COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Top-ranked Seth Gross and Henry Pohlmeyer recorded back-to-back pins as 15th-ranked South Dakota State completed a weekend sweep with a 32-6 victory over Air Force in a college wrestling dual Sunday afternoon at Clune Arena.
With their seventh consecutive win, the Jackrabbits improved to 7-2 overall and 2-0 against Big 12 Conference foes. Air Force dropped to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 dual competition.
Freshman Connor Brown started the Jackrabbits on the right foot with a 13-9 decision over Anthony DeCesare in the opening bout at 125 pounds.
Gross and Pohlmeyer each followed with victories by fall to push the SDSU advantage to 15-0. Gross needed only 1 minute and 6 seconds to pin Isaac Jimenez in the 133-pound match. It was Gross’ eight pin of the season as he improved to 15-0 overall.
For the second match in a row, Pohlmeyer overcame an early deficit to record a pin. He trailed Garrett O’Shea, 6-5, after one period of their 141-pound matchup before scoring a two-point near-fall in the second period and then coming up with a third-period takedown on which he later put O’Shea’s shoulders to the mat at the 6:14 mark.
Air Force cracked the scoring column on an 8-2 decision by Dane Robbins over SDSU’s Colten Carlson at 149 pounds. The Falcons’ other victory of the afternoon came on a 7-6 decision by Alexandre Lopouchanski over Logan Peterson in the 165-pound division.
SDSU completed the first half of the dual with a major decision by 10th-ranked Luke Zilverberg, then finished the dual with four consecutive wins. Zilverberg downed 20th-ranked Alex Mossing, 10-1, with ninth-ranked David Kocer also winning by major decision, 12-0, over Michael Billingsley.
Kocer tied his older brother, Alex (2014-17), and Tyler Bryant (2000-03) for 14th place in career victories at SDSU with 96 by recording his 16th win of the season.
Martin Mueller (184 pounds), Nate Rotert (197) and Alex Macki (heavyweight) all won by decision for SDSU.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits will host No. 23 Wyoming in dual action Thursday night. Start time for the Military Appreciation Night matchup is 7 p.m. at Frost Arena.
NOTES: Air Force leads the all-time series, 9-6, although the Jackrabbits have won five meetings in a row between the two squads.. SDSU improved to 16-3 in duals against Big 12 opponents since becoming an affiliate member of the league at the start of the 2015-16 season... The Jackrabbits have tallied at least 30 points in six of their seven dual wins during the 2017-18 campaign... Gross has won 28 consecutive dual matches dating back to late in the 2015-16 season, including 6-0 this season... Rotert also remained unbeaten in duals this season at 8-0 and took over sole possession of 21st place in career wins at SDSU with 87... Zilverberg moved into a tie with two-time NCAA Division II national champion Jeff Hohertz (1977, 1981) for 19th in Jackrabbit career victories with 88.
No. 15 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 32, AIR FORCE 6
125: Connor Brown (SDSU) dec. Anthony DeCesare, 13-9
133: No. 1 Seth Gross (SDSU) def. Isaac Jimenez, by fall 1:06
141: Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) def. Garrett O’Shea, by fall 6:14
149: Dane Robbins (AF) dec. Colten Carlson, 8-2
157: No. 10 Luke Zilverberg (SDSU) major dec. No. 20 Alex Mossing, 10-1
165: Alexandre Lopouchanski (AF) dec. Logan Peterson, 7-6
174: No. 9 David Kocer (SDSU) major dec. Michael Billingsley, 12-0
184: Martin Mueller (SDSU) dec. Zen Ikehara, 3-2
197: No. 11 Nate Rotert (SDSU) dec. Anthony McLaughlin, 2-1
285: Alex Macki (SDSU) dec. Matt Wagner, 8-5
Photo from www.gojacks.com.
