Sports Card Blogs

South Dakota State 17, Augustana 15

Bonus points key Jacks’ win over Augustana

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In the first wrestling dual ever held in the Sanford Pentagon, South Dakota State (1-3, 0-0) defeated old North Central Conference foe Augustana, 17-15 in front of 1,182 fans. A pair of major decisions by Cody Pack and Joe Brewster proved to be the difference in the tightly-contested matchup. Ben Gillette, Eric Orozco and Brady Ayers also won their respective matches for the Jacks.

“I’m not real concerned with dual wins, just progression,” head coach Chris Bono said. “But it does feel good to get that first win. Everything we do builds towards March and today was a big step.”

After being tied 6-6 heading into the 157-pound bout, Pack recorded a 14-3 major decision win to give SDSU at 10-6 lead heading into intermission. Brewster continued the momentum and recorded a major decision of his own, 17-6. These two bonus-point victories proved to be the difference for the Jacks.

After dropping the 125-pound bout, SDSU won back-to-back matches to take a 6-3 lead. Sophomore Ben Gillette and senior Eric Orozco won their matches 8-2 and 4-1, respectively.
Freshman Brady Ayers (174 pounds) downed Augie’s Jeff Neilsen, 11-4 for the final Jacks’ win on the day.

Augustana now opens Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition when they host University of Mary on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Elmen Center.

SDSU will return to action Dec. 14 at the UNI Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

South Dakota State 17, Augustana 15
125: TJ North over Isaac Andrade 10-4
133: Ben Gillette over Blake Jans 8-2
141: Eric Orozco over JacobAnderson 4-1
149: Shawn Hatlestad over Alex Kocer 5-3
157: Cody Pack major decision over Bradyn Neises 14-3
165: Joe Brewster major decision over Garret Heiberger 17-6
174: Brady Ayers over Jeff Neilsen 11-4
184: No. 7 Sean Derry over Ben Schwery 3-1
197: No. 5 Jayd Docken over Trey Hable 3-1
285: Michael Lowman over J.J. Everard 6-5

South Dakota State at Augustana Play-By-Play