as they fell to the University of Northern Iowa 38-9. UNI came in to the contest ranked 43rd in the Intermat polls, and had several wrestlers ranked in multiple polls.

“We have so many young kids that aren’t as physical as their opponents and I was a little disappointed in our overall aggressiveness,” said SDSU head coach Jason Liles

Freshman John Nething III notched the only victory not by forfeit for the Jacks, as he defeated UNI’s John Simon in the 165 pound match. Nething III was down 0-2 after the first period, but came right back in the second period and tied things up with a two-point takedown. UNI’s Simon recorded an escape to close out the second period ahead 3-2. Nething III added an escape and two takedowns in the third period, the last with eight seconds left in the period, to win 7-4.

“I just used my speed and quickness, [Simon] took some bad shots, and I got some points off of him” Nething III said.

Coach Liles was pleased with Nething’s match, saying that it was good to see because Nething III had been banged up the last few weeks.

“For him to come out, forget about [the injuries], and get a win for us, that showed his maturity even as a true freshman” Liles said.

SDSU forfeited the first two matches of the night at 125 and 133 pounds and saw UNI’s Joey Lazor pin Tyler Johnson in 2:08 at 141 pounds, and the Jacks were quickly down 18-0.

The only other points for the Jacks came from a win by forfeit for sophomore Cord Willers. SDSU did have a few opportunities to put some more points on the board with sophomore Joe Rasmussen at 184 pounds and senior Kevin Kelly at 285 pounds.

Facing ranked opponents, Rasmussen dropped his match to #13 Ryan Loder by technical fall and a 17-1 final. The big boys at 285 pounds were the last match of the night, and Kelly kept things close.

The first period was scoreless as Kelly squared off with # 15 Christian Brantley. The second period was more of the same until Brantley was rewarded an escape that put him in the lead heading into the third period. With 28 seconds left in the match, Kelly scored an escape to tie things up at 1-1. The third period was as much of a stalemate as the first two, but with two seconds left, Brantley recorded a takedown and added another point for riding time. The final was 4-1 in favor of Brantley and UNI.

“Right now, we got so many young kids, and we’re beat down a little bit and it shows in performances like this,” Liles said.

After opening the Western Wrestling Conference schedule with a loss, the Jacks will be looking to rebound on Friday at Frost Arena where they’ll face fellow WWC member Northern Colorado at 7 p.m.