The SDSU wrestling team heads down to Kansas City with eight wrestlers for the NCAA Division 1 national wrestling championships.
Head coach Damion Hahn has confidence in the lineup they are taking down to the tournament and believes they will come home with placers. Bringing eight wrestlers to the tournament ties for the most in program history, three of those are top-ten seeds.
“Every single one of our guys are point scorers I believe, and we have a handful of guys that can make it deep into the tournament and come away with some hardware.”
At 125 pounds, Tanner Jordan placed fifth at the Big 12 Championships with a record of 3-2 to become an NCAA Qualifier. Jordan is the 23rd seed in the national tournament and will take on Eric Barnett of Wisconsin in the first round.
Derrick Cardinal earned a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships at 133 pounds going 3-2 and claiming a spot in the national tournament. Cardinal is the 18th seed and will face off against Brody Teske of Iowa in the first round.
Clay Carlson placed fifth at 141 pounds with a record of 2-2 also securing a spot in the tournament. Carlson is seeded 30th and will wrestle Real Woods of Iowa in the first round of the tournament.
Although Carlson is the 30th seed, he should not be overlooked because of his seeding. Carlson is a two-time All-American and was set to wrestle in the NWCA All-Star Classic match at the beginning of the season before needing knee surgery.
Hahn has seen the hard work Carlson has done to make his way back to the tournament and knows even as the 30th seed he will be a competitor. “I feel bad for Real Woods, I do, because this is not usually a first-round matchup, this is a quarterfinal semifinal kind of deal,” Hahn said.
Alek Martin went 3-2 at 149 pounds in the Big 12 Championships, placed seventh and didn’t earn a spot in the tournament. Martin would later receive an at-large bid, he was one of four in the weight class to receive the bid. He is the 29th seed and will be taking on Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech.
Cael Swenson posted a record of 3-1 at the Big 12 and placed third at 157 pounds, making himself a National Qualifier. Swenson is the 15th seed and will take the mat first with Vinny Zerban of Northern Colorado.
Cade DeVos went 3-0 and became a Big 12 champion earning his spot in the national tournament. DeVos is seeded second and will wrestle Michael Wilson of Rider University in the first round.
Bennett Berge went 4-2 and earned fourth place at 184 pounds becoming a National Qualifier. Berge will face off against Shane Liegel of Wisconsin as the ninth seed.
The final Jackrabbit who qualified for the national tournament is Tanner Sloan. Sloan also won the Big 12 Championship, going 4-0 at 197 pounds earning his spot in the tournament. Sloan is the third seed and will wrestle against Sam Mitchell of the University of Buffalo.
Last year Sloan was a finalist in the 197-pound weight class at the national tournament but fell short to Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt by decision 5-3.
Although Bonaccorsi is not in the bracket this year, Sloan still has much competition with the top two seeded wrestlers being undefeated. But the loss from last year is only motivation to make another strong run in this year’s tournament.
“I think the biggest thing is he (Sloan) was so close, so close last year and that kind of added some fuel to the fire,” Hahn said when asked how Sloan was approaching the tournament.
For three of the eight Jackrabbits, it is their first time wrestling in the national tournament. These wrestlers are Cardinal, Martin and Berge.
For Jordan and Swensen it is their second time attending the tournament. Carlson and DeVos will be wreslting in the tournament for the fourth time and Sloan will return for his fifth visit.
Wrestling will take place March 21 to 23 in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The tournament can be watched on the ESPN family of networks.