Faith Moldan

After two losses on the road, the SDSU wrestling team found Frost Arena a more welcoming venue as they defeated Southwest Minnesota State 21-15.

The Jackrabbits started the dual with a quick pin by senior heavyweight Scott Revier. Revier had two takedowns and pinned the Mustang’s Richard Roesler in the first period.

SDSU’s head coach Jason Liles couldn’t have been happier with the good start.

“Scott wrestled aggressively and got the fall. It gave us a lot of momentum,” Liles said.

At 125 pounds, SDSU grappler Marcus Waters suffered a 7-4 loss to Southwest State’s Brice Whitacre. Waters scored his four points on two takedowns in the first period.

The Jackrabbits recorded two more wins in the 133 and 141 pound weight classes. At 133 pounds, sophomore Chris Werth scored big with a 14-8 victory over Kurt Smith, a freshman from Brookings. Werth racked up points with four reversals, one takedown, one escape and a two-point near fall. The other win came from freshman Dusty Kavitz, who defeated Jeff Cooley in a close 4-3 match.

“It was a nice win for him,” Liles said. “He wrestled against a kid he knew and who was a state champ and is a year older.”

Junior Chad Herrboldt lost to the Mustang’s Aldon Struchen 8-5 at 149 pounds, while freshman Alex Watkins won the 157-pound weight class by forfeit. Todd Opdahl was defeated 8-2 by Greg Frank, and sophomore Travis Gottschalk lost to Tim Johns 11-5.

Recording the Jacks’ last win of the afternoon was 184 pounder Levi Krehmeyer. Krehmeyer defeated Ryan Gosch 10-3 with takedowns in all three periods.

The dual ended with a close match-up between SDSU’s Cody Nehl and Southwest State’s Joel Wipperfurth. This match was lost in the closing seconds with Wipperfurth defeating Nehl 4-2.

Though Liles was pleased with the match, he knows there is more work to be done.

“We competed hard,” Liles said. “We didn’t wrestle as intelligently as we should have and that cost us some matches.”

SDSU is now 7-5 in duals and Southwest State is 1-9. The Jacks face Northern Iowa Feb. 11 at home with a start time of 7 p.m. in Frost Arena.

That matchup could be a difficult one for the Jacks, Liles said.

“We’re going to have to put together a huge performance to stay competitive with UNI,” he said. “They’re probably in the top 15.”

Liles expects SDSU to do well in the double dual against Dakota Wesleyan and Northern State on Feb. 15.

“If we wrestle up to our capabilities we should win,” Liles said.

The dual against Dakota Wesleyan and Northern State starts at 6 p.m. in Frost Arena.

#1.885409:753730055.jpg:wrestliungchriswerth.jpg:SDSU wrestler Chris Werthfights off a takedown by Southwest State´s Kurt Smith.: