The meet started at 184 pounds where Gopher freshman Damion Hahn (No. 4) scored a 11-7 win over Kyle Hanson (No. 18) in his home debut. Junior Owen Elzen was ahead 3-2 when he scored a takedown with 20 seconds left in the third period before finishing with a 6-4 win over Jason Payne at 197 pounds.
Northern Iowa picked up their only win of the meet at heavyweight where Paul Hynek (No. 13) defeated sophomore Mike Flanagan 6-1. The Gopher's Garret Lowney, who is expected to be the team's heavyweight this year, has not been cleared to compete by the Big Ten Conference yet. Minnesota's lead increased by six after Northern Iowa forfeited to junior Leroy Vega (No. 3) at 125 pounds.
At 133 pounds, Gopher senior Brett Lawrence (No. 15) wore down Chad Boudreaux (No. 20) notching a 22-7 third period tech fall. Junior Chad Erikson (No. 6) kept Minnesota rolling with a 11-7 decision over Mark Rial at 141 pounds.
Gopher sophomore Jared Lawrence (No. 5) matched his brother, with a 22-7 tech fall against Northern Iowa's Keith Weber at 149 pounds. Sophomore Luke Becker (No. 5) scored ten takedowns enroute to a 22-8 major decision over Northern Iowa's Tom Koenig at 157 pounds.
At 165 pounds, Minnesota senior Brad Pike (No. 5) needed just over four-and-a-half minutes to score 11 takedowns against Dayton Ericson for a 23-8 tech fall. The meet ended with a 7-5 win for Gopher junior John Hardy over Ricky Crone (originally from Apple Valley, MN) at 174 pounds.
Gopher Coach J Robinson is pleased with his team's progress this early in the season. "We're close to where we want to be," said Robinson after the meet. But he is always looking for ways to help his team improve. "A dual meet like this showed us some areas we need to work on," said Robinson.
Up next for the Gophers is a trip out east to take on Hofstra in New York and Princeton and Seton Hall in New Jersey - all three matches are on December 10th. After that its the two-day Midlands Tournament in Evanston, Illinois on December 29-30. "We're looking forward to Midlands to see where we are as a team," said Robinson, "there's some real good competition there."
Minnesota returns home to face Oklahoma State on January 7th.
11/26/00 - at Minneapolis, MN