The top-ranked Golden Gopher wrestling team defeated No. 17 Michigan by
a final score of 29-6 on Friday night at the Sports Pavilion. The
Wolverines, who handed Minnesota its only dual meet loss of the season
last year, were no match for the Gophers this time around. Minnesota
won eight of 10 matches on the night to cruise to the victory.
No. 4 Jayson Ness started the Gophers off in style with a 20-3 tech
fall over Michigan's Michael Watts, and Manuel Rivera, Gabriel Dretsch,
and Cole Konrad each added major decisions to contribute bonus points
to the team score. Konrad's victory was his 60th straight, extended his
school-record winning streak.
The Gophers also won the two marquee match-ups of the night, with
top-ranked Dustin Schlatter earning a 2-1 decision over No. 3 Josh
Churella at 149 pounds and No. 2 Roger Kish downing No. 4 Tyrel Todd,
15-8, at 174. Minnesota's other two victories came from Mike Thorn and
C.P. Schlatter.
Ness gave Minnesota an early 5-0 lead with his victory over Watts. Ness
dominated from the opening whistle, countering a shot attempt by Watts
to score the first takedown of the match 25 seconds in. He earned five
back points and scored another takedown to lead 9-1 after the first.
Ness extended his lead throughout the next two periods, capped off with
a three-point near fall with under 10 seconds remaining to earn the
tech fall.
Ness’ win was a sign of things to come for the Wolverines, as the
Gophers won each of the next four bouts to put Michigan away early in
the dual.
In a battle between two true freshman at 133, Thorn fought his way to a
close 7-5 decision over Chris Diehl. With the match knotted at four
entering the third period, Thorn started down and took the lead with a
reversal 28 seconds later. Diehl got the escape to make it 6-5, but
Thorn prevented him from getting any shots in and earned the bonus
point for riding time.
Rivera, ranked No. 2 in the nation at 141, followed with a dominant
19-6 major decision over Justin Chrzanowski at 141. With a 9-2 lead
entering the third, Rivera looked to extend his lead with a series of
takedowns. Chrzanowski was able to avoid the tech fall, but Rivera
proved once again that he is one of the nation’s best with his 28th
consecutive victory.
In a low-scoring match at 149, Dustin Schlatter simply found a way to
win once again, battling his way to a 2-1 decision over the
third-ranked Churella to extend his winning streak to 53 consecutive
matches. After a scoreless first period, Schlatter rode Churella the
entire second period to build the riding time advantage. A double stall
warning made the score 1-1, and with neither wrestler able to finish a
shot in the third, Schlatter’s riding time proved to be the difference.
Third-ranked C.P. Schlatter turned in a 13-7 decision over Rob Sulaver
at 157. Clearly the superior wrestler, Schlatter went to work
immediately, scoring three takedowns in the first period. He held an
8-4 advantage after the third and attempted to earn bonus points in the
third, but Sulaver was able to keep the damage to a minimum.
Jeremy Larson faced a tough test in No. 2 Eric Tannenbaum, but as he
has done all year against top competition, Larson fought throughout to
prevent any bonus points. Tannenbaum finally got Michigan on the board
with a 12-5 decision.
The Gophers finished the night by winning three of the final four
matches. No. 12 Gabriel Dretsch shut out his fourth opponent of the
season, downing Jordan Sherrod, 8-0. Dretsch was never seriously
threatened as he scored a takedown in each period, added an escape in
the second and earned the bonus point with 2:28 of riding time.
In the other bout between two-top five wrestlers, Kish was too much for
Todd to handle at 184 pounds. Kish utilized his superior strength and
athleticism to wear Todd down. He struck first with an takedown just
over 30 seconds into the match and built his lead from there, opening
it up in the second with a pair of takedowns and escapes with Todd
visibly reeling with knee problems. In the end, Kish came up just short
of earning bonus points but extended Minnesota’s lead to 25-3
nonetheless.
True freshman Brent Eidenschink turned in another solid effort against
a ranked wrestler at 197 but eventually fell, 7-3, to No. 17 Nick Roy
for Michigan’s second victory of the night.
Konrad erased any hopes Omar Maktabi may have had early in the match,
scoring a takedown just 17 seconds in. With bonus points on his mind,
Konrad immediately let Maktabi escape and went right back to work. The
theme remained the same for much of the bout, as Konrad piled up nine
takedowns in the match to eventually earn a 21-7 victory.
CSTV will air tonight’s match on tape delay on Monday, Jan. 29 at 8
p.m. (CST). A complete replay will be available in the Gold Zone next
week.
Minnesota will again be in action at the Sports Pavilion on Sunday when
it hosts Purdue at 2 p.m. Live video of the match against the
Boilermakers will be available in the Gold Zone.
January 26, 2007 at Minneapolis, MN
#1 Minnesota 29, #17 Michigan 6
125 - #4 Jayson Ness (MINN) tech fall Michael Watts (MICH), 20-3
133 - Mike Thorn (MINN) dec. Chris Diehl (MICH), 7-5
141 - #2 Manuel Rivera (MINN) maj. dec. Justin Chrzanowski (MICH), 19-6
149 - #1 Dustin Schlatter (MINN) dec. #3 Josh Churella (MICH), 2-1
157 - #3 C.P. Schlatter (MINN) dec. Rob Sulaver (MICH), 13-7
165 - #2 Eric Tannenbaum (MICH) dec. Jeremy Larson (MINN), 12-5
174 - #12 Gabriel Dretsch (MINN) maj. dec. Jordan Sherrod (MICH), 8-0
184 - #2 Roger Kish (MINN) dec. #4 Tyrel Todd (MICH), 15-8
197 - #17 Nick Roy (MICH) dec. Brent Eidenschink (MINN), 7-3
Hwt - #1 Cole Konrad (MINN) maj. dec. Omar Maktabi (MICH), 21-7
