South Dakota State’s Gross, Rotert win Big 12 wrestling titles

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TULSA, Okla. – Seth Gross repeated as 133-pound champion and Nate Rotert added an individual title at 197 pounds to lead the South Dakota State University wrestling team to a third-place finish at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship contested at BOK Center.

With four individual champions, Oklahoma State claimed the team title with 137 points. Northern Iowa edged the Jackrabbits for second place with 96.5 points compared to SDSU’s 94 points.

A junior from Apple Valley, Minn., the top-ranked Gross never trailed in posting an 8-5 decision over Kaid Brock of Oklahoma State in a rematch of last year’s title bout. Gross scored on a takedown midway through the first period and led 3-2 at the end of the period after Brock scored on a reversal and Gross quickly escaped.

Gross upped his lead to 4-2 with an escape early in the second period, but Brock tied the match at 4-all with a takedown later in the period. Gross again escaped to lead 5-4 through two periods.

After a neutral start to the third period, Gross recorded the decisive takedown with under a minute to go for a 7-4 lead. Brock managed to escape in the closing seconds, but Gross tacked on a final point for a riding-time advantage of more than a minute.

A senior from Spearfish, Rotert locked horns against fourth-seeded Jake Smith of West Virginia in their 197-pound championship match. The two wrestlers traded escapes in regulation time, with Smith scoring in the second period and Rotert getting the equalizer in the third period to send the match into overtime tied at 1.

Neither wrestler scored in the first sudden-victory period or ensuing 30-second tiebreakers. A second sudden-victory period was also scoreless before each wrestler managed an escape in the second set of tiebreakers, but because Rotert had an advantage of one second of riding time on the clock with overtime exhausted, he was awarded the final point of the bout for a 3-2 victory.

Also wrestling in a title match for SDSU was Wagner native David Kocer in the 174-pound weight class. Kocer opened the scoring late in the first period with a takedown against top-seeded Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa, but Lujan quickly countered with a reversal to knot the match at 2-all. Lujan posted the only point of the second period on a reversal to carry a 3-2 lead into the third period.

The third-seeded Kocer scored on an escape seconds into the third period, but Lujan posted a takedown with about 30 seconds remaining and picked up a point for riding time to secure a 6-3 victory.

The Kocer-Lujan match also was pivotal in determining second place in the team standings. The Panthers would later get another individual title from 184-pounder Drew Foster to provide extra cushion between them and the Jackrabbits as SDSU settled for its second consecutive third-place finish at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship.

Also earning automatic berths to the NCAA Championships based on allocations out of the Big 12 Wrestling Championship for the Jackrabbits were 125-pounder Connor Brown (fifth place), 157-pounder Luke Zilverberg (third place) and Martin Mueller at 184 pounds (fourth place).

UP NEXT

At least six Jackrabbits will compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 15-17 in Cleveland, Ohio. At-large selections to the national tournament will be announced Tuesday.

Following is a complete listing of SDSU results from the Big 12 Wrestling Championship:

125: No. 5 Connor Brown, Fr.,

Oak Grove, Mo. (4-2 record)

Round of 16: def. No. 12 Sean Cannon (Northern Colorado), by major dec., 13-4

Quarterfinals: lost to No. 4 Christian Moody (Oklahoma), by dec., 1-5

Consolation Round of 8-2: dec. Anthony DeCesare (Air Force), 6-2

Consolation Round of 4: major dec. Paul Bianchi (North Dakota State), 10-1

Consolation Semifinals: lost to No. 2 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley), by major dec., 4-12

Fifth Place: dec. No. 4 Christian Moody (Oklahoma), 8-3

Fifth Place, NCAA Qualifier - 22-14 season record

133: No. 1 Seth Gross, Jr.,

Apple Valley, Minn. (3-0 record)

Round of 16: Bye

Quarterfinals: def. No. 8 Isaac Jiminez (Air Force), by fall 3:50

Semifinals: major dec. No. 5 Matthew Schmitt (West Virginia), 10-2

Championship: dec. No. 3 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), 8-5

CHAMPION, NCAA Qualifier - 24-1 season record

141: No. 5 Henry Pohlmeyer, So., Johnston, Iowa (3-2 record)

Round of 16: def. No. 12 Chris De Loza (Fresno State), by fall 1:48

Quarterfinals: dec. No. 4 Ian Parker (Iowa State), 4-2 [SV-1]

Semifinals: lost to No. 1 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), by dec., 0-4

Consolation Semifinals: def. No. 11 Mike Longo (Oklahoma), by fall 4:08

Third Place: lost to No. 3 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa), by dec., 3-5

Fourth Place - 22-9 season record

149: No. 12 Colten Carlson, R-Fr., Willmar, Minn. (0-2 record)

Round of 16: lost to No. 5 Sam Turner (Wyoming), by major dec., 12-2

Consolation Round of 8-2: lost to No. 3 Khristian Olivas (Fresno State), by major dec., 8-16

Carlson eliminated - 8-17 season record

157: No. 3 Luke Zilverberg, Sr., Belle Plaine, Minn. (3-1 record)

Round of 16: Bye

Quarterfinals: dec. No. 6 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma), 6-0

Semifinals: lost to No. 2 Archie Colgan (Wyoming), 1-3 [SV-1]

Consolation Semifinals: dec. No. 4 Logan Ryan (Northern Iowa), 6-1

Third Place: dec. No. 5 Chase Straw (Iowa State), 2-0

Third Place, NCAA Qualifier - 27-8 season record

165: No. 11 Logan Peterson, Jr., Lake Lillian, Minn. (0-2 record)

Round of 16: lost to No. 6 Dawaylon Barnes (Oklahoma), by dec., 5-7

Consolation Round of 8-1: lost to No. 5 Keilan Torres (Northern Colorado), by dec., 6-8

Peterson eliminated - 15-14 season record

174: No. 3 David Kocer, Sr., Wagner, S.D. (2-1 record)

Round of 16: Bye

Quarterfinals: tech. fall No. 6 Kyle Pope (Wyoming), 19-0 [7:00]

Semifinals: dec. No. 2 Yoanse Mejias (Oklahoma), 10-8 [TB-2]

Championship: lost to No. 1 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa), by dec., 3-6

Runner-Up, NCAA Qualifier - 23-6 season record

184: No. 2 Martin Mueller, So., Rapid City, S.D. (2-2 record)

Round of 16: Bye

Quarterfinals: dec. No. 7 Dane Pestano (Iowa State), 7-5

Semifinals: lost to No. 3 Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), by dec., 2-9

Consolation Semifinals: def. No. 5 Chaz Polson (Wyoming), by fall 5:58

Third Place: lost to No. 4 Keegan Moore (Oklahoma State), by major dec., 5-13

Fourth Place, NCAA Qualifier - 23-6 season record

197: No. 2 Nate Rotert, Sr., Spearfish, S.D. (3-0 record)

Round of 16: Bye

Quarterfinals: tech. fall No.  7 Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado), 17-2 [5:59]

Semifinals: dec. No. 3 Jacob Holschlag (Northern Iowa), 3-1 [SV-1]

Championship: dec. No. 4 Jake Smith (West Virginia), 3-2 [TB-2]

CHAMPION, NCAA Qualifier - 25-3 season record

285: No. 6 Alex Macki, Sr., Cambridge, Iowa (2-2 record)

Round of 16: dec. No. 11 Brandon Webb (Oklahoma), 6-2

Quarterfinals: lost to No. 3 A.J. Nevills (Fresno State), by dec., 3-6

Consolation Round of 8-2: dec. Brandon Ngati (West Virginia), 3-2

Consolation Round of 4: lost to No. 7 Carter Isley (Northern Iowa), by dec., 0-3

Macki eliminated - 13-14 season record

TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Oklahoma State (4) - 137; 2. Northern Iowa (2) - 96.5; 3. South Dakota State (2) - 94; 4. Wyoming (2) - 82.5; 5. North Dakota State - 57; 6. Oklahoma - 52; 7. Iowa State - 51; 8. Utah Valley - 50.5; 9. West Virginia - 50; 10. Northern Colorado - 30.5  11. Fresno State - 26.5; 12. Air Force - 22.5.

Note: Number of individual champions in parentheses

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

125: No. 1 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) def. No. 3 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia), by fall 1:11

133: No. 1 Seth Gross (SDSU) dec. No. 3 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), 8-5

141: No. 1 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) dec. No. 2 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), 6-5

149: No. 2 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 1 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa), 9-3

157: No. 2 Archie Colgan (Wyoming) dec. Clay Ream (North Dakota State), 4-3

165: No. 2 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) dec.. No. 4 Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State), 12-9

174: No. 1 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 3 David Kocer (SDSU), 6-3

184: No. 1 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 3 Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), 5-1

197: No. 2 Nate Rotert (SDSU) dec. No. 4 Jake Smith (West Virginia), 3-2 [TB-2]

285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 3 A.J. Nevills (Fresno State), 13-6

Photo from www.gojacks.com.