Jackrabbit Wrestlers Overtake Oklahoma

South Dakota State came up with four bonus-point victories to defeat Oklahoma, 23-16, in a Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Sunday afternoon at Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits, who entered the week 24th in the Intermat dual rankings, improved to 7-4 overall and 4-1 against league foes. Oklahoma dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12.

Each of the first four matches of the dual resulted in bonus points, with each team winning two. The Sooners got things started as Justin Thomas, ranked 19th at 157 pounds, opened with a 16-3 major decision over Colten Carlson, while 10th-ranked Anthony Mantanona followed two bouts later with a pin of Cade King in the 174-pound bout.

SDSU knotted the dual at 10-all behind a pin from 165-pounder Tanner Cook and a 10-0 major decision by 16th-ranked Zach Carlson at 184 pounds. Cook's pin, which came 40 seconds into his match against Jose Lao Cooper, was his 11th of the season, including his sixth in dual action.

Carlson's victory, his team-leading 17th of the season, starting a four-match winning streak for the Jackrabbits. Tanner Sloan gave SDSU additional momentum and the lead for good heading into intermission by posting a 4-2 decision over 14th-ranked Jake Woodley. Sloan, who entered the dual ranked 19th at 197 pounds, avenged a loss to Woodley in December at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Heavyweight Blake Wolters opened the second half of the dual by outlasting Josiah Jones, 4-3, in a match that was decided in tiebreakers. The two wrestlers ended regulation tied at 1 before recording escapes in each of the two tie-breaking sessions. Wolters was awarded the decisive point for having a riding-time advantage of 29 seconds in the extra frames.

Danny Vega pushed the SDSU lead to 20-10 with the fourth — and final — bonus-point win of the afternoon by the Jackrabbits. Vega raced out to an 8-0 first-period lead via a takedown, four-point near-fall and two-point near-fall against Christian Moody before cruising to a 13-4 major decision.

Oklahoma pulled to within 20-16 as two more of its ranked wrestlers notched wins by decision. Anthony Madrigal, the No. 17 wrestler at 133 pounds, shut out the Jackrabbits' Zach Price, 6-0, while seventh-ranked Dom Demas posted an 8-2 victory over Clay Carlson at 141 pounds.

The Jackrabbits secured the dual victory with their second win of the day in a matchup between ranked wrestlers. Tenth-ranked Henry Pohlmeyer of SDSU and No. 25 Jacob Butler were tied at 2-all early in the second period before Pohlmeyer grabbed the lead with a reversal later in the stanza. In the third period, Pohlmeyer was awarded a point for stalling and scored on another reversal to record a 7-2 decision.

UP NEXT

The Jackrabbits begin a stretch of four consecutive duals away from home by traveling Friday to nationally ranked Oklahoma State. Start time is set for 7 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 23, OKLAHOMA 16

157: #19 Justin Thomas (OU) major dec. Colten Carlson (SDSU), 16-3

165: Tanner Cook (SDSU) def. Jose Lao Cooper (OU), by fall 0:40

174: #10 Anthony Mantanona (OU) def. Cade King (SDSU), by fall 5:39

184: #16 Zach Carlson (SDSU) major dec. Darrien Roberts (OU), 10-0

197: #19 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) dec. #14 Jake Woodley (OU), 4-2

285: Blake Wolters (SDSU) dec. Josiah Jones (OU), 4-3 [TB-2]

125: #25 Danny Vega (SDSU) major dec. Christian Moody (OU), 13-4

133: #17 Anthony Madrigal (OU) dec. Zach Price (SDSU), 6-0

141: #7 Dom Demas (OU) dec. Clay Carlson (SDSU), 8-2

149: #10 Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) dec. #25 Jacob Butler (OU), 7-2

Note: Individual rankings by FloWrestling