New wrestling facility to be completed by the end of the year

Posted

BROOKINGS – Construction has been ongoing this summer on the new South Dakota State wrestling facility.

Jeff Holm, SDSU Senior Associate Athletic Director of Facilities and Operations, said that the facility, which will be located west of the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center and south of the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex, will be complete by the end of the year. Holm also said that they are on schedule with the construction.

“The progress is going really well. As with any construction project, there are things that pop up and then you move this around and move this around and say ‘hey, we can work on this now because this didn’t come in.’ But things are smooth and on time. Right now, we’re saying that the facility will be ready for everything that is needed on January 1. First of the year, the wrestling team will be entirely over there,” Holm said.

The facility will include four full-size wrestling mats. The wrestling team currently practices in the east side of Frost Arena and the wrestling room doesn’t fit more than one full-size mat.

Along with that there will be a room for an athletic trainer and training equipment. There will also be a cardio/strength and conditioning area, a locker room for the wrestlers, a coaches locker room and a sauna. The upstairs part of the building will have a 1,000 square-foot lounge with a kitchen and a door to an outdoor patio, a study space and coaches offices.

SDSU head coach Damion Hahn said him and his team are excited to get into the new facility.

“Excitement is an understatement,” Hahn said. “Our guys, myself, our staff, I mean everybody, we are over the moon for what is to come. We’re still a little bit of a ways out from being in it and using it full-time, but the anticipation is as high as it’s ever been and everyone is excited. We’re excited to have a place that our student-athletes can call home. It’s more than a facility. This is a home for these kids and there are only a few places like it in the country.”

Last season, SDSU went 13-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12 in duals. Hahn said he thinks the new facility will help his staff with recruiting battles.

“… This facility will help give us a little bit of an edge [in recruiting] at times,” Hahn said. “When we’re up against an Oklahoma State, an Iowa State, West Virginia. You know, those are your legacy type Big 12 schools. But to be honest, does the facility help? It does a lot, but they still have to be comfortable with your staff, how you train, your schedule. 

“There are still so many factors that go into it, but when you’re talking about facilities, there’s no doubt in my mind that this will be the number one wrestling facility in the entire Big 12 conference. So from that stand point, it gives us a nice advantage.”

SDSU had four wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season and only one wrestler, Clay Carlson, won more than one match. Hahn said he thinks the facility helps his program take the next step towards his goal of having national championship contenders every year. SDSU has only had one wrestler in program history win a Division I title and that was Seth Gross in 2018 when he won the 133-pound weight class.

“From a recruiting stand point, [the facility is] huge,” Hahn said. “From a develop stand point, it’s huge. Because right now, we have a mid 30-man roster and in our current room, there are days where we’ve run two practices because it’s not big enough. Now, we’re going to able to not have to do that and it optimizes our training. You keep the core together and keep the kids together and there’s an energy that these kids feed off of.

“With the nutrition, we’re going to have a lounge with a kitchen, so they’re going to be able to recover and get ready. Whether it’s for a training phase or a competition phase. From the academic standpoint, we have a lounge for academics that guys are going to be able to study, get their schoolwork done and a quiet space for them to refocus. It has a strength and conditioning center. I mean it really is a one-stop shop. 

“For recruiting, it’s huge, but more importantly when they’re here, they develop inside. Now they have everything right there under one roof. So from efficiency and development, it’s going to be top notch.”

Hahn, who will be entering his fourth season as the Jackrabbit head coach, said that there are a lot of things that he’s excited for with the new facility, but he’s most excited to be able to build stronger relationships with his athletes because they’ll have everything in one building.

“I would say the thing that excites me most is that [the facility] is going to be an environment for success. That is probably the thing that excites me the most. Because when we get these kids, we literally become second parents to them, and I want them to have a home that they feel comfortable and never want to leave and we see them all the time. We want to be involved in all aspects of their lives just like their parents are. When you’re able to build a relationship with your kids, that’s when you get the full potential out of them, and having this facility and creating that environment, guys will start to open that more than they already have,” Hahn said.

Frost Arena

Construction also began this month on the renovation for Frost Arena. The project is going to be done in three parts over the next three years with work mostly being done in the summer. Holm said construction will really pick up in the summer of 2023 and the project will be completed in the fall of 2024.

“The general public won’t see a whole lot that’s going [this summer],” Holm said. “It’s basically the guts of the building that are being worked on. … Next summer is probably the biggest summer for getting things done because we’re prepping this summer. Next summer, we’re getting a bunch of stuff done that people will see. Then the summer after that will be the ground level, the gym floor. 

“… Next summer, the concourse level, which currently has the concession stands and bathrooms, will be completely redone and ready. All of the new items will be ready for the fall of 2023. Then the following summer, the summer of 2024, we will add a third level, which will have platforms and suites. Platforms on the east side and platforms on the west side for students, and the suite level on the south side. The first level, new gym floor and telescopic seating will be available for that fall of 2024.”

Hahn said the renovation of Frost Arena is another thing that he looks forward to and can help him in building his program.

“When [the renovation of Frost Arena] is done, it’ll be a professional sports arena. … After seeing the rendering and the plans, it’s mind blowing. The professionalism that is going into this design and what they are going to create is an experience. It’s not facility, it’s an experience that these fans and students will get like no other. It only adds to our resources. It adds what we can offer a student-athlete here at South Dakota State,” Hahn said.

Holm said that the next project on deck for the facilities department is building a new soccer stadium on campus that will be across the street to the west of Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. He did not say when that project will begin. He also said that they plan to add field turf to both the softball and baseball fields.