David Michaud

The Jackrabbit wrestling team, which last competed Dec. 20 in Reno, Nev., will take on Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Jan. 20 in Illinois.

The Jacks will be looking to rebound from their last dual, a 46-6 loss against No. 12 Nebraska, with a win and a momentum booster heading into a big conference match against UNI on Jan. 23.

SDSU head coach Jason Liles believes that the Jacks match up well with SIUE and have a good chance of pulling out a win.

At 125, Aaron Pickerel will grapple against 0-5 freshman Kris Treat in a match that the Jacks hope to pick up bonus points in (when a wrestler wins by eight or more).

In the 133 battle, Tyler Johnson takes on Brendan Murphy. Murphy is one of SIUE’s best wrestlers with a record of 9-8, so Johnson will have his hands full in this match.

SDSU’s hottest wrestler, 141-pound Dustin Walraven, looks to keep his hot streak going as he takes on 1-9 Eric Biehl. Walraven will attempt to continue wrestling hard – as he did in the Reno tournament – against the freshman.

The 149-pound class for the Jacks will feature a freshman for the Jacks, as either Nick Hagar will step on the mat or Brookings’ own Tyler Palmer will. Hagar has wrestled the majority of matches this year for the Jacks, so he will most likely be taking on Kyle Lowman. Hagar will be attempting to keep Lowman’s 0-14 record without a win, while strengthening his record at the same time.

157 and 165 also look to be toss ups for the Jacks. Weston Blasius and Nick Flynn both come in under the 157 limit, but as SDSU has no true 165 wrestler, one of them will be forced to move up and fill in. Whoever competes at 157 will take on 0-4 Nick Jones, and at 165, SIUE will most likely send out 2-10 Steve Ross.

The Jacks have two possibilities at 174, as Joe Rasmussen has wrestled in every match so far this year, but Scott Elliot looks to come back from a shoulder injury that had him out for the entire first semester. SIUE will send out one- win Blake Reed to take on either Jack.

David Michaud looks to return for the Jacks after missing several contests by taking on 11-loss sophomore Tim Mahoney.

Senior Tyler Sorenson looks to make up for a poor showing in Reno, Nev., at the Tournament of Champions by getting back on track against 2-10 Robert Cooney. Sorenson looks to be heavily favored over Cooney heading into the dual.

Wrestling for the Jacks in the heavyweight division will be either veteran Jeremy Swier or the newest Jackrabbit Kyle Kelly. Kelly had taken off the first semester but has now come back. At heavyweight for SIUE will be 2-9 David Devine.

The Jacks appear to be the favorites heading into this dual, but time will tell if they can hop to victory or if SIUE will leave them as road kill.