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December 7, 2002
Las Vegas, Nev. - On the strength of individual titles by Ryan Lewis (133 pounds) and Luke Becker (157), the third-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team captured the team championship of the 2002 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational tonight at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Golden Gophers took the team title with 131 points, finishing ahead of Illinois (123.5 points), Ohio State (118.5), Arizona State (112) and West Virginia (96.5).
It took until midway through the third period for Lewis to score on his opponent, but the top-seeded Golden Gopher persevered and defeated No. 2 Kevin Black of Wisconsin, 5-2, to capture the 133-pound title. After a scoreless first period, Lewis tallied an escape in the second, followed by Black's escape to start the third. From there, Lewis found a way to the Badger's legs, scoring two takedowns in the final minute to improve to 7-1 on the season.
At 149 pounds, top-seeded Jared Lawrence suffered his first loss since the 2002 Big Ten Championships with a 6-4 defeat at the hands of third-ranked Eric Larkin of Arizona State. Larkin's takedown late in the first period proved to be the difference as Lawrence could not rebound to avoid his first loss of the season. Lawrence, ranked No. 1 in the nation, falls to 7-1 on the season.
Becker picked up Minnesota's second individual title of the night, dropping No. 3 Keaton Anderson of Ohio State, 8-5, in the 157-pound championship bout. Anderson scored a takedown 11 seconds into the match, but Becker fought back to stretch his winning streak to 27 consecutive matches. The wrestlers battled to a 5-5 tie after two periods, but Becker registered an escape and a last-second takedown to gain the crown and move his record to 8-0 on the season.
Top-ranked Matt Lackey of Illinois thwarted Minnesota's efforts for a third individual title, dropping No. 2 Jacob Volkmann, 6-2, at 165 pounds. Lackey scored early in the first period and did not allow a Volkmann takedown to cruise to the win. Volkmann suffered his first loss of the season, falling to 8-1 on the year.
In the consolation finals at 174 pounds, No. 11 Josh McLay was edged out of third place by No. 12 Blake Kaplan of Ohio State, 2-1. McLay and Kaplan exchanged escapes, but the Buckeye finished the bout with exactly one minute of advantage time to pick up third place. With his fourth-place finish, McLay went 4-2 for the tournament to move his record to 6-3 on the season.
In all, the Maroon and Gold finished with two champions, two runners-up, one fourth-place wrestler and two eighth-place finishers (125-pound Bobbe Lowe and heavyweight Jacob Lininger).
Complete Minnesota results are below. For more results from the Las Vegas Invitational, check www.thewrestlingmall.com.
Minnesota will send a handful of competitors to the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., on Decemeber 28-29 before hosting top-ranked Oklahoma State in the Ice Dual on Friday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m., at downtown Minneapolis' Target Center.
174 - Third-place match - No. 11 Josh McLay vs. No. 12 Blake Kaplan (Ohio St.)