Seven home dates and three road duals against teams that placed in the top 10 at last season’s NCAA Championships highlight South Dakota State’s 2021-22 wrestling schedule that was announced Thursday.
The Jackrabbits are scheduled to open the season Nov. 13 at the Bison Open in Fargo, North Dakota, before hosting a pair of events the next weekend. SDSU, which posted a 5-6 dual mark in an abbreviated 2020-21 campaign, is slated to welcome Augustana and Northern State to Frost Arena for a dual triangular Nov. 19, followed by the Daktronics Open Nov. 21.
To close out the calendar year and ring in 2022, SDSU is set to wrestle at a pair of Big Ten opponents while also squaring off against elite competition at some of the top tournaments in the country. The Jackrabbits travel Nov. 28 to Minnesota and Dec. 18 to Nebraska for duals, with the tournament slate for the team’s top wrestlers consisting of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 3-4) and the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee (Jan. 1-2).
In addition, SDSU plans to send a contingent of wrestlers to the Midlands Championships Dec. 29-30 in Chicago. Other opportunities for the non-starters to compete include the Cyclone Open (Nov. 28) and Doane Open (Dec. 4).
Competition the remainder of January and all of February will consist entirely of duals, starting with a Jan. 9 home triangular against Big 12 Conference opponents Wyoming and Northern Iowa.
Four straight road duals follow in the middle of the month, with the Jackrabbits traveling to Utah Valley (Jan. 15) and Missouri (Jan. 22) before wrestling in a triangular against Central Michigan and host Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Jan. 23.
Missouri, which rejoins the Big 12 Conference this season, tied for seventh with Minnesota at last year’s nationals.
The Jackrabbits close out the dual season with four of their final six matchups at home. After hosting West Virginia on Jan. 28, SDSU’s final road trip of the regular season is a swing through the Sooner State, wrestling Feb. 4 at Oklahoma State and Feb. 6 at Oklahoma. OSU is the defending Big 12 team champion and finished third at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
From there, the Jackrabbits return home for three consecutive duals against Northern Colorado (Feb. 11), Little Rock (Feb. 13) and the Border Bell season finale against North Dakota State (Feb. 20). In all, SDSU is scheduled to face nine of its 11 Big 12 opponents in dual action this season.
Postseason competition begins March 5 at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, followed by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 17-19 in Detroit.
Season tickets for Jackrabbit wrestling - $75 for reserved seats and $60 for general admission - are available online at JackrabbitTickets.com or through the Jackrabbit Ticket Office by calling (605) 688-5422. Single-match tickets will go on sale Oct. 18.
