Championship Hopes Come Up Short For Gophers at National Duals
January 13, 2008
The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling
team saw its quest for a third straight National Duals title come up
short Sunday, as they were defeated 24-13 by No. 10 Nebraska in the
semifinals at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Gophers were then
beaten 23-16 by No. 7 Michigan in the third-place match-up. Minnesota’s
fourth-place finish was the team’s lowest since 2004, when they placed
seventh at the annual 16-team event.
Sunday’s semifinal loss was the first for the Gophers in their previous
11 National Duals meets, snapping a 10-meet winning streak that dated
back to the 2006 event. Minnesota’s overall season record is now 9-2,
making it the first time since 2004-05 that the Gophers have lost more
than one dual meet in a season (they went 20-1 in both 2005-06 and
2006-07).
Although unseeded, the Cornhuskers entered the tournament as one of the
favorites on the strength of their nine ranked wrestlers, including
seven ranked in the top ten. Nebraska had defeated top-ranked Penn
State during Saturday’s action and advanced to face Iowa in the 3 p.m.
championship meet.
The early dual’s most anticipated match-up was also its first, as No. 3
Jayson Ness of the Gophers met top-ranked and defending national
champion Paul Donahue at 125 pounds. Ness defeated the Cornhusker twice
during tournament competition last season, but Donahue was a 5-2 winner
at November’s NWCA All-Star Classic in Oregon. This time, the Gopher
sophomore got the best of his rival, winning a dramatic 6-4 overtime
decision. Ness led 4-2 with only 24 seconds remaining, but a
last-effort takedown by Donahue sent the match into sudden overtime. In
the extra period, Ness quickly gained the upper position and took down
Donahue 29 seconds in, eliciting cheers from the Gopher faithful in
attendance.
The rest of Minnesota’s highly touted lightweight corps also took care
of business in the early going. Senior and fifth-ranked Mack Reiter was
locked in a close battle until finally pulling away late in his 8-4 win
over No. 8 Kenny Jordan. Reiter also beat Jordan in the two teams’ dual
meet match-up Dec. 6 in Minneapolis. At 141 pounds, Manuel Rivera
improved his overall record to 20-1 with a 10-6 win over Mike Rowe
(Rowe had upset No. 2 Jake Strayer of Penn State Saturday).
True freshman Luke Mellmer, filling in for top-ranked Dustin Schlatter
at 149 pounds, did his best to avoid a pin against No. 6 Jordan
Burroughs but still lost by technical fall 18-9 (making the team score
9-5). Senior C.P. Schlatter provided a bounce-back effort at 157 with a
10-2 major decision over No. 17 Chris Oliver, but that was the last
match Minnesota would win.
Up 13-5 entering the final five matches of the dual, Minnesota needed
at least two wins to keep their championship dreams alive. But Tyler
Safratowich lost a close 4-1 decision to No. 8 Stephen Dwyer at 165
pounds, and Nebraska’s Brandon Browne (ranked fifth) followed that with
a nail biting 3-2 win over the Gophers’ Gabe Dretsch at 174 pounds.
The biggest upset of the afternoon came at 184 pounds, as No. 10 Vince
Jones of Nebraska defeated an injury-plagued No. 2 Roger Kish. Kish had
beaten Jones 6-2 earlier this year, but was visibly slowed Sunday and
nipped by a Jones takedown in the final four seconds of the match. The
Gophers then lost at 197 pounds and heavyweight to make the final tally
24-13 in favor of the Cornhuskers.
The loss was Minnesota’s first to Nebraska since 2005 and just their second in the previous 14 match-ups between the two teams.
The Gophers did not have long to dwell on the loss as they stepped onto
the mat just 15 minutes later against the seventh-ranked Wolverines in
the third place dual meet. Ness, who appears poised to jump in the
national rankings, made quick work of Michael Watts in the opening
match with a 53-second pin. Ness is now 23-0 this season and has
recorded 16 pins, just four shy of the program’s single-season mark
(held by current Gopher head assistant Marty Morgan).
Reiter took care of business against Chris Diehl (an 11-2 major
decision), but Rivera could not muster the upset against No. 1 Kellen
Russell of the Wolverines. Rivera nearly came back from a 7-3 deficit,
but ended up losing 10-6. After Mellmer was pinned in 3:45 by No. 7
Josh Churella, C.P. Schlatter won a surprisingly close 3-2 decision
over Jeff Marsh. The Gophers then elected to go with senior Jeremy
Larson at 165 pounds, who kept things close in a 6-3 loss to top-ranked
Eric Tannenbaum.
Dretsch had to endure his third top-five wrestler of the weekend at 174
pounds in No. 2 Steve Luke putting forth a solid effort in the 5-3
loss. Brandon Sitch filled in for a banged-up Kish at 184 pounds but
lost 17-4, while senior Mitch Kuhlman saw his first dual meet action in
nearly two years at 197 pounds, losing 10-0 to No. 15 Anthony Biondo.
Heavyweight Ben Berhow ended what was an otherwise-disappointing day
for the Gophers with a 5-0 shutout win over Chad Bleske at heavyweight,
making the final score 23-16 in favor of Michigan.
Michigan has now defeated Minnesota in three of the past four dual
meets between the two schools – Minnesota has only lost four dual meets
total since the start of 2005-06.
The Gophers will have a week to rest and recover from their grueling
National Duals effort, as they host South Dakota State Sunday afternoon
(Jan. 20) at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis. Meet time will be 1
p.m.
The NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals featured 86 teams (including
Divisions I through III, NAIA and NJCAA) and over 1,400 wrestlers on 18
mats of continuous competition. The University of Northern Iowa hosted
the event for the third straight year.
15,746 people attended the two-day event, including nearly 8,000 during Sunday’s semifinal and final match-ups.
