College News - Gophers claim National Duals title

1/21/01

Gophers claim National Duals title

Coverage by Intermat | TheMat.com | TheWrestlingMall | Penn State (Host)

The Golden Gophers wrestling team won this year's National Duals title by handing Oklahoma State their first loss of the season 20-12. The win was especially sweet because just two weeks ago the Cowboys corralled the Gophers 25-12 at Williams Arena. This weekend the Minnesota team appeared to be at full strength with their line-up. Minnesota has competed in the National Wrestling Duals for the past four years, placing first in 1998, second in 1999 and 2000, and third in 1997.

At 125 pounds Leroy Vega reversed the results of their first meeting gaining a 6-4 decision. In the second period, Brown chose bottom and earned an escape for the initial lead. In the third, Vega chose bottom and earned an escape to tie the match. Vega scored a takedown off of a Brown shot. Brown then got out and scored a double-leg at the edge of the mat to take the lead 4-3. Vega earned an escape to tie the match and send the match to overtime. Vega then shucked Brown to the mat and circled around behind for the winning takedown.

The Cowboys switched their 133 and 141 pounders around hoping to gain an advantage but the net result was the same as before. Johnny Thompson defeated Brett Lawrence 4-1 while Chad Erikson downed #3 ranked (133) Charles Walker 4-0. In the earlier meeting Erikson had defeated Thompson 13-7.

For the second time in two matches #2 Reggie Wright outlasted #3 Jared Lawrence, this time in overtime. Wright chose bottom in the second period and earned an escape, giving him a 1-0 lead. In the third, Lawrence chose bottom and earned an escape to tie the match. There was no other scoring and the match went into overtime. Wright got in deep off a double-leg on Lawrence 10 seconds into the extra session and scored the winning takedown.

At 165 pounds Brad Pike scored the only fall of the meet with just 26 seconds left in the match. Pike lead 13-3 at the time of the fall.

In their first meeting the Cowboys' Dan Cormier handed Damion Hahn a 19-7 defeat. Hahn forced Cormier into a hard-fought battle at Happy Valley. Cormier scored a takedown in the first period for the initial lead before Hahn earned an escape. In the second, Hahn chose bottom and his escape tied the match at 2-2. In the third, Cormier chose bottom and took the lead back with an escape of his own. With 10 seconds left in the match, Hahn scored a takedown at the edge of the mat to win.

Owen Elzen, coming back off an injury, gave #2 ranked Mark Munoz a match but lost 9-4. Minnesota was penalized 1 point for unsportsmanlike conduct at 197.

With the Gophers leading 17-12, Heavyweight Garrett Lowney put up three more team points on a 3-2 decision. The presence of Elzen and Lowney in the line-up along with a strong performance by the rest of the team should assure Minnesota of the #1 ranking and give them confidence as they work towards the Big Ten and NCAA Showdowns.

Minnesota defeated No. 3 Iowa 20-17 in stunning fashion to advance to the finals. Minnesota trailed the entire meet until the final match where heavyweight Garrett Lowney came through for the hard-fought win.

The strength of Iowa's lineup, the lower weights, showed its muscle early in the match. At 125 pounds, No. 2 Jody Strittmatter downed fifth-ranked Leroy Vega 4-0 to give the Hawkeyes an early 3-0 lead. Top-ranked Eric Juergens defeated No. 2 Brett Lawrence 8-2 at 133 pounds, keeping the Iowa shutout alive. At 141 pounds, No. 1 Doug Schwab posted a 14-6 major decision over Ryan Lewis to push Iowa to a 10-0 lead.

Minnesota got on the board in the next match as third-ranked Jared Lawrence dropped No. 5 Zadick 7-6 with a last-second takedown in the 149-pound match. Lawrence trailed the entire match, but tallied a takedown with three seconds remaining to give the Golden Gophers three team points.

Iowa rebounded at 157 pounds as top-ranked T.J. Williams beat No. 5 Luke Becker 3-2 to move the Hawkeyes to 13-3 in the meet. At 165 pounds, No. 3 Brad Pike defeated No. 8 Ben Shirk 11-4 to pull Minnesota to 13-6. The Hawkeyes rebounded again as No. 5 Gabe McMahan posted a 15-6 major decision over Jacob Volkmann in the 174-pound match.

But the Gophers won the final three matches to shock the arch rival Hawkeyes. At 184 pounds, No. 4 Damion Hahn notched a 16-7 major decision over No. 6 Jessman Smith to move the U of M to within seven points, 17-10. Then, at 197 pounds, No. 9 Owen Elzen played the part of hero, pinning Ryan Fulsaas at 3:38 to pull Minnesota within one point of Iowa at 17- 16. At heavyweight, No. 5 Garrett Lowney did more than enough, posting a 12-4 major decision over Josh Liddle to push the Gophers to a 20-17 triumph.

In the quarterfinals, the Gophers routed No. 8 Nebraska 30-9. Minnesota won eight of ten matches in the win over the Cornhuskers, including heavyweight Garrett Lowney's debut in a Maroon and Gold uniform.

125-pounder Leroy Vega exacted his revenge on Jason Powell, whom defeated Vega in a Jan. 11 match, with a dominating 13-6 decision triumph. At 133 pounds, second-ranked Brett Lawrence outlasted third-ranked Todd Beckerman in a 5-4 win despite giving up 1:11 of advantage time to the 'Husker.

At 141 pounds, Chad Erikson won by default over Ty Malia. Erikson was leading the match 11-2 in the second period when the Cornuhskers threw in the towel.

Nebraska posted its lone victory in a contested match as third-ranked Bryan Snyder defeated No. 5 Luke Becker 3-1 in an overtime tiebreaker in the 157-pound battle. The wrestlers were tied at one after regulation and sudden death overtime. Snyder scored a reversal at 0:16 of the tiebreaker period to give the 'Huskers three team points.

At 174 pounds, unranked Jacob Volkmann scored an upset of Nebraska's No. 15 Ati Conner with his 2-0 win. Volkmann scored an escape at the beginning of the third period and added another point with his 1:59 advantage time.

Finally, in his much-anticipated debut, fifth-ranked heavyweight Garrett Lowney outdueled Pat Miron to win 10-3. Lowney, a bronze medal winner in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 200 Olympics, led the entire match and ended with 3:03 of advantage time.

Minnesota defeated No. 17 Hofstra 22-9 in the first round. The Maroon and Gold won seven of 10 matches in the dual meet versus the Flying Dutchmen.

Unranked Golden Gopher Ryan Lewis scored a major upset of Hofstra's Roman Fleszar, the fourth-ranked wrestler in the 133 pound weight class. Trailing 4-3 going into the final period, Fleszar was penalized for stalling, giving Lewis one point. Lewis won the match with 1:22 of advantage time.

Hofstra scored a minor upset at 149 pounds, as No. 6 Eric Schmiesing defeated No. 3 Jared Lawrence 4-2 in an overtime tiebreaker. Following a sudden victory overtime, Schmiesing posted a two-point near fall on Lawrence with two seconds remaining in the tiebreaker period.

At 197 pounds, Owen Elzen, sidelined for two weeks with a knee injury, returned to the starting lineup and promptly posted a 10-4 win over Hofstra's Matt Daddino.

Prior to the National Duals

On January 11th, Minnesota outdueled No. 8 Nebraska 26-12 in Lincoln, Neb., as the Gophers posted upsets in several matches to roll to victory. Minnesota won seven of ten matches, including the final five, to push its record to 6-1 on the season.

The meet opened at 174 pounds with 16th-ranked Matt Kraft defeating No. 10 Ati Conner by a 9-5 decision. Kraft never trailed in the match and moved his overall record to 19-5.

Nebraska put together a string of three-straight victories, beginning at 197 pounds where top-ranked Brad Vering, the 2000 NCAA Champion, pinned freshman Eli Ross in 1:49. The Cornhuskers took the team lead at 9-7 as NU's heavyweight, Pat Miron, scored a takedown in sudden death overtime over Mike Flanagan to win 3-1. At 125 pounds, Nebraska scored an upset as No. 6 Jason Powell outlasted fourth-ranked Leroy Vega to take a 13-11 decision.

Minnesota ended the Huskers win streak and started one of their one, winning the dual meet's final five matches to clinch the hard-fought victory. At 133 pounds, third-ranked Brett Lawrence scored an upset of top-ranked Todd Beckerman with his 7-4 triumph. In consecutive meets, Lawrence defeated the No. 3 and No. 1 133-pound wrestlers.

In perhaps the most exciting and certainly the most stunning match of the night, fifth-ranked Luke Becker upset No. 2 Bryan Snyder with a 4-3 decision in the 157-pound match. Becker, trailing 3-0 after two periods, scored four points in the final stanza, including a takedown with two seconds remaining, to win and clinch the Gopher team victory.

The next day the Gophers defeated No. 11 Boise 22-14 in Boise, Idaho, winning six of ten matches to roll to victory. The Broncos won their four matches in the first six to take the team lead, but the Gophers captured the final four bouts.

The meet opened at 157 pounds with fifth-ranked Luke Becker losing to third-ranked Kirk White by a 2-1 decision. The loss was Becker's first in a dual meet this season.

Minnesota, trailing 14-9 at one point, reeled off four-straight victories to avoid the upset in Boise. At 125 pounds, No. 4 Leroy Vega broke his three-match losing streak, defeating No. 18 Ben Vombauer 7-2.

Minnesota met its match in Oklahoma State on January 7th, losing 25-12 in front of 9,566 rowdy Maroon and Gold fans at Williams Arena. Minnesota competed shorthanded with 197-pound Owen Elzen injured and heavyweight Garrett Lowney ineligible. The Gophers mustered only 12 points, its lowest team total since a 26-10 loss to the Cowboys during the 1996-97 season.

At 149 pounds, OSU's No. 2 Reggie Wright ended No. 3 Jared Lawrence's 16-match win streak with a 9-6 decision in one of the featured matches of the day. With the match tied at six late in the third period, Wright scored a takedown to seal the victory.

In another featured match, No. 4 Dan Cormier posted a 19-7 major decision on No. 3 Damion Hahn to give the Cowboys four team points and the lead for good at 10-9. Cormier scored seven takedowns and a three-point near-fall to roll to victory.

Coach Robinson said, "The way Damion lost the match, not only for him, but for the fans Our fans have come to expect something better than that. Its just not acceptable

Oklahoma State posted a major upset in the 125-pound match as No. 17 Matt Brown defeated No. 3 Leroy Vega 4-3. Vega led 3-1 after two periods but Brown scored an escape and a takedown in the third to defeat the two-time All-American. No. 4 Brett Lawrence closed the meet with a rousing victory at 133 pounds over No. 3 Charles Walker. Lawrence, trailing the majority of the match, scored an escape and a takedown in the final 17 seconds to win.

Next up for Minnesota is two home matches &endash; Michigan on Friday, January 26, and Purdue the next day. Both matches are at 7:30 pm.