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Gophers take on Hawkeyes and Buckeyes
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
THIS WEEK: The seventh-ranked Golden Gophers (8-6, 2-2) will look to build on a pair of road wins last weekend when they travel to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes (8-4, 3-2) on Friday night. The match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena begins at 7 p.m.
On Sunday, Minnesota returns home to face Ohio State (7-9, 0-5) at the Sports Pavilion. The match, which will air live on Fox Sports North, will begin at 2 p.m.
GOLDEN GOPHERS REBOUND ON THE ROAD: After dropping the first two Big Ten duals of the season, Minnesota rebounded last week with a pair of convincing victories. On Friday at Northwestern, the Golden Gophers faced a fired up Wildcat squad that had just beaten Iowa for the first time in 37 years. Minnesota took the crowd out of it early after Northwestern took a 3-0 lead. The Golden Gophers rattled off seven straight victories en route to a 28-10 victory. Among the winners, fifth-ranked Bobbe Lowe defeated No. 9 John Velez, 6-2, at 125 pounds. Third-ranked Mack Reiter followed with a pin against Dan Quintela at 133 pounds. Sophomore Danny Williams earned his first career Big Ten win with an 8-7 decision against Greg Hagel at 149 pounds.
The following night, the Golden Gophers handed Purdue a 29-12 setback, thanks to three pins. Minnesota earned falls in three of the first four matches, including Reiter's third straight. He pinned Sean Schmaltz in just 1:53. Junior Tommy Owen collected his second pin of the season in 2:45 against Ben Sprunger at 141 pounds. Freshman C.P. Schlatter continued his strong weekend with his second career victory at 157 pounds.
THE SERIES WITH IOWA: Iowa leads the all-time series against Minnesota by a 61-23-1 advantage, including a 22-7 edge in duals held in Iowa City. From the 1973-74 season to 1996-97, Iowa won 23 of the 24 meetings. The turning point in the series occurred in the finals of the National Duals in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 18, 1998. The Golden Gophers trailed 17-12 entering the heavyweight match which featured seventh-ranked Shelton Benjamin and eighth-ranked Wes Hand. Benjamin needed the fall and delivered at the 2:16 mark of the match. The 18-17 victory made Minnesota just one of two teams in the previous 16 years to beat Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye. Including that title match, Minnesota has a 7-5 record against the Hawkeyes, including a 4-1 edge at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
ABOUT THE HAWKEYES: Iowa rebounded nicely last weekend after dropping duals against Illinois and Northwestern. The Hawkeyes claimed a 23-16 win against Penn State and a 30-6 rout of Ohio State to improve to 3-2 in the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes return 15 of 26 letterwinners from last year's team which claimed the Big Ten Championship, and finished second at the NCAA Championship. Iowa has seven wrestlers ranked nationally, highlighted by fourth-ranked Mark Perry at 165.
POTENTIAL HAWKEYE-GOPHER MATCHUPS: A rematch at 125 pounds appears inevitable as senior Bobbe Lowe has met both potential Hawkeye matchups. At the UNO Open earlier this season, Lowe defeated Lucas Magnani in the championship match by a 5-2 decision. In the first round of the tournament, Lowe got by Charlie Falck, 3-2.
Redshirt freshman Gabriel Dretsch defeated Iowa's Luke Lofthouse twice at the UNO Open. Earlier in the tournament, Dretsch claimed a 7-4 decision, and followed that with a 4-3 decision en route to a fifth-place finish at 174 pounds.
LAST TIME VS. THE HAWKEYES: Needing bonus points in the final match of the day, Cole Konrad pinned Iowa's Ryan Fuller with 15 seconds left to give No. 13 Minnesota an 18-15 win over No. 8 Iowa at Williams Arena.
Minnesota trailed 15-6 entering the 184-pound match between No. 13 Paul Bradley and Josh McLay. Bradley took a 1-0 lead into the final period on a first period escape, but McLay escaped three seconds into the final frame to tie the score. Bradley was charged with a second stall warning with 35 seconds left in the bout and McLay hung on for the 2-1 upset win.
Damion Hahn kept the momentum in Minnesota's favor with a 6-1 decision of No. 13 Ryan Fulsaas at 197. In the deciding match, Konrad started down to start the third period and escaped immediately to lead 1-0. He took down Fuller a minute later to lead 3-0. While Fuller attempted to escape, Konrad underhooked Fuller and decked him with 15 seconds left in the match. It marked the second time that Konrad had pinned Fuller. Konrad rolled Fuller in 3:58 at the Kaufman-Brand Open, the only other time Fuller had been pinned up to that point.
FAMILIAR FACES: The Golden Gophers will get their first look at former two-time NCAA Champion Tim Hartung donning the Black and Gold of the Iowa Hawkeyes. A member of the Golden Gopher support staff from 1999-2004, Hartung is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Hawkeyes. Hartung was a three-time All-American for Minnesota from 1997-99 and claimed a pair of national titles.
Another strange site will no doubt be the appearance of redshirt freshman Mack Reiter at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. A native of Gilbertville, Iowa, Reiter grew up dreaming of wrestling for the Hawkeyes, but ultimately chose to wear the Maroon and Gold. The first four-time Iowa state champion to wrestle for Minnesota, he was recruited by another four-time Iowa state champion, Mark Schwab. Schwab was an assistant coach at Minnesota for nine years before leaving to take the head coaching position at Buena Vista College this past summer. Reiter is currently ranked third in the nation with a team-best 30-3 record and 12 pins.
THE SERIES VS. OHIO STATE: The Golden Gophers lead the all-time series against Ohio State by a 33-10-3 margin, including a 14-8 advantage in matches held in Minneapolis. The two teams last met on Feb. 2, 2003, in Columbus, Ohio, with Minnesota claiming a 20-15 victory. The Golden Gophers have won 10 in a row in the series, includ-ing four straight wins in Minneapolis. Ohio State's last victory in the series occurred on Feb. 20, 1993. The visiting Buckeyes claimed a 22-14 win. Head coach J Robinson owns a 12-3 career record against Ohio State.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES: Ohio State is coming off one of its most successful seasons in school history. After a disappointing eighth place finish at the Big Ten Championships, the Buckeyes tied for third place at nationals, thanks to five All-Americans, including NCAA Champion heavyweight Tommy Rowlands. Unfortunately for Ohio State, only one of those All-Americans return, 197-pounder J.D. Bergman. The Buckeyes could have as many as six freshman and eight underclassmen in the lineup on Sunday vs. Minnesota. Bergman is currently ranked seventh in the nation, while freshman Kirk Nail is rated 16th at heavyweight. Freshman T.J. Enright is ranked 18th at 133 pounds.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Minnesota and Ohio State enter this weekend with two common opponents. On Jan. 28, Michigan State handed the Golden Gophers a 28-14 defeat. The Spartans also defeated Ohio State earlier this season by the score of 27-16. Minnesota defeated Purdue last weekend by the score of 29-12, while the Boilermakers topped the Buckeyes, 21-12, on Jan. 28.