CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Former Belgrade state wrestling champion and current Iowa State wrestler Jarrett Degen earned a fifth-place finish at the 2019 Southern Scuffle wrestling tournament on Wednesday. The annual invite featured teams like NCAA powers Penn State, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Navy.
Degen, who is ranked No. 7 in the nation in the 149-pound weight class by InterMat Wrestling, won his first two matches in the two-day tournament. The former four-time Montana state champion pinned Columbia’s Cole Carrigan at the 5-minute mark in his opening match, then earned an 18-8 major decision over Jonathan Miller of Appalachian State.
During the quarterfinals, Degen dropped a sudden decision, 7-5, to Cal State Bakersfield’s Russell Rohlfing, before picking up an 8-6 decision in the blood round to advance to the consolation semifinals. Penn State’s Brady Berge defeated Degen 7-4, sending him to the fifth-place match where he avenged the earlier loss to Rohlfing, pinning the CSU Bakersfield grappler at 4:53.
Degen’s fifth-place effort, coupled with a runner-up finish from teammate Austin Gomez at 133 pounds, plus six other top-eight finishes from the Cyclones, paced Iowa State to a third-place finish in the team standings. Penn State won the tournament with 216.5 points, followed by Oklahoma State with 188.5. Iowa State totaled 104 points in the tournament.
Degen’s record now sits at 14-3 this season, according to www.wrestlestat.com. The Cyclones are scheduled to face North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D. on Wednesday, Jan. 9.
