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Reiter and Konrad win titles; Minnesota claims second at Big Tens
March 6, 2005
Complete results at http://hawkeyesports.collegesports.com/
The Golden Gopher wrestling team finished second at the 2005 Big Ten Championships at Carver-Ha
wkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. Redshirt freshman Mack Reiter and sophomore Cole Konrad won individual titles for Minnesota as the team qualified a Big Ten-best 10 wrestlers for the NCAA Championships in two weeks. Reiter was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler and was also named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Illinois captured the team title with 130 points, followed by the Golden Gophers at 123.5 points. Michigan claimed third with 118.0 points, followed by defending champion Iowa in fourth at 94.5. Illinois captured its first Big Ten Championship since 1952 and in the process, snapped a streak of 31 straight years that either Iowa or Minnesota has won the conference title.
All 10 Golden Gophers finished in seventh place or higher to assure themselves a berth in the 2005 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo., March 17-19. Illinois will send nine wrestlers to nationals. Minnesota qualified all five of its redshirt freshmen from its top-ranked 2003 recruiting class. The Golden Gophers have just one senior in their lineup.
"I thought we had a very good tournament," head coach J Robinson said. "Considering we have not had a healthy team all season until now, we're thrilled to get all of our guys through to the NCAA Championships. When we get this close and finish second, it's disappointing, but it does show how far we've come this season."
A native of Gilbertville, Iowa, Reiter earned his 133-pound title in dominating fashion with a pin in 4:34 against top-seeded Mark Jayne of Illinois. He is the first conference freshman to win a Big Ten title since 2001. Reiter trailed 2-1 in the second period, but got Jayne in a bear hug and drove him to his back. Reiter's pin was his 14th on the season, which is the second-highest total by a Golden Gopher freshman in school history. Jayne is 28-3 on the season, but all three of his losses have come against Reiter. Reiter is the second Minnesota wrestler to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year joining Jared Lawrence who won the award in 2000. He is also the fourth Golden Gopher to be named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.
"We both came out aggressive in the first period and there were a couple of times where I got out of position," Reiter said. "I saw an opening with the bear hug and was able to get him to his back. As a team, we came here to win, but we've proven that we're right there with anyone in the country. We'll use these next two weeks to get ready to compete at nationals."
The top-seed at heavyweight, Konrad earned his first Big Ten Championship with a 4-1 overtime decision against third-seeded Pat DeGain of Indiana. After the two traded escapes in the second and third periods, Konrad rode DeGain for the entire first overtime period. In the second overtime, he earned an escape and then a takedown as time ran out to win the title. It was Konrad' 25th win in a row, the ninth-longest streak in school history.
Junior Matt Nagel finished a career-best third place at 165 pounds with a 6-1 decision against fifth-seeded Donny Reynolds of Illinois and then a dominating 11-0 major decision against fourth-seeded Jake Donar of Wisconsin in the third-place match. Nagel led 3-0 against Donar, but put the match away with a takedown and near fall in the middle of the second period. He added a third-period takedown to assure the major decision. He advances to his third straight NCAA Championship.
Redshirt freshman C.P. Schlatter took fourth place in his first Big Ten Championship appearance at 157 pounds. In the consolation semifinals, Schlatter defeated fifth-seeded Brandon Becker of Indiana, 4-2. Schlatter was defeated in the third-place match by third-seeded Joe Johnston of Iowa, 8-5. The two traded leads throughout the first two periods, but trailing 7-5, Schlatter was unable to get the tying takedown.
A pair of Minnesota grapplers rebounded to claim fifth place. Senior All-American Bobbe Lowe was upset by sixth-seeded Adam Smith of Penn State, 5-2, in the consolation semifinals, but regrouped to earn fifth place with his second victory of the tournament over fourth-seeded John Velez of Northwestern. Lowe trailed in the match before a takedown and near fall put him ahead 5-1 in the second period. He held on for a 6-5 decision.
Also claiming fifth place was sophomore Quincy Osborn at 149 pounds. Entering the tournament, he had wrestled just one career match at 149 pounds, but he will represent Minnesota at the NCAA Championships after he pinned Isacc Knable of Indiana in the fifth-place match in 6:16.
Redshirt freshman Roger Kish took sixth place at 184 pounds after dropping a 4-3 decision against fourth-seeded Ben Wissel in the fifth-place match. Kish dropped a 5-1 decision against Iowa's Paul Bradley in the consolation semifinals.
A trio of Golden Gophers won their seventh-place match to earn trips to the NCAA Tournament. Junior Tommy Owen claimed seventh place at 141 pounds after Penn State's Dewitt Driscoll was forced to default due to injury. Redshirt freshman Gabriel Dretsch earned seventh place at 174 pounds with his 5-4 overtime victory against Penn State's James Yonushonis. Dretsch took a 5-4 lead in the first overtime with an escape and then rode Yonushonis the entire second overtime period to claim the decision.
Fellow redshirt freshman Matt Koz also needed overtime before prevailing in the seventh-place match at 197 pounds against Iowa's Adam Fellers. Koz trailed 7-6 in the third period after a takedown by Fellers, but he was able to get the point for an escape to force overtime. In the first overtime period, Koz took an 8-7 lead with an escape and then rode Fellers the entire second period to become the 10th Golden Gopher to place in the tournament.
After finishing the Big Ten dual meet season in sixth place, the Golden Gophers regrouped to record their ninth straight top-three finish at the Big Ten Championships. Minnesota has finished first or second the past seven seasons. The Golden Gophers have had multiple champions in each of the past seven seasons.