The defending national champion and fifth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling
team made quick work of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits Sunday at
the Sports Pavilion, winning the afternoon dual meet by a score of
34-9. A Minnesota lineup that featured just four regulars won seven of
10 matches, including the 24th consecutive victory of the season for
top-ranked sophomore Jayson Ness.
Fresh off a weekend in which they wrestled four times at the NWCA
National Duals, the Gopher coaching staff elected to rest a number of
starters – regulars Mack Reiter, Manuel Rivera, Dustin Schlatter, Scott
Glasser, Gabe Dretsch and Roger Kish were all held out of the lineup
for various reasons. Ness (wrestling for the first time in his
collegiate career at 133 pounds), No. 7 C.P. Schlatter (157 pounds) and
returning NCAA qualifier Tyler Safratowich (165 pounds) highlighted the
Gophers’ revised lineup, which featured four wrestlers making just
their first, second or third dual meet appearances of the season.
Ness took part in the only 133-pound match of his short career. By
dominating Nick Kulseth of South Dakota State, Ness moved to 24-0
overall on the season and 12-0 in dual meets. Seeking his NCAA-leading
17th pin of the season, Ness held Kulseth in a half nelson for the
majority of the first period, but was unable to run the hold and gain
the pin.
After hooking the Jackrabbit and gaining three back points on the near
fall, Ness took advantage and gained another three points to run the
score to 10-0 in the second period. With only 20 seconds left in the
frame, Kulseth escaped to gain his first point of the match and ended
the period trailing 10-1. Following a takedown by Ness and a technical
point for stalling against Kulseth, Ness was appeared in position to
earn a tech fall victory. But on a failed headlock, Kulseth gave the
Gopher faithful a scare by reversing Ness and turning him to his back.
Ness was able to fight off the nearfall and finish with a 14-5 major
decision victory, putting Minnesota ahead 21-6 for the dual at the time.
Another highlight of the afternoon included Jeremy Larson’s quick pin
over Justin Retallic to start the meet at 174 pounds. Competing in only
his second dual meet of the season, Larson was able to finish off the
Jackrabbit in only 1:39 and gave his fans something to cheer about on
Jeremy Larson Community Day at the Sports Pavilion.
Displaying the aggressiveness that has earned him the seventh spot in
the nation, C. P. Schlatter was able to pin SDSU’s Marc Wermerson in
only 39 seconds at 157 pounds, helping to cap off a day that saw
Minnesota lead the entire meet. Schlatter moved to 19-2 overall on the
season, with a 7-2 record in dual meets. It was the fourth pin of the
season for Schlatter, a new career high.
Gaining another big victory for Minnesota was senior Justin Bronson at
197 pounds. The Gopher scored first against Jeremy Swier with a
takedown and then proceeded to rack up point after point on first
period nearfall by keeping the Jackrabbit locked up. Eventually scoring
15 straight back points, Bronson won by tech fall 17-0 in 2:51.
Competing in his first dual meet since his sophomore season, fifth-year
senior Dan Jackson got a shot in the spot normally reserved for Ness.
Competing against Alan Marvin of SDSU proved to be more than the Gopher
could handle – ultimately the SDSU wrestler pulled out an 8-4 win, one
of only three Jackrabbit victories on the day.
Luke Mellmer gave Minnesota a hard-fought won his first dual meet
decision of the season in seven tries, filling in for the injured
Dustin Schlatter at 149 pounds. After a scoreless first period, it was
Mellmer who struck first against Jeff Cooley, shooting in on Cooley’s
legs and taking him down for the 2-0 advantage. Cooley struck back with
an escape and a takedown of his own to take the lead at 3-2 going into
the third period. A standup by Cooley then brought the score to 4-2.
Firing back with a minute left in the match, Mellmer bridged a failed
double leg into a successful and acrobatic takedown to tie the score at
four apiece. After the takedown, Mellmer was able to ride out the
remainder or the period giving him the point advantage and the victory
5-4.
The Gophers other victories came from Safratowich, a 10-1 major
decision to close out the meet at 165 pounds, and Malamura, who won by
forfeit at heavyweight. Other Gophers competing included Jake Mellmer
(141 pounds) and Brandon Sitch (184 pounds).
Sundays’ dual meet lasted just one hour and 23 minutes. The announced attendance was 1,604.
The two-time defending Big Ten champion Gophers will open conference
dual meet competition this Friday night when they travel to Michigan
State. The Gophers have lost just one time to the Spartans in their
past 13 meetings dating back to 1996. Minnesota will then go to Ann
Arbor for a showdown with the No. 4 Wolverines. Michigan topped the
Gophers in the third-place meet at last weekend’s National Duals. The
Gophers have lost just one Big Ten dual meet in the past two seasons.
Minnesota’s next home competition promises to be one of the biggest
match-ups of the entire collegiate wrestling season, as the defending
national champs host the top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Feb. 1 at 7:30
p.m. at Williams Arena. The Hawkeyes, ranked first nationally for the
first time since the 2000 season,
#5 Minnesota 34, South Dakota State 9
174: Jeremy Larson (MN) fall Justin Retallic (SDSU), 1:39
184: Tyler Sorenson (SDSU) dec. Brandon Sitch (MN), 8-6
197: Justin Bronson (MN) tech. fall Jeremy Swier, 17-0 (2:51)
Hwt: Yura Malamura (MN) wins by forfeit
125: Alan Marvin (SDSU) dec. Dan Jackson (MN), 8-5
133: #1 Jayson Ness (MN) maj. dec. Nick Kulseth (SDSU), 14-5
141: Adam Everson (SDSU) dec. Jake Mellmer (MN), 7-0
149: Luke Mellmer (MN) dec. Jeff Cooley (SDSU), 5-4
157: #7 C.P. Schlatter (MN) fall Nick Genereux (SDSU), 0:43
165: Tyler Safratowich (MN) maj. dec. Ryan Meyer (SDSU), 10-1
