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November 10, 2001
The defending NCAA Champion University of Minnesota wrestling team opened up the 2001-02 season today at the Bison Open in Fargo, N.D., winning eight of 10 weight class titles. The tournament is an open competition in which wrestlers compete unattached.
Starting at 125 pounds, senior three-time All-American Leroy Vega won his fifth-straight Bison Open title with a 10-3 decision over Pat Runez of Mary in the title match. At 133 pounds, junior Ryan Lewis defeated Jake Thielbar of host North Dakota State 13-4 to win his first Bison Open crown.
Senior All-American Chad Erikson won his third-straight title at 141 pounds, pinning Lucas Christianson of NDSU in 3:01. Freshman Tommy Owen finished in fifth place at 141. Junior two-time All-American Jared Lawrence and freshman Marcus LeVesseur reached the 149-pound title match but did not wrestle each other. Junior two-time All-American Luke Becker won his third-straight title at 157 pinning Paul Carlson (unattached) in 4:50. Freshman Matt Nagel defeated teammate Tyler Marr 3-2 in the third-place match.
Junior Mitch Marr staked his claim to the starting spot at 165 pounds, downing teammate John Hardy 4-3 in the title bout. Redshirt freshman Josh McLay took third. At 174 pounds, sophomore All-American Jacob Volkmann beat Jon Duncombe of St. Cloud State 3-0 in the championship match.
Sophomore All-American Damion Hahn got his season off to a slow start, losing twice at 184 pounds to NDSU wrestlers en route to a fourth-place finish. At 197 pounds, senior Owen Elzen and sophomore Eli Ross reached the title match but did not wrestle. Finally, at heavyweight, sophomore All-American Garrett Lowney was upset by unattached wrestler Nick Severson 3-2 in the title match.
Two Golden Gopher freshmen grabbed titles in the redshirt/freshman division. Nick Kirk captured the 141-pound crown, downing Tim Klein of SCSU with a major decision, and Jeremy Larson took the title at 165 pounds, defeating teammate Jon Tyler 12-4.
The Golden Gopher wrestling team is next in action Saturday, Nov. 18, in the UNO Open in Omaha, Neb. Minnesota1s first dual meet of the season is Sunday, Nov. 25, versus Boise State at the Sports Pavilion.