February 18, 2001
The top-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team defeated fourth-ranked Iowa 17-16 this afternoon in an electrifying dual meet in front of 10,048 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. The Golden Gophers stormed out to a 14-0 lead and held on to hand the Hawkeyes their fourth loss of the season and snap their 15-dual meet home winning streak. The Maroon and Gold, winners of 14 consecutive dual meets and 28 of their last 29 Big Ten dual meets, finish the regular season 19-1 overall and 8-0 in Big Ten competition.
Golden Gopher redshirt freshman Damion Hahn, ranked fifth at 184 pounds, got Minnesota off to a good start, defeating No. 9 Jessman Smith 5-3 in sudden victory overtime. Trailing 3-1, Hahn scored a takedown with seven seconds remaining in regulation to push the match to overtime where he took Smith down early in the extra period for the win. At 197 pounds, sixth-ranked Owen Elzen gave Gold Country much-needed bonus points with his 15-0 (5:00) technical fall triumph over Hawkeye Ryan Fulsaas. Elzen scored four near-falls in the first period to cruise to the win. Second-ranked heavyweight Garrett Lowney remained undefeated on the year at 13-0 overall with his 6-2 win over Josh Liddle.
In one of the meet's most exciting matches, third-ranked Leroy Vega defeated No. 2 Jody Strittmatter 6-4 in overtime for his first-ever win over the Hawkeye in six meetings. With the match tied at four after regulation, Vega tallied a takedown halfway through the extra period to move Minnesota to 14-0 on the scoreboard. It was only Strittmatter's second loss of the year. Iowa rebounded, however, winning the meet's next four matches to pull within one point of the Golden Gophers. Top-ranked Eric Juergens posted a 14-3 major decision at 133 pounds to start the Hawkeyes on their roll.
At 141 pounds, No. 1 Doug Schwab eked out a 5-4 win over No. 7 Chad Erikson in a tight match. With the Minnesota bench pleading for stall warnings, Schwab scored a takedown midway through the third period to gain the eventual winning points. Iowa then posted a minor upset at 149 pounds as No. 8 Mike Zadick downed No. 3 Jared Lawrence 3-1 in overtime. The Hawkeyes pulled to 14-13 with a controversial 8-6 T.J. Williams win over Luke Becker at 157 pounds. Becker appeared to score two takedowns, one in the first period and one late in the match, but was not awarded the points and fell to the top-ranked Hawkeye in a thrilling match.
At 165 pounds, No. 3 Brad Pike widened the Minnesota lead to four points with his crucial 9-4 win over No. 9 Ben Shirk. Iowa's Gabe McMahan, ranked fourth at 174 pounds, downed No. 12 Jacob Volkmann 9-6 in the meet's final match, but it was not enough as the Golden Gophers dropped the Hawkeyes for the fourth time in their last five meetings.
Minnesota next looks to unseat the Hawkeyes at the Big Ten Championships on March 3-4 in Evanston, Ill.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena - Iowa City, Iowa