David Michaud

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.