The top-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team paid a tribute to
its three seniors by crushing No. 20 Michigan State, 35-4, on Friday
night at the Sports Pavilion. Senior Cole Konrad gave the 2,431 fans in
attendance a lasting memory by pinning Alan O'Donnell in 1:36 in the
final home match of his collegiate career as the Golden Gophers won
nine of 10 matches on the night to post an undefeated record at home
(6-0) for the fifth time in head coach J Robinson's tenure. Minnesota
also remained unbeaten in the Big Ten at 6-0 with its 17th straight win.
Prior to the meet, Konrad vowed to give Gopher fans something a little
extra special in his final match in Minneapolis, and he delivered by
dominating O’Donnell. Konrad took the Spartan wrestler down just seven
seconds into the match and simply overpowered him, rolling O’Donnell to
his back to get the fall in 1:36.
Brothers Dustin and C.P. Schlatter also contributed bonus points for
the Gophers, with Dustin earning a tech fall over Tim Hammer at 149
pounds and C.P. pinning Tony Greathouse in 2:46.
Fourth-ranked Jayson Ness continued to run like a machine as he
defeated the eighth straight ranked opponent he has faced with an
entertaining 8-5 decision over No. 5 Franklin Gomez. The two wrestlers
battled back-and-forth throughout the first two periods, and with the
match tied at five with just over a minute remaining, Ness scored the
winning takedown to give Minnesota an early 3-0 advantage.
Michigan State won its only match of the night at 133 pounds, with No.
2 Nick Simmons getting a major decision over Mike Thorn, 13-0. Thorn
wrestled hard throughout the match but simply lacked the experience to
challenge Simmons.
It didn’t matter, as the Gophers finished off the Spartans by winning
the final eight bouts of the night in dominating fashion.
What appeared to be an evenly contested match early on at 141 pounds,
second-ranked Manuel Rivera turned it up a notch and went after No. 4
Andy Simmons in the third period. Leading 2-0, Rivera finished Simmons
off with a pair of takedowns in the final stanza and added the riding
time advantage to earn a 7-2 decision. With the win, Rivera improved to
32-0 on the season and gave Minnesota the lead for good.
At 149, top-ranked Dustin Schlatter scored on a quick shot on Tim
Hammer early in the first and never looked back. Schlatter scored nine
takedowns, one escape and a two-point near fall in the match, adding
the bonus point for over three minutes of riding time to get the tech
fall, 22-7.
C.P. Schlatter followed by putting on a clinic against Tony Greathouse
at 157. Schlatter used a series of takedowns and escapes to build a
12-5 lead over Greathouse before working the MSU wrestler to his back
to get the fall in 2:46 and put Minnesota up 17-4 in the dual.
Sophomore Tyler Safratowich, who had defeated three straight ranked
opponents entering the night, had to come from behind to defeat
Michigan State’s Rocky Cozart. Safratowich fell behind 7-2 after Cozart
scored a takedown and three-point near fall in the first minute of the
match. From there however, Safratowich proved he was the better
conditioned wrestler, gradually working his way back into the match
while visibly wearing Cozart down. After a Cozart takedown early in the
third, Safratowich trailed 10-5, but he scored three takedowns in the
final 1:10 to send the match into overtime. It was all Safratowich in
the sudden victory period, as he scored the winning takedown 29 seconds
in to win 14-12.
No. 13 Gabriel Dretsch followed with a 10-5 decision over Greg Goidosik
at 174 to seal the match for Minnesota, and Roger Kish and Yura
Malamura added wins to give Minnesota a 29-4 lead before Konrad stole
the spotlight at heavyweight.
At intermission, the Gophers recognized Konrad, along with fellow
seniors Danny Williams and Juan Martinez for their contributions to the
wrestling program over the last five years.
Minnesota travels to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the 21st-ranked
Cornhuskers on Sunday at 1 p.m. Live video of the meet will be
available in the Gold Zone, courtesy of HuskersNSide.
