BROOKINGS – The battle for the Border Bell between South Dakota State and North Dakota State came right down to the final match Friday night. SDSU had a 18-16 lead heading into the heavyweight bout and the Bison’s Brandon Metz topped Blake Wolters 4-2 to give NDSU a 19-18 victory.
“That sucks,” SDSU head coach Damion Hahn said. “We knew it was going to be a scrap. On paper 5-5. … I was telling our guys after the match, I said ‘guys, we let the emotions and everything get away from us tonight.’ You know, NDSU, this is their Super Bowl. This is the biggest thing of their year and for us, I want All-Americans and national champions. That’s what I want. Would it be nice to beat NDSU in the Border Bell? Absolutely and we want to. But some of our guys focused so heavily on that tonight that it ended up costing them.”
The turning point of the match came during the first five matches when NDSU picked up two technical falls. Cam Sykora beat Zach Price 19-4 in the 133-pound weight class and at 157 Jared Franek topped Garrett Jordan. This allowed the Bison to have a 13-6 advantage heading into the intermission.
“We gave up two technical falls tonight. I have a very short memory, but I don’t remember the last time we gave up two tech. falls in a dual. So
SDSU’s Kenny O’Neil fell in the first match out of the intermission at 165 to #11 Andrew Fogarty and NDSU held a 16-6 lead with four matches left. Next up for SDSU was Tanner Cook at 165. He took on Luke Weber and picked up a 17-8 major decision victory. Hahn thought that Cook pinned Weber.
“I’m a betting man and I would have bet the farm that at 174 pounds, from my angle I thought he was pinned, but hey I’m not the ref. You pick up little things like that and you have a different outcome,” he said.
Down 16-10 SDSU’s Zach Carlson had a huge victory at 184. He defeated Noah Cressell 16-1, giving him a tech. fall victory and putting the Jacks within one point of the Bison. Tanner Sloan then picked up a 3-2 win over Cordell Eaton at 197 to give SDSU the lead 18-16 and the rest is history.
Senior’s Henry Pohlmeyer and Zach Carlson wrestled in their final matches at Frost Arena. Pohlmeyer finished his career at home with a 3-0 victory over Jaden Van Maanen. Pohlmeyer said
“Henry was a returning national qualifier when I got here and he’s gotten better. Some polls he’s top-eight top-nine in the country. He’s continued to get better. … A guy like Zach Carlson, he was a backup the year before I got here. … He comes in and he’s a guy, he keeps his head down, he works hard and to see his progress. Last year he was literally a match away from going to the national tournament and just to see how much he’s grown. … So it’s just nice to see those two individuals in particular making that progress and doing the things they need to be successful. Not only on the mat, but also in the classroom and life,” Hahn said.
This ended the Jacks’ five match dual steak. SDSU ends dual season with an overall record of 12-6 and a 6-3 record in the Big 12. Up next is the Big 12 Conference Championship in Tulsa, Okla. starting March 7th.
“I think we could get many guys through to the national tournament and that’s not an exaggeration. Looking at how we have competed throughout the year and season, everybody has the ability within them. We got young guys, we got old-timers like me and [Zach Carlson]. Everybody’s capable of winning. It’s about which guys shows up and I know that we can show up,” Pohlmeyer said.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 19, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 18
125 – McGwire Midkiff, NDSU, dec. #25 Danny Vega [3-0]
133 – #13 Sam Sykora, NDSU, tech. fall Zach Price [8-0]
141 – Clay Carlson, SDSU, dec. Dylan Droegemueller [8-3]
149 – #9 Henry Pohlmeyer, SDSU, dec. Jaden Van Maanen [8-6]
157 – #21 Jared Franek, NDSU, tech. fall Garrett Jordan [13-6]
165 – #11 Andrew Fogarty, NDSU, dec. Kenny O’Neil [16-6]
174 – Tanner Cook, SDSU, maj. dec. Luke Weber [16-10]
184 – #17 Zach Carlson, SDSU, tech. fall Noah Cressell [16-15]
197 – #12 Tanner Sloan, SDSU, dec. Cordell Eaton [16-18]
285 – #22 Brandon Metz, NDSU, dec. Blake Wolters [19-8]
