The South Dakota State wrestling team went 2-0 over Winter Break and placed eighth in the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois. 

The Jacks were led by junior Nate Rotert during the Midlands Championships. Rotert placed second in the 197-pound weight class after losing in the title match to Aaron Studebaker of Nebraska. Sophomore Seth Gross also placed third for the Jackrabbits. 

“Nate and Seth did a good job of getting wins and advancing in that tournament,” Head Coach Chris Bono said. 

In a non-conference dual, the Boise State Broncos came to Brookings to take on the Jackrabbits. South Dakota State only dropped one individual match at the heavyweight position as they won 37-6. The win for the Jackrabbits pushed their all-time record against Boise State to 4-0. 

“Everyone was on point and our guys did a good job that dual,” Bono said. 

SDSU faced a Big 12 conference foe in Northern Colorado and came away with another victory of 34-6. The Jackrabbits only dropped two matches in that contest as the No. 18 ranked wrestler Timmy Box of Northern Colorado defeated junior Isaac Andrade 9-6. The other loss for the Jackrabbits came in the 184-pound weight class as redshirt freshman Martin Mueller fell short against Dylan Gabel 7-4. There were three overtime matches and the Jackrabbits won all of them. 

Junior Luke Zilverberg was named Big 12 Co-Wrestler of the Week after winning twice in overtime over the weekend. One was against Keilan Torres of Northern Colorado, who is the No. 14 ranked wrestler in the 165-pound weight class. 

The Jackrabbits have now won five straight duals, outscoring their opponents 192-23 over that span. 

“We just have to stick to the process and keep our heads down and work hard,” Bono said. 

The Jacks will travel to Laramie, Wyoming. on Jan. 13 to take on the Wyoming Cowboys. It will be a showdown of Big 12 teams that both find themselves ranked. InterMat has the Jackrabbits ranked at 18 and the Cowboys are at 23. The Cowboys have dropped three straight dual matches to unranked Army, North Carolina and American. 

On the season, the Jackrabbits are 6-2 and undefeated in conference wrestling. The two losses came from Big 10 opponents in Minnesota and Iowa. 

The Jacks also have multiple wrestlers ranked nationally. Rotert is ranked eighth by InterMat in the 197-pound weight class and Gross is ranked sixth in the 133-pound weight class.

“For the time being, we will take where we are and we will keep improving,” Bono said.

The Jacks find themselves on the road for the rest of January with key conference matches coming up, including Air Force and perennial powerhouse Oklahoma State. 

“Fans can expect hustle, effort and a lot of excitement coming from this team down the road,” Bono said.