University of Minnesota Athletics
NO. 2 MINNESOTA WRESTLERS OUTDUEL NO. 8 NEBRASKA 26-12
1/11/2001 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The meet opened at 174 pounds with 16th-ranked Matt Kraft defeating No. 10 Ati Conner by a 9-5 decision. Kraft never trailed in the match and moved his overall record to 19-5. At 184 pounds, fourth-ranked Damion Hahn gave Minnesota four team points with his 19-8 major decision triumph over NU's Matt Fletcher. Hahn led 10-3 after two periods en route to the win.
Nebraska then put together a string of three-straight victories, beginning at 197 pounds where top-ranked Brad Vering, the 2000 NCAA Champion, pinned freshman Eli Ross in 1:49. The Cornhuskers took the team lead at 9-7 as NU's heavyweight, Pat Miron, scored a takedown in sudden death overtime over Mike Flanagan to win 3-1. At 125 pounds, Nebraska scored a minor upset as No. 6 Jason Powell outlasted fourth- ranked Leroy Vega to take a 13-11 decision. Vega, 15-3 overall, has now dropped his last three matches.
Minnesota ended the `Huskers win streak and started one of their one, winning the dual meet's final five matches to clinch the hard-fought victory. At 133 pounds, third-ranked Brett Lawrence scored an upset of top-ranked Todd Beckerman with his 7-4 triumph. In consecutive meets, Lawrence has defeated the No. 3 and No. 1 133-pound wrestlers to move his record to 15-1. No. 7 Chad Erikson then downed unranked Dusty Spaulding 9-5 at 141 pounds. Erikson led the whole match and ended with 1:40 advantage time.
At 149 pounds, third-ranked Jared Lawrence added six team points to Minnesota's total with his pin of Travis Baker in 5:45. Lawrence, now 17-1 on the year, was leading 13-3 at the time of the fall. In perhaps the most exciting and certainly the most stunning match of the night, fifth-ranked Luke Becker upset No. 2 Bryan Snyder with a 4-3 decision in the 157-pound match. Becker, trailing 3-0 after two periods, scored four points in the final stanza, including a takedown with two seconds remaining, to win and clinch the Golden Gopher team victory. Third- ranked Brad Pike closed out the night with a dominating 16-6 major decision triumph over Tony Denke in the 165-pound match.
Minnesota next faces No. 11 Boise State Friday, January 12, at 7 p.m. in Boise, Idaho.
Minnesota 26, Nebraska 12 Lincoln, Neb. 174 Matt Kraft (MINN) dec. Ati Conner (NU), 9-5 184 Damion Hahn (MINN) maj. dec. Matt Fletcher (NU), 19-8 197 Brad Vering (NU) pinned Eli Ross (MINN), 1:49 HWT Pat Miron (NU) dec. Mike Flanagan (MINN), 3-1, SDO 125 Jason Powell (NU) dec. Leroy Vega (MINN), 13-11 133 Brett Lawrence (MINN) dec. Todd Beckerman (NU), 7-4 141 Chad Erikson (MINN) dec. Dusty Spaulding (NU), 9-5 149 Jared Lawrence (MINN) pinned Travis Baker (NU), 5:45 157 Luke Becker (MINN) dec. Bryan Snyder (NU), 4-3 165 Brad Pike (MINN) maj. dec. Tony Denke (NU), 16-6
