JACKS TAKE ON UNI IN TOP 20 SHOWDOWN

Sunday, February 8

Brookings, S.D.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Northern Iowa

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Moses Espinoza-Owens, a wrestler in a blue singlet, has his hand raised by a referee while a wrestler in a white singlet walks off the mat.

Photo by: Evan Patzwald

2/6/2026 9:39:00 AM | Wrestling

Week 13: #14 South Dakota State vs. #19 Northern Iowa
Date and Time	Sunday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m. CT
Location	Brookings, S.D.
Site	First Bank & Trust Arena
Television/Stream	Midco Sports Plus
Live Stats	TrackWrestling
South Dakota State	Game Notes \| Home Page

Brookings, S.D. - The Jackrabbits host Northern Iowa in a top-20 showdown at First Bank & Trust Arena this Sunday afternoon. The Jacks are coming off two home Big 12 wins last week against Air Force and Northern Colorado and will look to score another win over the No. 19 UNI Panthers this week. The Jacks are 3-16 all-time against the Panthers, with their last meeting in 2022, a 27-13 win. The Panthers took the first battle between the schools back in January, 20-14, so the Jacks will be looking for some revenge in the rematch on Sunday.

THE LINEUP: This is the probable lineup for this weekend's contest:
125 - #19 Brady Roark (17-3) or Daniel Guanajuato (14-5)
133 - Derrick Cardinal (6-2) or Cale Seaton (11-8)
141 - #11 Julian Tagg (14-4)
149 - #26 Alek Martin (5-7) or Colin Dupill (5-9)
157 - #15 Cael Swensen (20-4)
165 - #28 Marcus Espinoza-Owens (12-9) or Jacob Herm (12-4)
174 - #14 Moses Espinoza-Owens (23-5)
184 - Brock Fettig (12-10)
197 - #5 Bennett Berge (11-2)
285 - #24 Luke Rasmussen (9-6) or Micah Hach (13-2)
*Coaches' Rankings as of 2/3

LAST TIME OUT: Northern Colorado

The Jacks used pins from Cael Swensen and Luke Rasmussen to propel themselves to victory over the Northern Colorado Bears on Sunday, 31-10.

The dual started at 125 pounds with Daniel Guanajuato stepping up against Bryson Valdez. After a scoreless first, Guanajuato caught Valdez in the second and didn't look back, piling two more takedowns onto Valdez and coming away with an 11-2 major decision.

Cale Seaton faced a tough test at 133 pounds, where he took on No. 11 Dominick Serrano. Serrano was explosive in the early periods, piling on takedowns, but Seaton fought back, scoring one of his own in the third. Serrano countered Seaton's takedown with one of his own, securing the major decision and tying up the dual score at 4-4.

Tyson Peach toed the line for the Jackrabbits at 141 pounds, going up against Tobey Ravida, a 125-pounder naturally. Peach overpowered Ravida in the first and didn't let up for the rest of the match, only allowing two escapes and coming away with the 14-2 major decision.

Colin Dupill grappled with the crafty KJ Evans at 149 pounds. After a scoreless first, Evans struck first in the second with a clean double leg takedown, putting Dupill down, 4-0 heading to the third period. Dupill chose neutral in the third and went to work, firing off shot after shot before finally landing one to cut the deficit to 3-5. But after sending the house, Evans countered Dupill with a takedown to stifle his comeback bid, 3-8.

No. 15 Cael Swensen came out firing in his match with Joshua Fish at 157 pounds. Swensen scored takedown after takedown in explosive fashion and was well on his way to a tech fall until he caught Fish in the third period in a cradle and wrestled him to his back for the pin, adding to the Jackrabbit lead, 14-7.

After the intermission, Marcus Espinoza-Owens struggled against the lanky Kilian Schultz. The bout went to sudden victory with the score knotted at 1-1. Espinoza-Owens found himself with the single leg takedown in his grasp, but Schultz was able to scramble away and score a takedown of his own to secure the decision for the Bears.

No. 14 Moses Espinoza-Owens faced off with Murphy Menke at 174 pounds. The pair were tied 1-1 in the third before Espinoza-Owens found his footing, scoring a trio of takedowns in the final minute on his way to a 10-3 decision over Menke.

Brock Fettig took on Mahonri Rushton at 184 pounds. Neither wrestler broke through during regulation, but ultimately it was Fettig who collected the decisive takedown in sudden victory after getting to Rushton's legs on a single leg attempt and forcing a neutral danger count for the score.

No. 5 Bennett Berge put on a takedown clinic at 197 pounds, going up against Tyler Perry. Berge scored three takedowns in the first and added a four-point near fall to go up 13-1 over Perry, and added on two more takedowns in the second to secure the tech fall in just 3 minutes and 42 seconds. This put the dual out of reach for the Bears with just one match left as the Jacks led, 25-10.

No. 24 Luke Rasmussen closed the show in his usual fashion as he picked Enzo Cappabianca's ankle to secure a takedown before going to work with a pair of four-point near falls. After catching Cappabianca with his legs up by his head, Rasmussen turned him over and laid his shoulders flat on the mat for the first-period fall.

JACKS IN THE RANKINGS
125: Brady Roark 19/21/19
133:Derrick Cardinal NR/21/NR
141: Julian Tagg 19/19/11
149: Alek Martin 23/25/26
157: Cael Swensen 21/18/15
165: Marcus Espinoza-Owens 33/28/28
174: Moses Espinoza-Owens 14/17/14
197: Bennett Berge 5/6/5
285: Luke Rasmussen 26/25/24
*Flo/Intermat/Coaches

NWCA COACHES POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points
1 Penn State (15)(12-0) 399
2 Ohio State (1) (16-0) 385
3 Oklahoma St. (12-1) 368
4 Iowa State (9-2) 350
5 Nebraska (9-6) 317
6 Minnesota (9-4) 310
7 Virginia Tech (8-2) 309
8 Iowa (9-4) 307
9 NC State (12-4) 275
10 Michigan (8-3) 250
11 Illinois (10-4) 233
12 Pittsburgh (10-2) 217
13 North Carolina (8-3) 196
14 SDSU (12-3) 180
15 Wisconsin (11-3) 144
16 West Virginia (9-3) 142
17 Rutgers (10-5) 134
18 Oklahoma (8-4) 131
19 Northern Iowa (9-6) 130
20 Missouri (10-7) 112
21 Lehigh (8-6) 99
22 Indiana (7-4) 67
23 Oregon State (6-1) 42
24 Stanford (5-6) 34
25 Wyoming (4-5) 21

Others Receiving Votes: Columbia 14, Drexel 10, Lock Haven 9, SIU Edwardsville 8, Cornell 3, Rider 2, Navy 1.

NWCA MID-MAJOR POLL
Rank Team (First) Record Points Conference
1 UNI (4) (9-6) 117 Big 12
2 SDSU (1) (12-3) 115 Big 12
3 Lehigh (1) (8-6) 107 EIWA
4 Oregon State (6-1) 103 Pac-12
5 Wyoming (4-5) 94 Big 12
6 Columbia (9-3) 80 Ivy League
7 Cornell (5-6) 78 Ivy League
8 Drexel (12-3) 75 EIWA
9 Penn (6-1) 70 Ivy League
10 Lock Haven (10-3) 66 MAC
11 Navy (5-4) 56 EIWA
12t Rider (9-5) 51 MAC
12t SIUE (8-1) 51 MAC
14 Utah Valley (3-6) 43 Big 12
15 Army (2-5) 31 EIWA
16 Cal Poly (4-4) 20 Pac-12
17 C. Michigan (7-5) 15 MAC
18 N.Illinois (7-6) 14 MAC
19 NDSU (6-7) 13 Big 12
20 Little Rock (3-9) 12 Pac-12

Others Receiving Votes: Appalachian State 10, Bucknell 9, Harvard 7, Clarion 6, Princeton 6, Ohio 4, Kent State 3, George Mason 2, The Citadel 2.

WRESTLERS TO WATCH: Moses Espinoza-Owens
Moses Espinoza-Owens will have a tough test in front of him this weekend as he is slated to take on No. 12 Jared Simma. Simma is 10-5 on the year and a two-time NCAA Qualifier, reaching the Blood Round in 2024.

Espinoza-Owens is coming off a fantastic month of January, during which he dropped only one match overall to No. 15 MJ Gaitan of Iowa State. He holds an overall record of 23-5 and is 14-1 in duals. He has wrestled in every dual for the Jacks this season.

Simma went 2-3 against Jackrabbit All-American Cade DeVos last year, but it was a tough match in all five matches. Espinoza-Owens has been somewhat of an upset machine this year, taking down No. 8 Cam Steed at the Tiger Style Open and No. 12 Beau Mantanona at CKLV.

He will have to be at his best to continue his fine form this weekend as he takes on Simma.

Key Storylines

BACK FOR MORE: The Jackrabbits return Cael Swensen and Alek Martin to their lineup after both sat out the 2024-25 season with injuries
PROGRAM RECORDS: The Jackrabbits continued to set program records under Damion Hahn in 2024-25, sending a record nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia
REPLACING DEVOS: The Jackrabbits will have a few options at 174 pounds this year as they try to replace two-time All-American and five-time NCAA Qualifier Cade DeVos. Fighting for the spot will be Connor Gaynor and Moses Espinoza-Owens.
MOVIN' ON, MOVIN' UP: All-American Bennett Berge will make the jump from 184 pounds, where he was a two-time NCAA Qualifier and a fourth-place finisher in 2024, to 197 pounds this year, replacing the graduated Zach Glazier. The jump to 197 pounds mirrors Coach Hahn's jump from 184 to 197, during which he won two National Championships.
RETURNING PRODUCTION: The Jacks will have an NCAA Qualifier at 7 of their 10 weights this year, while Moses Espinoza-Owens, Brock Fettig and Brady Roark all filled in at their respective weights due to injuries last season.
JACKS IN THE RANKINGS: SDSU has nine of its starters listed in InterMat's and FloWrestling's Rankings. Amongst the highest ranked are Berge at No. 5, Cael Swensen at No. 18, Brady Roark at No. 19, Julian Tagg at No. 19 and Moses Espinoza-Owens at No. 15. The Jacks also dropped to number 15 in the NWCA Division 1 Coaches Poll.
PROVEN WINNER: Last season, Damion Hahn became the winningest coach at the D1 level in South Dakota State history, passing Chris Bono with 65 wins. Hahn's 84 dual wins for the Jackrabbits rank fourth all-time among all Jackrabbit Wrestling coaches behind Jason Liles, Warren Williamson and Mike Engels.
OFF-SEASON WORK: The JWC was incredibly successful on the freestyle and Greco-Roman circuits between March and August. Quin Morgan took home the U20 Greco-Roman Championship at 97kg at the US Open to start the season. Tommy Dineen and Daniel Guanajuato added runner-up finishes at their respective weights at the U23 Freestyle Nationals. Dineen also added a gold medal at the Junior Pan-American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay.
HOME COOKING: The Jacks have been consistent under head coach Damion Hahn at home. After posting a 7-1 record at home in 2023-24, the Jacks followed it up with a 4-2 record at home last year.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Last year's freshman class put up an impressive 92-28 total record through open competitions and duals. Leading the way was freshman Logan Swensen with a 28-6 record overall. Swensen looks to back up returning NCAA Qualifier Derrick Cardinal at 133 pounds this year.
STOP SIGNS IN BROOKINGS: The incoming freshmen at SDSU are coming off an impressive summer. Micah Hach (8th), Keenan Sheridan (8th), Conlan Carlson (8th) and Jarrett Wadsen (2nd) all earned All-American honors at the Fargo Nationals in Freestyle. Wadsen (4th) and Bas Diaz (2nd) earned All-American honors in Greco as well.