The No. 4 Golden Gopher wrestling
team dropped a tough 20-13 dual meet decision to the top-ranked Iowa
Hawkeyes Friday night at Williams Arena. Two key upsets spurred the
Hawkeyes to victory in front of 7,472 spectators, giving them their
first win over Minnesota in three years.
Things began going awry for the Gophers after Iowa’s Joe Slaton
defeated Mack Reiter at 133 pounds, followed by an upset victory by Dan
LeClere over Minnesota’s Manuel Rivera at 141. The Gophers closed the
gap to one point after the 165-pound match, but Iowa cemented the
victory when No. 8 Phil Keddy upset No. 5 Roger Kish at 184 pounds.
Jayson Ness got things started in a big way for the Gophers at 125
pounds against third-ranked Charlie Falck of Iowa. After a few close
calls in the first period (Ness led just 3-2 after three minutes), the
undefeated sophomore opened things up in the second period. Ness
brought the hometown crowd to a frenzy by scoring a whopping seven
points in the next frame, including a takedown and two nearfalls (one
for three points). Ness wrapped up the 14-2 major decision in the final
period to improve to 27-0 this year and 4-0 lifetime against Falck.
Ness improved to 27-0 on the year and owns the second-longest active win streak at the Division I level.
At 133 pounds, the Gophers’ Mack Reiter got off to a rocky start,
falling behind 4-0 after the opening period to second-ranked Joe
Slaton. Slaton rode for the entire second period, accumulating an
impressive 2:58 worth of riding time heading into the final frame.
Reiter was unable to muster anything offensively until final minute of
the match, when he scored a takedown and an escape to make the score
4-3. But Slaton proved too much for the Gopher senior, scoring another
three points in the final 20 seconds to emerge the 8-3 victor.
Third-ranked Manny Rivera of Minnesota and ninth-ranked Dan LeClere of
the Hawkeyes squared off at 141 pounds in a crucial match-up. LeClere
led 2-1 after a period and 6-3 after two, appearing well on his way to
the upset. Rivera, however, would close the deficit to 6-5 with a
takedown with one minute remaining and another with 30 seconds left to
tie the score at seven and send the match into overtime. In the sudden
victory period, LeClere grabbed hold of Rivera’s leg and pulled off the
upset with a takedown 34 seconds in, as Iowa took a 6-4 lead in the
dual.
Luke Mellmer hung tough with top-ranked Brent Metcalf at 149 pounds,
but was eventually worn down by the former four-time Iowa high school
state champ. Metcalf led 8-3 after one period and 15-4 after two,
eventually notching the technical fall 6:17 into the match to give Iowa
an 11-4 edge.
Mellmer was wrestling in place of the injured Dustin Schlatter, who
head coach J Robinson believes may return to action in 2-3 weeks.
Schlatter has not wrestled since last December due to a hamstring
injury.
Minnesota needed C.P. Schlatter to get them back into the meet against
No. 15 Ryan Morningstar at 157 pounds, and the senior delivered.
Schlatter scored two first period takedowns and posted a third in the
final period. With the bonus point for riding time, Schlatter picked up
the 7-3 win and pulled the Gophers to within 11-7 heading into the
intermission.
Minnesota’s Tyler Safratowich and Jake Kerr squared off at 165 pounds.
The pair wrestled for position through the first five minutes of
competition, with several close calls only amounting to a 2-2 score
entering the third period. In the final frame, a quick Kerr escape put
him ahead until Safratowich earned a dramatic takedown with 25 seconds
left to take a 4-3 lead. The Gopher junior did not relinquish his
position the rest of the way to hang on for the win and bring Minnesota
to within a point at 11-10.
Another crucial match took place at 174 pounds, with the Gophers’ No.
11 Gabe Dretsch dueling No. 2 Jay Borschel of Iowa. In a quick-moving
match, the two traded quick takedowns before Dretsch narrowly avoided
an accidental pin two minutes into the match. Tying the score at four
early in the second, the two sparred through a scoreless remainder of
the period. In the third it was Borschel that drew first blood,
notching an escape and a takedown to go up 7-4. Borschel tacked on the
bonus point for riding time to emerge the 8-4 victor.
The Gopher faithful welcomed back No. 5 Roger Kish at 184 pounds in his
match against No. 8 Phil Keddy. After falling quickly falling behind
2-0, Kish appeared to regain position late in the period but suffered
another takedown and trailed 4-1 after the first three minutes of
action. Trailing 5-1 after two periods, Kish was unable to mount
anything offensively and lost 6-2. It was the third consecutive loss
for the two-time All-American senior.
Down 17-10 in the dual, the Gophers needed big things from senior
Justin Bronson at 197 pounds. Bronson and Chad Beatty engaged in a
deliberate battle, one that saw the Iowa wrestler grab a 4-1 lead
heading into the final period. But Bronson scored a takedown with 30
seconds left and held on for the remainder of the period to earn the
bonus riding time point and a 5-4 win. The victory pulled the Gophers
to within four points at 17-13 heading into the heavyweight match.
Minnesota redshirt freshman Ben Berhow was a heavy underdog against No.
6 Matt Fields of the Hawkeyes, but the Hayward, Minn. native
successfully avoided Fields’ scoring attempts in a scoreless first
period. Needing a major decision to tie the team score, Berhow fought
valiantly but dropped a 7-3 decision to make the final tally 20-13 in
favor of the Hawkeyes.
Friday night’s win was the first in the series for Iowa against
Minnesota since 2005 and their first win at Williams Arena since the
2000 season. The loss drops Minnesota to 11-4 (2-1 in the Big Ten) in
dual meet action, and allowed the Hawkeyes to run their record to 15-1
(3-0 in Big Ten competition).
Friday's meet was televised live by the Big Ten Network and marked the
second time this season Minnesota has lost at home on live TV. Then-No.
2 Iowa State upset the Gophers 18-13 Dec. 2 at Williams Arena in the
Gophers' other televised meet.
Coming off the tough loss, head coach J Robinson’s Gophers have an
equally difficult task ahead of them. Minnesota will travel to
Stillwater, Okla. Sunday afternoon for a dual meet with the
third-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. The two programs have combined to
win the last seven NCAA championships (Minnesota in 2001, ’02 and ’07;
OSU from ’03-’06).
Meet time will be 1 p.m. and a live webcast will be available via the Gold Zone on gophersports.com.
February 1, 2008 at Minneapolis, MN - Williams Area - 7:30 pm
#1 Iowa 20, #4 Minnesota 13
125: #1 Jayson Ness (MN) maj dec #3 Charlie Falck (IA)14-2
133: #3 Joe Slaton (IA) dec #5 Mack Reiter (MN) 8-3
141: #9 Dan LeClere (IA) dec #3 Manuel Rivera (MN) 9-7 OT
149: #1 Brent Metcalf (IA) tech fall Luke Mellmer (MN) 20-5
157: #6 C.P. Schlatter (MN) dec #15 Ryan Morningstar (IA) 7-3
165: Tyler Safratowich (MN) dec Jake Kerr (IA) 4-3
174: #2 Jay Borschel (IA) dec #11 Gabe Dretsch (MN) 8-3
184: #8 Phillip Keddy (IA) dec #5 Roger Kish (MN) 6-2
197: Justin Bronson (MN) dec Chad Beatty (IA) 5-4
Hwt: #6 Matt Fields (IA) dec Ben Berhow (MN) 7-3
Minnesota - Iowa Post-Meet Quotes
Iowa Head Coach Tom Brands
On what the biggest matches of the meet were:
“They were all big. The reason I say that is because those first eight
weights were all contested. There was a lot of payback tonight because
they have gotten the best of us. We took care of business the way we
needed to take care of business.”
On coming in to Minnesota after coming off a loss in their dual last season:
“We just come to wrestle, and we came here ready to wrestle. We don’t
talk about the past. Minnesota has a great thing going here. They love
wrestling, and J Robinson has done a great job with the program.
Minnesota takes great pride in beating us. The (Governor's) Belt means
something, and it’s a something we don’t want sitting up here too long.”
Minnesota Head Coach J Robinson
On the importance of Manuel Rivera’s match at 141 pounds:
"Rivera's was a hard one, but so was Mack's (Reiter). It’s just one of those things. Simply (put), we just lost tonight.”
On Roger Kish’s match at 184 pounds:
“It’s hard for Kish because he hasn’t wrestled for a month and a half.
He really hasn’t been in there since December... That led to problems
with a lot of things like timing and others. We couldn’t do much with
him until about three weeks ago, and that’s the way it goes. We don’t
make excuses. But Kish will be fine by the Big Ten Tournament.”
Play-by-play
125: #1 Jayson Ness (MN) vs #3 Charlie Falck (IA)
Single to a double leg takedown for Falck. Ness escape. Ness last
second takedown off a scramble. Falck led 3-2 after the first
period. Ness was down. Ness reversal and two nearfall. Ness three
nearfall. Falck warned for stalling. Ness led 10-2 after the second
period. Falck chose neutral. Ness takedown. Stall point to Ness. With
1:59 riding time, Ness wins 14-2.
133: #5 Mack Reiter (MN) vs #3 Joe Slaton (IA)
Slaton double leg takedown. Reiter escape. Slaton double leg takedown.
Slaton led 4-1 after the first period. Reiter chose down. Slaton rode
Reiter the entire second period. Slaton chose neutral. Reiter takedown
Slaton escape. Slaton double leg takedown. With 3:02 riding time,
Slaton wins 8-3.
141: #3 Manuel Rivera (MN) vs #9 Dan LeClere (IA)
Single leg takedown for LeClere. Rivera escape. Rivera warned for
stalling. LeClere 2-1 after the first period. Rivera chose down. Rivera
reversal. LeClere escape and double leg takedown. LeClere led 5-3 after
the second period. LeClere chose down. Escape for LeClere. Double leg
takedown for Rivera. LeClere escape. Rivera takedown and rode for :30
to send to overtime. Tied 7-7. LeClere takedown for the 9-7 win.
149: Luke Mellmer (MN) vs #1 Brent Metcalf (IA)
Metcalf takedown. Mellmer escape. Metcalf takedown. Mellmer escape.
Metcalf takedown. Mellmer escape. Metcalf takedown. Metcalf led 8-3
after the first period. Metcalf chose down. Metcalf reversal and granby
for three nearfall. Mellmer escape. Stall warning to Mellmer. Metcalf
takedown. Metcalf led 15-4 after the second period. Metcalf chose down.
Clasp point for Metcalf. Metcalf reversal. Mellmer escape. Metcalf
takedown. Metcalf wins by a tech fall 20-5.
157: #6 C.P. Schlatter (MN) vs #15 Ryan Morningstar (IA)
Single leg takedown for Schlatter. Morningstar escape. Single leg
takedown for Schlatter. Morningstar escape. Injury time for Morningstar
(foot/ankle). Schlatter led 4-2 after the first period.
Morningstar chose down. Morningstar escape. Schlatter led 4-3 after the
second. Schlatter chose neutral. Schlatter double leg takedown. With
1:23 riding time Schlatter wins 7-3.
165: Tyler Safratowich (MN) vs Jake Kerr (IA)
Scramble -- Kerr takedown. Safratowich escape. Scramble -- time runs
out. Kerr led 2-1 after the first period. Safratowich chose down and
escaped. Tied at two after the second period. Kerr chose down and
escaped. Scramble -- stalemate. Kerr warned for stalling. Safratowich
single leg takedown. Safratowich called for stalling for hanging on a
leg. Safratowich rode the final 11 seconds for the 4-3 win.
174: #11 Gabe Dretsch (MN) vs #2 Jay Borschel (IA)
Borschel single leg takedown. Dretsch escape and takedown. Borschel
reversal and nearly got back points. Borschel led 4-3 after the first
period. Dretsch chose down and escaped. Dretsch warned for stalling.
Score tied 4-4 with 1:09 riding time for Borschel after the second.
Borschel chose down. Dretsch eliminated riding time before Borschel
escaped. Borschel takedown and regained riding time. With 1:26 riding
time, Borschel wins 8-4.
184: #5 Roger Kish (MN) vs #8 Phillip Keddy (IA)
Keddy takedown. Keddy tried a double arm-bar, but Kish resisted. Kish
escape. Scramble -- Keddy takedown. Keddy led 4-1 after the first
period. Keddy chose down and escaped. Keddy led 5-1 after the second
period. Kish chose down and escaped. With riding time Keddy wins 6-2.
197: Justin Bronson (MN) vs Chad Beatty (IA)
Beatty takedown two minutes into the first period. Bronson escape.
Beatty led 2-1 after the first period. Beatty chose down. Two start
cautions on Beatty. Beatty reversal. Beatty led 4-1 after the second
period. Bronson chose down. Bronson escape. Spin takedown for Bronson.
Bronson passed the 1:00 mark with riding time (1:04) for the 5-4 win.
Hwt: Ben Berhow (MN) vs #6 Matt Fields (IA)
Scoreless first period. Berhow chose down and escaped. Single leg
takedown for Fields. Berhow escape. Tied 2-2 after the second period.
Fields chose down and escaped. Fields spin takedown. Berhow escape.
Fields takedown. Fields wins 7-3.
