Jackrabbits take down Cyclones 30-15 as Bono earns 100th win

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BROOKINGS – Connor Brown and Seth Gross helped get the Jackrabbits off to another fast start and Logan Peterson highlighted the middle weights with a technical fall as 12th-ranked South Dakota State beat Iowa State 30-15 in a Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Sunday afternoon at Frost Arena.

“We got a win, but there are a lot of areas we need to correct and shore up before we head into the postseason,” said SDSU coach Chris Bono, who picked up his 100th career dual victory. “The crowd was great, enthusiastic. We love those guys.

“It’s getting exciting. It’s that time of the year to get back onto the training to get ready for the conference and national tournaments.”

Brown, ranked 29th at 125 pounds, pinned Sinjin Briggs in 2:07.

“It’s nice when you have a true freshman who can go out there and get a pin; you never know what you’re going to get with a true freshman,” Bono said. “But we’re excited with what we have there and it’s nice to get that crowd going. We knew we had a forfeit coming at 141 and we had Gross sandwiched in between it, so we knew we could get off to a hot start and get this crowd involved and it would be hard for them to come back on us.”

Added Brown, “When I got on top, it was just find a way. I locked up two cradles; I didn’t get the first one (but) the second one was pretty tight and I ended up getting the fall. So it was pretty good.”

Gross, the nation’s top-ranked 133-pounder, picked up a 12-3 major decision over stall-happy Markus Simmons. He held a riding-time advantage of 4:18.

Gross is 18-1 (9-1) duals on the season and is unbeaten at 133 pounds.

Henry Pohlmeyer was awarded a win via forfeit at 141, as the Jackrabbits opened up a 16-0 lead in the dual.

The Cyclones got on the board in the form of 18th-ranked Jarrett Degen’s 19-4 technical fall in 5:10 versus Colten Carlson. He had five takedowns and a pair of four-point nearfalls.

No. 11 Luke Zilverberg pulled out a wild 10-7 victory over Chase Straw in the 157-pound bout.

Straw led 7-5, had a riding-time advantage of 1:15 and appeared on the verge of sealing the deal with a takedown with less than 20 seconds remaining. However, Zilverberg turned the tables with a takedown of his own with 14 seconds to go and followed it up with a four-point nearfall 

“He’s a fifth-year senior. That’s what we talk about everyday, wrestling 7 minutes – not 6:50, not 6:49; it’s wrestling 7 hard minutes and, you know, the kid found a way,” Bono noted. “I give him a lot of credit. He’s not feeling his best right now and maybe we should have sat him out today, but he sucked it up and went and got a win. He’s going to be dangerous come the postseason, we just have to get him healthy and get him feeling a little better.

“But it’s that time of year – everybody’s a little banged up, everybody’s a little sick. And for him to go out and do what he had to do feeling the way he felt makes me feel a little better as a coach.”

It marked the 91st victory over Zilverberg’s career.

“My match didn’t go exactly as I had planned,” he said. “I’m kind of in a little lull right now and I’m kind of struggling to get back to finding my routine and what I’m good at. Once I find that again, I’ll be good.

“But the match didn’t go real well; he was getting to my legs pretty easily; I wasn’t moving my legs at all. I just ended up finding that little defensive thing I got at the end and made it work. I won ugly; a win’s a win, I guess.”

At 165, Peterson dominated Skyler St. John with a 16-1 technical fall in 5:10. He tallied four takedowns and a pair of four-point nearfalls while holding a riding-time advantage of nearly 4 minutes.

“Man did he look good,” Bono added. “I’m really proud of Logan today. He had a rough go at it down in Oklahoma; I was a little worried about him. He didn’t look good at all, so for him to answer the bell – he did a great job.”

No. 9 David Kocer just missed bonus points with a 9-2 decision over Daniel Bush in the 174-pound matchup. It marked his 98th career win.

“Kocer looked really good,” said Bono.

No. 23 Martin Mueller held off Dane Pestano 6-5 at 184, leaving SDSU with a 30-5 cushion.

At 197, ISU’s Samuel Colbray opened up a 4-2 lead over No. 9 Nate Rotert after a period. Rotert’s escape was the only scoring in the second. Colbray stuck Rotert in the middle of the mat 22 seconds into the third period.

It marked the first dual loss of the season for Rotert (11-1).

“Like I told him, better now than March 15,” said Bono. “I think he just got a little careless, got his arms open a little bit. It is what it is; it happens. I’m glad it happened now. There’s no doubt in my mind Nate will bounce right back, he’ll be ready to go. … Nate’s been there. He’s lost before; he’ll bounce right back.”

No. 33 Marcus Harrington closed out the dual with a 10-1 major decision against Alex Macki at 285 pounds.

Iowa State dropped to 7-8 (2-5).

South Dakota State (11-2, 6-0), which has won 11 in a row, has three duals remaining. The Jackrabbits return to action Friday at Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. and then head to Morgantown, W. Va., on Sunday for a 1 p.m. matchup with West Virginia. SDSU is host to North Dakota State on Friday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m.

Notes (from SDSU Sports Information): Attendance was 2,276. … The school record for consecutive dual wins is 12. … Bono’s career record is 100-58 (39-17 at Chattanooga from 2006-09 and 61-41 at South Dakota State since 2012). … The Jackrabbits are 20-3 in Big 12 duals since joining the conference as an affiliate member for the 2015-16 season.

No. 12 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 30, IOWA STATE 15

125 pounds – No. 29 Connor Brown, SDSU, wbf Sinjin Briggs, 2:07 [6-0]

133 – No. 1 Seth Gross, SDSU, maj. Dec. Markus Simmons, 12-3 [10-0]

141 – Henry Pohlmeyer, SDSU, forfeit [16-0]

149 – No. 18 Jarrett Degen, ISU, tech. fall Colten Carlson, 19-4 (5:10) [16-5]

157 – No. 11 Luke Zilverberg, SDSU, dec. Chase Straw, 10-7 [19-5]

165 – Logan Peterson, SDSU, tech. fall Skyler St. John, 16-1 (5:10) [24-5]

174 – No. 9 David Kocer, SDSU, dec. Daniel Bush, 9-2 [27-5]

184 – No. 23 Martin Mueller, SDSU, dec. Dane Pestano, 6-5 [30-5]

197 – Samuel Colbray, ISU, wbf No. 9 Nate Rotert, 5:22 [30-11]

285 – No. 33 Marcus Harrington, ISU, maj. Dec. Alex Macki, 10-1 [30-15]

   Note: Individual rankings are from the NCAA Division I coaches’ panel.

Photo: South Dakota State’s Logan Peterson (top) works on Iowa State’s Skyler St. John during the 165-pound bout in a Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Sunday afternoon at Frost Arena. Peterson posted a 19-4 technical fall in 5:10 as the Jackrabbits beat the Cyclones 30-15 for their 11th win a row.