February 16, 2001
The top-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team pounded No. 21 Wisconsin 33-6 Friday night, winning eight of ten matches to remain undefeated in the Big Ten at 7-0 entering Sunday's final dual meet of the season at No. 4 Iowa. The Golden Gophers, winners of 13 consecutive dual meets and 27 of their last 28 Big Ten dual meets, improve to 18-1 overall.
A Wisconsin forfeit at 149 pounds began the meet, giving Minnesota a lead it would never relinquish. Wrestling began at 157 pounds with No. 5 Luke Becker posting a 23-7 (5:36) technical fall on P.J. Dowling to give Gold Country an early 11-0 lead. Becker registered nine takedowns and a three-point near fall in the win. The Badgers responded in the featured match of the night as top-ranked Don Pritzlaff of Wisconsin downed third-ranked Brad Pike 8-6 at 165 pounds. Pritzlaff, now 4-0 against Pike, led throughout the match. Pike falls to 27-5 overall and 16-3 in duals.
The Maroon and Gold rebounded in a big way at 174 pounds behind No. 15 Jacob Volkmann's pin at 4:33 of Ryan Lewis. With the win, Volkmann moved to 25-9 overall and pushed his winning streak to four matches. Fifth-ranked Damion Hahn kept Minnesota in the win column at 184 pounds, dropping No. 15 Ralph DeNisco 10-3. The Badgers, however, responded at 197 pounds as Jareck Horton downed Eli Ross 6-3. Ross, a true freshman, filled in for regular starter No. 6 Owen Elzen.
The Golden Gophers won the meet's final four matches beginning at heavyweight where second-ranked Garrett Lowney dropped No. 17 Justin Staebler 6-2. Lowney remains undefeated on the year with a 12-0 overall record, a 10-0 dual meet record and a 7-0 Big Ten mark. At 125 pounds, No. 3 Leroy Vega gave Minnesota four team points with his 12-3 major decision triumph over No. 19 Tony Black. Big-time backup Ryan Lewis, filling in for Brett Lawrence at 133 pounds, upset No. 15 Kevin Black 13-6 to move the team score to 30-6. Lewis, unranked, has now defeated ranked opponents in four of his last five matches. Seventh-ranked Chad Erikson closed out the meet with the closest match of the competition with his 5-4 victory over No. 14 Grant Hoerr in the 141-pound bout. Erikson moves to 23-3 on the year overall, including a 14-1 mark in duals and a 4-0 record in Big Ten meets.
The Golden Gophers look to remain undefeated in the Big Ten as they battle the archrival Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday, February 18 at 12:30 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa.