Four Golden Gophers advance in championship bracket

March 16, 2006

The top-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team is in fifth place after day one of the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City. Mack Reiter, Dustin Schlatter, Roger Kish and Cole Konrad all advanced to tomorrow’s championship quarterfinals, while Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter and Matt Nagel will compete in the consolation bracket. Sophomore Gabriel Dretsch stayed alive following his controversial win in the consolation round.

Nearing the end of the final consolation round, Dretsch was leading Ohio State’s Blake Maurer, 1-0, in the second period when he was called for locking his hands around Maurer’s leg. With that penalty point and a third-period escape, Maurer seemingly earned a 2-1 win. Minnesota coaches protested the locking hands call and nearly an hour later, the call was reversed.

In front of about 700 fans left from the over-15,000 in attendance, the pair resumed their match with Dretsch leading 1-0 entering the third period. Riding on top, Dretsch took a 4-0 lead with a three-point near fall. He added a late takedown to claim a 6-1 win and give Minnesota eight wrestlers still alive in the tournament.

Three-time defending champion Oklahoma State is in first place with 36.5 points. The Cowboys racked up 10 extra points on five pins during the evening session. Oklahoma State has six wrestlers in the quarterfinals. Oklahoma is in second place with 24.5 points, followed by Hofstra and Edinboro with 22.5. Michigan and Nebraska are tied for fifth with the Golden Gophers with 22 points.

Reiter advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight year with a 7-2 decision over Joshua Pniewski of Gardner Webb. Reiter took the lead for good with a takedown with 39 seconds to go in the first match. After riding Pniewski the entire second period, Reiter took control of the match with a reversal to start the third. He finished with a 2:35 advantage in riding time.

Reiter will meet Purdue’s Chris Fleeger of Purdue in tomorrow’s quarterfinals. Fleeger is a two-time All-American and was a national runner-up at 125 pounds in 2003. It will be the first career meeting between the two.

Dustin Schlatter reached the quarterfinals with ease following a 14-1 major decision against Northern Iowa’s Ryan Osgood. Schlatter jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a takedown and a pair of near falls in the first period. He finished with over four minutes in riding time as he improved to 39-1 on the year.

Schlatter will meet eighth-seeded Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan in tomorrow morning’s quarterfinal. Schlatter defeated Tannenbaum, 6-0, in their only other meeting this season.

Kish moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-2 decision against Ryan Halsey of Cal Poly. Halsey gave Kish a scare with a early takedown which put the Golden Gopher on his back. Kish quickly recovered and tied the match at two with a reversal. Kish took over the match with a second-period takedown that gave him a 6-2 lead.

Kish will meet 10th-seeded C.B. Dolloway of Arizona State in the quarterfinals. Dolloway defeated Kish, 3-0, in their dual meet matchup in early January. Kish defeated the Sun Devil by a 5-0 decision last year.

Konrad became the fourth Golden Gopher to advance in the championship bracket as he pinned Tyler Shovlin of North Carolina Greensboro in 3:19. All top four seeds in the heavyweight bracket advanced to the quarterfinals with pins. Konrad dominated from the outset as he took a 7-1 first-period lead thanks to a pair of takedowns and a three-point near fall. In the second, Shovlin got in on a leg, but Konrad climbed over him and turned him to his back. Konrad remains perfect on the year with a 38-0 record.

Konrad will meet Virginia Tech’s Mike Faust in the next round. Konrad has defeated the Hokie twice this season, including a 17-4 major decision at the Southern Scuffle in late December.

C.P. Schlatter was unable to generate any offense until it was too late against Flanagan. Following a scoreless first period, Flanagan rode Schlatter the entire two minutes. With the riding time advantage, Flanagan took a 1-0 with an escape to open the third period. He then scored the pivotal takedown with just a over a minute to go in the match. Schlatter escaped and then tied the match with 28 seconds to go in the match, but was unable to get the final takedown. Flanagan’s 1:49 in riding time proved to be the difference.

Schlatter will now move to the consolation bracket needing three wins to gain All-American status. He will face Oklahoma State’s Kevin Ward tomorrow morning. Ward won the first two meetings between the pair in November, but Schlatter prevailed in both dual meet matchups.

Rivera rebounded from his near-upset of two-time NCAA Champion Teyon Ware of Oklahoma in the first round with a 7-4 decision against Kyle Larson of Oregon State at 141. Rivera led through out the match after scoring the first takedown of the match with less than a minute to go in the first period. Rivera will meet 12th-seeded Sean Markey of The Citadel in tomorrow’s consolation bracket.

Nagel advanced through the consolation bracket with a 4-3 decision over Cornell’s Stephen Anceravage at 165 pounds. Nagel led 3-1 in the third period, before Ancevarage tied the match with a reversal with 10 seconds to go in the match. Nagel was awarded the game-winning point for his 1:56 in riding time. Nagel will meet Hofstra’s Chris Vondruska tomorrow. Nagel won their only meeting in overtime earlier this season.

Session III will begin tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. at the Ford Center. The championship quarterfinals will be carried live on ESPNU.

2006 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
March 16, 2006 at Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Session II

Team Scores
1. Oklahoma State, 36.5
2. Oklahoma, 24.5
3t. Edinboro, 23
3t. Hofstra, 23
5t. Minnesota, 22
5t. Michigan, 22
5t. Nebraska, 22
7t. Iowa, 21.5
9. Penn State, 21.5
10. Arizona State, 19.5

Individual Results
133 - #4 Mack Reiter
1st -- Reiter pinned Mark Budd (Buffalo), 1:32
2nd -- Reiter dec. Joshua Pniewski (Gardner-Webb), 7-2
Qtrs -- vs. #5 Christopher Fleeger (Purdue)

141 -- Manuel Rivera
1st - #2 Teyon Ware (Oklahoma) dec. Rivera, 4-3
Consolation -- Rivera dec. Kyle Larson (Oregon State), 7-4
Consolation -- vs. #12 Sean Markey (The Citadel)

149 - #1 Dustin Schlatter
1st -- Schlatter maj. dec. Anthony Baza (CS Bakersfield), 8-0
2nd -- Schlatter maj. dec. Ryan Osgood (Northern Iowa), 14-1
Qtrs -- vs. #5 Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan)

157 - #2 C.P. Schlatter
1st -- Schlatter dec. Seth Martin (Lock Haven), 3-2
2nd -- Andrew Flanagan (Harvard) dec. Schlatter, 4-3
Consolation -- vs. Kevin Ward (Oklahoma State)

165 - #6 Matt Nagel
1st -- Deonte Penn (Edinboro) dec. Nagel, 8-5
Consolation -- Nagel dec. #11 Stephen Anceravage (Cornell), 4-3
Consolation -- vs. Chris Vondruska (Hofstra)

174 - #10 Gabriel Dretsch
1st -- Kenneth Robertson (Eastern Illinois) dec. Dretsch, 3-2
Consolation -- Dretsch dec. Blake Maurer (Ohio State), 6-1
Consolation -- vs. Kurt Brenner (West Virginia)

184 - #2 Roger Kish
1st -- Kish pinned Jeremy Colbert (N.C. State), 2:00
2nd -- Kish dec. Ryan Halsey (Cal Poly), 7-2
Qtrs -- vs. #10 C.B. Dolloway (Arizona State)

HWT - #1 Cole Konrad
1st -- Konrad dec. Dusty Hoffschneider (Wyoming), 8-4
2nd -- Konrad pinned Tyler Shovlin (UNC Greensboro), 3:19
Qtrs -- vs. #8 Michael Faust (Virginia Tech)