SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana wrestling will head north for its first dual of the season with a bout against South Dakota State on Friday night. Action is set to begin at 7 p.m. inside First Bank & Trust Arena.
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play.
 
The Jackrabbits
South Dakota State opened its 2024-25 season with two tournaments last weekend, where four wrestlers won their respective weight classes at the DWU Open and six individual champions were crowned at the Bison Open.
 
Seven starters return for the Jackrabbits, including three All-Americans (Tanner Jordan, Cade DeVos, Bennett Berge) and three NCAA qualifiers (Derrick Cardinal, Alek Martin, Cael Swensen). SDSU currently sits as #13 in the third season rankings release from NWCA and is tied for #9 in the Flo Wrestling Top 10 Tournament.
 
Nine wrestlers are ranked by Intermat, led by Cade DeVos, who is third at 174 pounds. Also in the top five are Bennett Berge (fourth, 184 pounds and Tanner Jordan (fifth, 125 pounds). At 197, Zach Glazier sits ninth, Cobe Siebrecht is 14^th at 157 and Derrick Cardinal is 24^th at 133. Rounding out the ranked are Alek Martin (25^th, 149 pounds), Luke Rasmussen (26^th, 285 pounds) and Drake Rhodes (31^st, 165 pounds).   
 
The Vikings
Augustana has participated in two tournaments so far this season. Last weekend at the DWU Open, three wrestlers won their respective weight classes as seven total athletes placed.
 
Davin Rose claimed the top spot on the podium of 149 pounds after finishing with a perfect 5-0 record on the bye with a bye and three victories over NSIC opponents before recording a fall over Chadron State.
 
Payton Handevidt also took first place at 165 pounds with a 5-0 showing as Cade Mueller racked in four wins to take the top spot at 165 pounds, including a victory over Burk Blasius of South Dakota State.
 
Also placing were Connor Whiteley (second, 141 pounds), Alex Mentzer (third, 141 pounds), Logan Butzon (sixth, 157 pounds) and Payton Anderson (third, 165 pounds).
 
Augustana starts the season as the No. 7 team in the country in the NWCA Preseason Division II poll. In total, AU has four individually-ranked wrestlers in Jaxson Rohman, Cael Larson, Cade Mueller and Max Ramberg.
 
Rohman, a senior from Trimont, Minn., looks toward a National Championship after finishing the last two seasons as runner-up at 125 pounds. The AU Preseason Wrestler to Watch, Rohman earned DII All-American honors after ending last season with a 22-5 record overall and 13-3 record in duals.
 
Redshirt junior Cael Larson ranks sixth at 149 pounds to start the 2024-25 campaign. Larson, a returning NCAA qualifier, finished as runner-up at the NCAA Super Region V Championships last year after accruing a 15-9 overall and 5-4 dual record.
 
At 184 pounds, senior Cade Mueller ranks seventh following an NCAA qualification and Super Region V Championships runner-up finish last season after going 16-7 overall and 11-2 in duals.
 
Ranking fifth at 197 pounds, Max Ramberg heads into his junior season after going 25-11 overall and 13-5 in duals in 2023-24. Ramberg also earned an NCAA Champions qualification, where he finished sixth, after taking third at the Super Region V Champions last season.
 
The 2024-25 roster of 36 is made up of 10 freshmen, eight redshirt freshmen, six redshirt sophomores, one junior, eight redshirt juniors and three seniors. Of the 36, six return after wrestling in the Super Regional last season.
 
At 157, Connor Simmonds looks to build off of a 1-2 finish at last season's regional as Coy Gunderson—at 174—went 3-2 for a fifth place finish.
 
Probable Starters
Wt.    Augustana Vikings
125 – Jaxson Rohman (Sr.)
133 – Owen Hansen (RFr.)
141 – Connor Whiteley (RFr.)
149 – Davin Rose (RFr.)
157 – Logan Butzon (RFr.)
165 – Payton Handevidt (RSo.)
174 – Payton Anderson (Sr.)
184 – Cade Mueller (Sr.)
197 – Max Ramberg (Jr.)
285 – Max Balow (RSo.)
 
Looking Ahead
Augustana will head south to the Younes Hospitality Open in Kearney, Neb. on Saturday, Nov. 23 with action set to kick off at 9 a.m.