Record night for Jackrabbit wrestlers
BROOKINGS, S.D. – It was a night for records at Frost Arena as the South Dakota State University wrestling team moved its dual winning streak to a school-record 12 with an 18-15 victory over West Virginia on Friday night before the largest crowd in the program’s Division I history.
With the win, the 24th-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 13-5 overall and 5-1 against Big 12 Conference opponents. West Virginia dropped to 6-9 overall and 0-3 against Big 12 foes. The dual, which was SDSU’s first since cracking the Division I top 25 for the first time, was witnessed by 1,016 fans.
After West Virginia opened the dual with a pair of victories by decision at heavyweight and 125 pounds, Brance Simms put the Jackrabbits on the board with an 8-4 decision over Cory Stainbrook in the 133-pound bout. The two wrestlers were tied at four through two periods before Simms recorded an escape and takedown midway through the final period, adding a final point with a riding-time advantage of 1 minute and 42 seconds.
Seth Gross gave SDSU a 7-6 lead with a 13-1 major decision over Tony DeAngelo in which he built an 8-0 first-period lead that included a four-point near-fall and two-point near-fall as the period expired.
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Alex Kocer followed with another bonus-point victory for the Jackrabbits at 149 pounds, notching a 20-2 technical fall over Zachary Moore. It was the 20th win of the season for Kocer.
The first battle of the night between two ranked wrestlers pitted fifth-ranked Cody Pack of SDSU against 13th-ranked Dylan Cottrell at 157 pounds. A Cottrell takedown and Pack reversal late in the third period, coupled with Cottrell’s minute-plus advantage in riding time sent the match to overtime tied at five. Pack scored a takedown 20 seconds into the extra session and added four-point near-fall to close out the match. The Pack victory pushed the Jackrabbit advantage to 15-6.
In winning his final home match, Pack moved into a tie for eighth place on the Jackrabbit career wins list with Mike Pankratz. Pankratz compiled a 108-27-2 record from 1990-94, while Pack improved to 108-33.
West Virginia’s Connor Flynn ended the Jackrabbit string of wins at four with a 7-2 decision over Luke Zilverberg at 165 pounds.
SDSU prevailed in another closely contested match at 174 pounds as David Kocer recorded a come-from-behind victory. Kocer trailed Ross Renzi, 4-1, heading into the third period, but tied the match with an escape and takedown. Renzi managed an escape with under a minute to go, but a stalling point was awarded to Kocer, who then added a takedown to pull out a 7-5 win. The win was the team-leading 25th of the season for Kocer, who entered the match ranked 30th in the latest NCAA coaches’ panel rankings.
The Mountaineers won each of the last two matches, but failed to pick up any bonus points. Bubba Scheffel downed Brady Ayers, 6-3, at 184 pounds, while 14th-ranked Jacob Smith outlasted 15th-ranked Nate Rotert, 5-4, in the 197-pound weight class.
SDSU will attempt to add to its record streak Sunday afternoon at seventh-ranked Oklahoma. The dual is slated for a 2 p.m. start and will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest and Fox College Sports Central.
South Dakota State 18, West Virginia 15
285: A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU) dec. Alex Macki (SDSU), 2-1 [WVU 3, SDSU 0]
125: #13 Zeke Moisey (WVU) dec. Ben Gillette (SDSU), 4-1 [WVU 6, SDSU 0]
133: Brance Simms (SDSU) dec. Cory Stainbrook (WVU), 8-4 [WVU 6, SDSU 3]
141: Seth Gross (SDSU) major dec. Tony DeAngelo (WVU), 13-1 [SDSU 7, WVU 6]
149: Alex Kocer (SDSU) tech. fall Zachary Moore (WVU), 20-2 (5:52) [SDSU 12, WVU 6]
157: #5 Cody Pack (SDSU) vs. #13 Dylan Cottrell (WVU), 11-5 (SV-1) [SDSU 15, WVU 6]
165: Connor Flynn (WVU) dec. Luke Zilverberg (SDSU), 7-2 [SDSU 15, WVU 9]
174: David Kocer (SDSU) dec. Ross Renzi (WVU), 7-5 [SDSU 18, WVU 9]
184: Bubba Scheffel (WVU) dec. Brady Ayers (SDSU), 6-3 [SDSU 18, WVU 12]
197: #14 Jacob Smith (WVU) dec. #15 Nate Rotert (SDSU), 5-4 [SDSU 18, WVU 15]
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