Three South Dakota State University wrestlers recorded individual runner-up finishes and the Jackrabbits placed fourth in the team standings as competition at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship wrapped up Sunday at Sprint Center.
Redshirt freshman Seth Gross was the first Jackrabbit to wrestle in Sunday’s finals as he was matched up against top-ranked Dean Heil of Oklahoma State. Heil would go on defeat Gross, 5-3, but Gross earned a trip to nationals with his runner-up finish.
The 157-pound championship bout featured top-seeded Cody Pack of SDSU against second-seeded Joseph Smith of Oklahoma State. Smith scored an early takedown and carried the momentum through for an 8-4 victory. Pack, who fell to 27-3 overall, will be making his fourth consecutive trip to the national tournament.
At 197 pounds, Nate Rotert will make a return trip to the national meet despite dropping a 4-3 decision to fifth-seeded Preston Weigel of Oklahoma State in the championship match. Rotert’s season record stands at 26-9.
David Kocer became the fourth Jackrabbit to earn a trip to nationals with a fourth-place finish at 174 pounds. A sophomore from Wagner, Kocer opened the day with a 3-2, overtime victory over West Virginia’s Ross Renzi in the consolation semifinals. Kocer later withdrew from the scheduled third-place match against Oklahoma’s Matt Reed for medical reasons.
Alex Kocer and Luke Zilverberg each split their consolation matches Sunday morning to finish with fifth-place showings. Alex Kocer dropped a 9-6 decision to Cole Mendenhall of Wyoming in his first match, but came back to post a 15-7 major decision over Northern Colorado’s Timmy Box. Kocer improved to 24-10 this season and will be under consideration for an at-large selection to the national tournament.
Zilverberg opened the morning session with a 7-2 loss to third-seeded Clark Glass of Oklahoma in the consolation semifinals, but claimed fifth place with a 4-2 decision over Michael Billingsley of Air Force to close out his season.
With seven individual champions, Oklahoma State claimed the team title with 161 points. Oklahoma was second with 100 points and two individual champions, followed by Iowa State with 87 points and one champion. SDSU tallied 77 points for its fourth-place showing, with Wyoming completing the upper half of the 10-team field with 71.5 points.
The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are scheduled for March 17-19 in New York City. At-large selections to the national tournament will be announced on Wednesday.
