Minnesota's Bobbe Lowe exposes Penn State's Adam Smith with a takedown off a front headlock.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Seniors lead Minnesota past Penn State 28-12
February 20, 2004
Photos Mark Beshey
Seniors Jacob Volkmann and Damion Hahn each recorded pins in their final home match as Golden Gophers. Minnesota (11-6, 5-3) defeated No. 8 Penn State (14-5, 5-3), 28-12, at the Sports Pavilion on Friday night. The Golden Gophers will travel south to face No. 1 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon.
All-American Bobbe Lowe got the Golden Gophers on the board first with a 3-2 decision at 125 pounds over 11th-ranked Adam Smith. The 3-0 lead didn't last as PSU's Josh Moore, ranked fourth in the country, pinned freshman Andrew Domingues in 1:39. Domingues was wrestling at 133 for the first time this season in place of Quincy Osborn.
Minnesota's Bobbe Lowe exposes Penn State's Adam Smith with a
takedown off a front headlock.
Trailing 6-3, sophomore Tommy Owen knotted the match for Minnesota with a 16-11 decision at 141 over DeWitt Driscoll. Owen trailed 10-8 entering the third period, but registered a takedown and backpoints in the final minute to earn the win.
Minnesota's Tommy Owen retakes the lead against Penn State's
DeWitt Driscoll with nearfall late in the match.
11th-ranked Matt Storniolo gave Penn State a 9-6 lead with a hard-fought 2-0 decision against Minnesota's Thomas McAlpine at 149 pounds. Storniolo registered a first-period takedown and each wrestler rode out the second and third periods.
Sophomore Matt Nagel tied the match for the Golden Gophers at nine just before intermission with an 11-5 decision against James Woodall at 157 pounds.
During intermission, Volkmann and Hahn were honored in front of the Golden Gopher faithful. Volkmann then led off the second half of the match with a pin of Jarrad Turner in just 1:14. The pin put Minnesota up 15-9 and that was as close as Penn State would get. With the win, Volkmann moved into the school's top 10 career victories list with 119.
Junior Jon Duncombe followed the pin with a major decision at 174 pounds. Duncombe got a takedown with 11 seconds to go to earn the extra team point.
Minnesota's Jon Duncombe takes down Penn State's James
Yonushonis.
At 184, sixth-ranked Eric Bradley escaped with a 3-2 decision against Josh McLay. McLay narrowed the margin to one with an escape in the first 30 seconds of the third period, but was unable to get the takedown to pull out the victory.
While Volkmann gave Minnesota the lead, his fellow senior Hahn clinched the match for the Golden Gophers at 197 pounds. Hahn registered a first period takedown and added two more in the second period before securing the pin at the 4:18 mark against Adrian Rivera. It was Hahn's 17th straight victory and his 33rd win in his last 34 matches.
"This is a great way to finish in front of the home crowd," Hahn said. "As a team, we wrestled hard from start to finish and when we do that, we can compete against anybody in the nation. We've proven that."
With the match clinched, sixth-ranked Cole Konrad kept the crowd on its feet with a dramatic 6-4 upset of second-ranked Pat Cummins at heavyweight. Konrad broke a 3-3 tie with a takedown halfway through the third period. Konrad improved to a team-best 28-7 on the season.
"I think Bobbe got us off to a good start at 125 and that was important," head coach J Robinson said. "It was fitting that our seniors wrestled the way they did. We've relied on them throughout this season and I know our fans appreciate everything they've done here."
With four wins in a row, Minnesota finishes 5-3 in the Big Ten, while the Nittany Lions dropped to 5-3. The Golden Gophers will meet top-ranked Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon in Stillwater, Okla.