Seth Gross became South Dakota State’s first national champion in any sport in the Division I era, winning the 133-pound title Saturday night at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Quicken Loans Arena.
A junior from Apple Valley, Minnesota, the top-seeded Gross came out victorious over second-seeded Stevan Micic of Michigan, 13-8, in his second consecutive national title appearance. Gross jumped out to a 6-0 lead as he registered a takedown midway through the first period and later turned Micic for a four-point near-fall.
Micic came up with a takedown off a neutral start to the second period, but Gross was able to escape to hold a five-point cushion heading into the final period. Micic turned up the pressure in the final two minutes, recording a couple more takedowns, but it was too little, too late as Gross secured the 13-8 decision.
Gross ended the season with a 29-1 overall record and upped his career mark to 89-17 in three years at SDSU. He became the first Jackrabbit wrestler to win a national title at any level since Paul Konechne won the last of his two consecutive NCAA Division II championships at 141 pounds in 2001.
The win by Gross upped the Jackrabbits’ team point total to 42, good for 12th place in the team standings. SDSU led all Big 12 Conference schools in the team race as David Kocer (seventh at 174 pounds) and Luke Zilverberg (eighth at 157 pounds) also earned All-America honors during the three-day tournament.
