The fourth-ranked Golden Gopher wrestlers
made quick work of the unranked Purdue Boilermakers Sunday afternoon in
Lafayette, Ind. The first three Minnesota wrestlers earned bonus points
as the Gophers won eight of 10 matches during the dual meet. The win
was Minnesota's 10th over Purdue in their last 11 meetings.
The win improved Minnesota’s record to 13-5 on the season and 4-1 in
Big Ten competition. The Gophers also defeated Northwestern 33-12 on
Friday night.
Once again, it was Jayson Ness that got things going for the defending
national champions at 125 pounds. The top-ranked wrestler in the nation
at 125 pounds, Ness earned his Division I-leading 18th pin of the
season Sunday over Akif Eren of the Boilermakers in 2:44. Ness improved
to 30-0 on the season and has won 31 consecutive matches dating back to
last season.
Ness is now just two pins away from tying the Gophers single-season
record of 20, held by current head assistant coach Marty Morgan. He
could tie the record next weekend when the Gophers take on Illinois and
Wisconsin at Williams Arena.
Minnesota’s other two lightweight stars also lived up to their billing
on Sunday afternoon. Fifth-ranked Mack Reiter scored early and often in
his match against Georg Petrove at 133 pounds, picking up a 15-0 tech
fall win in just 3:20. Twelve of Reiter’s 15 points were back points,
as he notched five nearfalls to win his second match of the weekend.
Manny Rivera followed suite at 141 pounds by pinning Matt Redmond of
Purdue in 2:32, giving the Gophers a commanding 17-0 lead in the dual
meet. It was the second pin of the weekend 10th of the season for
Rivera, a new career high.
After Luke Mellmer lost at 149 pounds to No. 15 Jake Patacsil,
Minnesota continued its dominance over the Boilers at 157 pounds.
Seventh-ranked C.P. Schlatter was given a good match by Sam Patacsil,
but the senior All-American pulled out a 10-4 decision to remain an
undefeated 5-0 during the Big Ten season.
Tyler Safratowich also got into the action at 165 pounds. He scored a
takedown just before the end of the second period to go up 5-1 on
Justin Fraga and held on for his fourth victory of the Big Ten dual
meet season.
Senior Gabe Dretsch, fresh off a big victory over No. 12 Nick Hayes of
Northwestern Friday night, suffered a slight setback Sunday against
Nick Corpe of Purdue. Corpe scored takedowns in the first and second
periods and then fended off Dretsch’s offensive attacks in the final
period to emerge the 5-4 winner.
With the outcome of the meet long since decided, all three of
Minnesota’s heavier wrestlers picked up encouraging victories. Senior
Roger Kish won his second straight match of the weekend by defeating
A.J. Kissel 4-3 at 184 pounds, and fellow senior Justin Bronson put on
a defensive display in his 3-0 win over Logan Brown at 197. At
heavyweight, Ben Berhow was equally impressive as he scored a 3-1
overtime victory over Chris Kasten.
The weekend’s two dual meet victories should give the defending
national champions some confidence as they return home for dual meets
with Illinois (Friday at 7 p.m.) and Wisconsin (Sunday at 2 p.m.). Both
meets will be held in Williams Arena, and live webcasts will be
available in the Gold Zone on Gophersports.com.
Sunday, February 10, 2008 at West Lafayette, Ind.
#4 Minnesota 32, Purdue 8
125: #1 Jayson Ness (UM) def. Akif Eren (PU), F 2:44: PU 0 - UM 6
133: #5 Mack Reiter def. George Petrov (PU), TF 0-15 (3:20): PU 0 - UM 11
141: #3 Manuel Rivera def. Matt Redmond (PU), F 2:32: PU 0 - UM 17
149: #15 Jake Patacsil (PU) def. Luke Mellmer (UM), TF 16-0 (3:00): PU 5 - UM 17
157: #7 C.P. Schlatter (UM) def. Sam Patacsil (PU), D 4-10: PU 5 - UM 20
165: Tyler Safratowich (UM) def. Justin Fraga (PU), D 2-5: PU 5 - UM 23
174: Nick Corpe (PU) def. #11 Gabe Dretsch (UM), D 5-4: PU 8 - UM 23
184: #10 Roger Kish def. A.J. Kissel (PU), D 3-4: PU 8 - UM 26
197: Justin Bronson (UM) def. Logan Brown (PU), D 0-2: PU 8 - UM 29
285: Ben Berhow (UM) def. Chris Kasten (PU), D 1-3 (sv): PU 8 - UM 32
Match Play-by-Play
125 pounds
No. 1 Jayson Ness (UM) def. Akif Eren (PU), F 2:44: PU 0 - UM 6