No. 16 Jacks top Mountaineers, 32-9

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – South Dakota State posted five consecutive bonus-point victories and went on to defeat West Virginia, 32-9, in a Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Thursday night.

The 16th-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 13-3 overall and 7-1 against Big 12 foes. West Virginia dropped to 2-12 overall and 0-3 in conference action.

Alex Kocer, the 16th-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds, started the Jackrabbit winning streak with a first-period pin of Christian Monserrat. The win was Kocer's 88th career victory, putting him in a tie with Jeff Hohertz (1977-81) for 17th place on the SDSU career charts.

Logan Peterson and Luke Zilverberg recorded consecutive major decisions at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively. Peterson tallied a 9-0 victory over Dayton Garrett, while Zilverberg defeated Mountaineer backup Ryan Lopez, 17-4.

David Kocer, also ranked 16th by Intermat at 174 pounds, closed the first half of the dual with a 22-7 technical-fall victory over Ty Millward. Kocer, who led only 2-0 at the end of the first period, recorded nine more takedowns over the final two periods.

At 184 pounds, Martin Mueller continued the string with a 13-2 major decision over Parker Von Egidy for his third consecutive dual win over a Big 12 opponent.

The only match of the night to feature two ranked wrestlers was in the 197-pound division, where fifth-ranked Jacob Smith of West Virginia took on the Jackrabbits' seventh-ranked Nate Rotert. Smith took an early 3-0 lead and built his lead against a hobbled Rotert to 6-0 before the Jackrabbit wrestler withdrew from the match due to injury.

SDSU wrapped up the dual with three consecutive wins, including a 9-1 major-decision victory by Seth Gross over Cory Stainbrook. Gross, the second-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds improved to 24-1 on the season.

Heavyweight Alex Macki notched a 1-0 victory against Brandon Ngati, and Jackrabbit 125-pounder Ben Gillette earned a 7-2 decision over Devin Brown.

West Virginia's only other victory on the evening came in the opening bout of the night as Joe Wheeling turned in a 12-5 decision over Isaac Andrade at 141 pounds.

The Jackrabbits are slated to wrap up their road trip Sunday by squaring off against fifth-ranked Virginia Tech. Start time is 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time (11:30 a.m. Central) at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia. The dual can be viewed at ESPN3.com.

No. 16 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 32, WEST VIRGINIA 9

141 – Joe Wheeling (WV) dec. Isaac Andrade, 12-5

149 – No. 16 Alex Kocer (SDSU) def. Christian Monserrat by fall (2:33)

157 – Logan Peterson (SDSU) major dec. Dayton Garrett, 9-0

165 – Luke Zilverberg (SDSU) major dec. Ryan Lopez, 17-4

174 – No. 16 David Kocer (SDSU) tech. fall Ty Millward, 22-7 (7:00)

184 – Martin Mueller (SDSU) major dec. Parker VonEgidy, 13-2

197 – No. 5 Jacob Smith (WV) def. No. 7 Nate Rotert (SDSU) by medical forfeit

285 – Alex Macki (SDSU) dec. Brandon Ngati, 1-0

125 – Ben Gillette (SDSU) dec. Devin Brown, 7-2

133 – No. 2 Seth Gross (SDSU) major dec. Cory Stainbrook, 9-1

Note: SDSU deducted one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct