U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Colten Carlson’s pin at 165 pounds capped a momentum-changing four-match winning streak for South Dakota State and lifted the Jackrabbits to a 24-14 victory over Air Force in a Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Sunday afternoon.

With the victory, SDSU improved to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference duals. Air Force was wrestling for the first time this season.

The Jackrabbits trailed 7-0 through two matches as Tanner Jordan dropped a 6-3 decision at 125 pounds and 13th-ranked Zach Price suffered a 14-4 loss by major decision to Jared Van Vleet.

Clay Carlson, ranked 22nd at 141 pounds, got the Jackrabbits headed in the right direction with an 18-6 major decision over Lenny Petersen. Hunter Marko and 18th-ranked Cade DeVos followed with decisions at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively, giving SDSU the lead for good at 10-9 at the halfway mark of the dual.

Marko’s 5-3 decision over Dylan Martinez was highlighted by a reversal in the closing seconds of the match.

A senior from Willmar, Minnesota, Colten Carlson opened the second half of the dual trailing 5-4 after the first period of his match against Vincent Dolce. He gained a 7-6 lead through two periods and kept the momentum until putting Dolce’s shoulders to the mat midway through the third and final stanza for a 16-9 lead.

The Jackrabbits sealed the dual victory with back-to-back wins by Nick Casperson (184 pounds) and Tanner Sloan (197). Casperson scored on a reversal in the final minute of the third period to pull out a 5-2 decision over Sam Wolf, while the 10th-ranked Sloan continued his dominant start to the season with a second-period technical fall over Kayne Hutchison.

The Jackrabbits’ scheduled dual with Northern Colorado was canceled due to COVID protocols affecting the Bears, but several SDSU wrestlers competed in extra matches against competitors from UNC, Air Force and Wyoming. Both Carlsons each won a pair of extra matches to finish the day with 3-0 records. Clay Carlson’s two extra-match wins were also by major decisions over wrestlers from Air Force.

Also going undefeated with 3-0 records on the day were 125-pounder Danny Vega, along with DeVos and freshman Jack Thomsen at 157 pounds. Sloan added two more technical-fall victories in the extra matches at 197 to also finish at 3-0.

Jordan won all three of his extra matches to finish the day with a 3-1 mark. The Jackrabbit contingent combined to post a 32-13 record in those extra matches.

UP NEXT

The Jackrabbits are scheduled to be off from competition for a week before returning to dual competition Jan. 31 at a quadrangular hosted by Little Rock. SDSU is slated to wrestle Little Rock, Stanford and Big 12 rival Oklahoma in the day-long event.

NOTES

SDSU defeated Air Force for the sixth consecutive time, but Air Force leads the all-time series, 9-7. ... Sloan improved to 7-0 on the season, with all seven victories of the bonus-point variety (one major decision, four technical falls, two falls). ... Casperson’s victory was his first as a Jackrabbit. ... All 18 Jackrabbits to wrestle Sunday won at least one match

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 24, AIR FORCE 14

125: Cody Phippen (AF) dec. Tanner Jordan (SDSU), 6-3

133: Jared Van Vleet (AF) major dec. #13 Zach Price (SDSU), 14-4

141: #22 Clay Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Lenny Petersen (AF), 18-6

149: Hunter Marko (SDSU) dec. Dylan Martinez (AF), 5-3

157: #18 Cade DeVos (SDSU) dec. Parker Simington (AF), 7-2

165: Colten Carlson (SDSU) def. Vincent Dolce (AF), by fall 6:04

174: Cody Surratt (AF) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 7-2

184: Nick Casperson (SDSU) dec. Sam Wolf (AF), 5-2

197: #10 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) tech. fall Kayne Hutchison (AF), 21-5

285: Wyatt Hendrickson (AF) major dec. Blake Wolters (SDSU), 9-0

   Note: Rankings by FloWrestling

EXTRA MATCHES

125: Danny Vega (SDSU) dec. Jace Koelzer (UNC), 4-3

125: Danny Vega (SDSU) dec. Will Vom Baur (AF), 6-2

125: Tanner Jordan (SDSU) dec. Jace Koelzer (UNC), 5-1

125: Tanner Jordan (SDSU) major dec. Will Vom Baur (AF), 16-6

125: Tanner Jordan (SDSU) dec. Darrick Stacey (WYO), 5-2

125: Danny Vega (SDSU) major dec. Brendon Garcia (WYO), 10-2

133: Garret Kuchan (AF) dec. Trayton Anderson (SDSU), 6-4

133: Zach Price (SDSU) dec. Jacob Svihel (WYO), 9-6

133: Trayton Anderson (SDSU) dec. Jacob Svihel (WYO), 4-3 [TB-1]

133: Zach Price (SDSU) dec. Garrett Kuchan (AF), 10-5

133: Job Greenwood (WYO) major dec. Trayton Anderson (SDSU), 10-2

141: Chase Zollmann (WYO) major dec. Rylee Molitor (SDSU), 9-1

141: Daniel Kimball (SDSU) dec. Trevor Jeffries (WYO), 6-4

141: Rylee Molitor (SDSU) tech. fall Garrett Bowers (AF), 16-3 [6:03]

141: Chase Zollmann (WYO) dec. Daniel Kimball (SDSU), 4-2

141: #22 Clay Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Bradley Bitting (AF), 16-7

141: Darren Green (WYO) major dec. Rylee Molitor (SDSU), 10-1

141: Lenny Petersen (AF) dec. Daniel Kimball (SDSU), 9-7

141: #22 Clay Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Garrett Bowers (AF), 15-2

141: Rylee Molitor (SDSU) dec. Trevor Jeffries (WYO), 7-3

141: Darren Green (WYO) dec. Daniel Kimball (SDSU), 3-2

149: Hunter Marko (SDSU) dec. Warren Carr (WYO), 7-2

157: Jack Thomsen (SDSU) dec. Logan Jensen (WYO), 6-4

157: Jack Thomsen (SDSU) dec. Cooper Voorhees (WYO), 12-7

157: #18 Cade DeVos (SDSU) tech. fall Cooper Voorhees (WYO), 20-5 [5:17]

157: Jack Thomsen (SDSU) dec. Trey Brisker (AF), 4-2

157: #18 Cade DeVos (SDSU) dec. Jacob Wright (WYO), 8-5

165: Colten Carlson (SDSU) dec. Johnny Blankenship (UNC), 10-5

165: Kenny O’Neil (SDSU) major dec. Kevin Anderson (WYO), 11-4

165: Colten Carlson (SDSU) dec. Kevin Anderson (WYO), 9-4

165: Kenny O’Neil (SDSU) dec. Johnny Blankenship (UNC), 3-0

165: Cole Moody (WYO) major dec. Kenny O’Neil (SDSU), 15-3

174: Cade King (SDSU) dec. Gage Hockett (WYO), 4-2

174: #21 Jackson Hemauer (UNC) dec. Cade King (SDSU), 7-4

174: Cade King (SDSU) dec. Damen Pape (UNC), 6-3

184: Jacob Schoon (SDSU) def. Brock Jennings (AF), by fall 5:00

184: Calvin Sund (AF) dec. Nick Casperson (SDSU), 4-2

184: Jacob Schoon (SDSU) dec. Gage Hockett (WYO), 6-1

184: Calvin Sund (AF) dec. Jacob Schoon (SDSU), 4-3

197: #10 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) tech. fall Casey Jumps (AF), 16-1 [4:20]

197: #10 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) vs. Cole Forrester (AF), 17-0 [4:02]

285: #9 Brian Andrews (WYO) tech. fall Spencer Trenary (SDSU), 15-0 [5:30]

285: Blake Wolters (SDSU) dec. Brooks Baker (WYO), 7-3

285: Spencer Trenary (SDSU) dec. Brooks Baker (WYO), 6-0

285: Wyatt Hendrickson (AF) def. Spencer Trenary (SDSU), by fall 1:23