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November 15, 2002
The top-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team opened its season with a disappointing 24-11 loss to No. 3 Iowa tonight in the Showdown at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. A crowd of 12,180 saw the Hawkeyes win seven matches, including the first three and the last four, to hand to the Golden Gophers their first loss in 33 dual meets. Minnesota last loss in a dual came on Jan. 7, 2000, to Oklahoma State at Williams Arena.
Iowa took the early 4-0 lead with top-ranked Luke Eustice's 13-3 major decision win over No. 17 Bobbe Lowe at 125 pounds. Eustice scored two takedowns in the opening period and never looked back, racking up 2:38 of advantage time. It was Lowe's first match as a Golden Gopher and first match at the Division I level. The Hawkeyes pulled off a huge upset at 133 pounds as No. 5 Cliff Moore downed No. 2 Ryan Lewis, 12-8. Lewis took a 6-1 lead midway through the second period, but Moore scored nine of the next 10 points, including a three-point near fall, to hand Lewis the defeat.
Minnesota's Tommy Owen hung tough with No. 7 Luke Moffitt in the 141-pound bout, but the Hawkeye prevailed to push Iowa's team score to 10-0 through three matches. Owen scored the first points on a takedown late in the first period, but Moffitt recovered with five-straight points and 3:00 of advantage time to win, 6-3.
The Golden Gopher comeback began at 149 pounds as defending NCAA Champion Jared Lawrence dominated No. 15 Ty Eustice in a 16-4 major decision. Lawrence, ranked No. 1 in the nation, tallied five takedowns in the match and registered 3:32 of advantage time. With the win, Minnesota got on the board at 10-4. The Maroon and Gold added four more team points at 157 pounds as defending NCAA Champion Luke Becker overwhelmed No. 6 Matt Anderson, 12-2. Top-ranked Becker led 5-0 after two periods and only allowed two Iowa escapes in the final period to cruise to the major decision.
Minnesota took its only lead of the night at 11-10 as fifth-ranked Jacob Volkmann defeated Jason D'Agata, 8-3, in the 165-pound match. Volkmann utilized his exceptional ability in the top position to wear down D'Agata and rack up over three mintues of advantage time.
It was all Iowa from there, however. The Hawkeyes won the final four bouts with major decisions in two matches. At 174 pounds, No. 4 Tyler Nixt used a third period takedown to edge Josh McLay, 4-1. With the score tied at one in the third and advantage time not yet a factor, Nixt took McLay down midway through the final stanza and rode out the period to give Iowa a 13-11 lead. The Hawkeyes added four points at 184 pounds as No. 2 Jessman Smith handed Matt Nagel a 19-5 major decision. Nagel weighed in at 165 pounds, but wrestled up for the Golden Gophers, filling in for the injred Damion Hahn. Smith tallied seven takedowns in the match.
The Black and Gold clinched the dual meet win at 197 pounds as Ryan Fulsaas downed No. 20 Jacob Lininger, 7-4. With the score tied at four in the third period, Fulsass tallied a takedown with 24 seconds remaining and added an advantage time point to take the win. The match was Lininger's first in a Golden Gopher uniform since transferring to the U from Pitt. The Hawkeyes wrapped up the sound defeat of the Golden Gophers with a major decision win at heavyweight. Second-ranked Steve Mocco posted a 12-3 win on No. 3 Garrett Lowney to give Iowa the dual at 24-11. Mocco wore down Lowney who was battling a pinched nerve in his shoulder. Mocco scored seven points to keep his undefeated record over the Golden Gopher.
Minnesota (0-1) heads to the Bison Open in Fargo, N.D., on Saturday and to the Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha, Neb., on Nov. 23, before returning to dual meet action at Northern Illinois on Nov. 24.