The No. 15 ranked Jackrabbits upset the No. 6 Wolverines in a close dual in front of a crowd of 2,740 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD.
The victory over Michigan is the second win over a top-10 team in the past three seasons. This was the first-ever meeting between the two teams and the Jacks’ first dual back in the Pentagon since the 2019-20 season.
South Dakota State took the lead early on with two wins over Wolverine backups, putting the Jacks up 9-0.
The first win came from Tanner Jordan at 125 pounds where he defeated Christian Tanefeu 5-3, scoring the match-winning takedown halfway through the third period.
Jackrabbit teammate, Derrick Cardinal followed Jordan’s victory with one of his own, defeating Nolan Wertanen by fall at 133 pounds. This would be the only pin of the night between the two teams, Cardinal’s pin added to his victories with it being his third win by fall this season.
In the third match of the night at 141 pounds two ranked wrestlers, Jackrabbit Clay Carlson No. 14 and No. 30 ranked Wolverine Sergio Lemley met in the middle of the mat. Lemley upset Carlson 6-4 recording the first points for the Wolverines.
Carlson returned to the lineup this week after sitting out with an injury the first two months of the season. He led the match 4-2 before being called for stalling early in the third period and giving up the match-winning takedown.
The 149-pound matchup between No.7 ranked Michigan wrestler Austin Gomez and No. 18 ranked Alek Martin ended in a 10-4 victory by decision for Gomez.
At 157 pounds for the Jacks, Cael Swenson recorded a major decision victory over Zach Matten 13-2. Swenson took control early leading the match 8-1 after the first period, following with a takedown and a two-point near-fall to secure the win.
Starting the second half of action of the dual, Michigan came within one point of the Jacks after a pair of decisions, putting the dual score at 13-12.
At 165 pounds Wolverine Beau Mantanona pulled off a 4-2 victory over Tanner Cook. Mantanona’s teammate, No. 5 ranked Shane Griffith knocked off No. 3 Cade DeVos 4-1 in overtime handing Devos his first loss of the season and winning the match at 174 pounds.
There was another upset in the dual, this time at 184 pounds with Jackrabbit No.26 ranked Bennett Berge defeated Wolverine No. 11 ranked Jaden Bullock by major decision 14-5. Berge put the pressure on Bullock early, leading the match 6-1 in the first period and did not slow down controlling the rest of the match.
South Dakota State, no. 5 ranked Tanner Sloan sealed the win for the Jacks with a technical fall, Sloan ended the match in 3 minutes and 18 seconds. Sloan handled Brendin Yatooma winning 17-1 at 197 pounds.
In the last match of the night Jackrabbit Luke Rasmussen fell to Michigan’s 285-pound wrestler Lucas Davison. Davison ranked No. 4 recorded a technical fall over Rasmussen 20-4.
The Jackrabbits improved to 4-2 on the season in duals, while Michigan dropped to 2-1.
The South Dakota state wrestling team heads to Hampton, Virginia Jan. 12-13 to compete in the Virginia Duals. They will open the two-day event with a dual against Kent State at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time at the Hampton Coliseum.