University of Minnesota Athletics
Third-ranked Minnesota Wrestlers Dump Northern Illinois, 26-17
11/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The meet began at heavyweight with Chad Mentel defeating Zac Jensen, 8-3, to give Minnesota an early 3-0 lead. Mentel was filling in for third-ranked Garrett Lowney who underwent surgery earlier in the week to repair a pinched nerve in his shoulder. The Huskies took their only lead of the meet in the next bout as Matt Kucala pinned true freshman Andrew Domingues in 6:11. The Maroon and Gold got back on top at 9-6 as No. 4 Ryan Lewis pinned Sam Hiatt in 2:01. It was Lewis' 19th pin as a Golden Gopher.
Northern Illinois tied the meet at nine as Josh Wooten downed Tommy Owen, 11-6, in the 141-pound match. The Maroon and Gold put the meet out of reach in the next four matches, pushing its lead to 26-9 after the 174-pound bout. Top-ranked Jared Lawrence got it started with his career's 25th pin, rolling Oliver Vasquez in 4:13. Then, in the featured match of the day, top-ranked Luke Becker dropped No. 3 Scott Owen, 9-4, to extend Minnesota's lead to 18-9. With the win, Becker moved his win streak to 21 consecutive matches.
At 165 pounds, No. 4 Jacob Volkmann registered a 17-0 technical fall over Jeremy Benesh to give UM five more team points. Josh McLay rounded out the Minnesota scoring at 174 pounds, defeating George Kirgan, 5-3. The Huskies won the final two bouts as No. 9 Ben Heizer tallied a 16-0 technical fall on Casey Flaherty at 184 pounds and James Oliva downed Eli Ross, 8-4 at 197 pounds.
Minnesota next hosts Virginia Tech on Sunday, Dec. 1, at 5 p.m., at Williams Arena.
Minnesota 26, Northern Illinois 17
HWT Chad Mentel (MINN) dec. Zac Jensen (NIU), 8-3
125 Matt Kucala (NIU) pinned Andrew Domingues (MINN), 6:11
133 No. 4 Ryan Lewis (MINN) pinned Sam Hiatt (NIU), 2:01
141 Josh Wooten (NIU) dec. Tommy Owen (MINN), 11-6
149 No. 1 Jared Lawrence (MINN) pinned Oliver Vasquez (NIU), 4:13
157 No. 1 Luke Becker (MINN) dec. No. 3 Scott Owen (NIU), 9-4
165 No. 4 Jacob Volkmann (MINN) tech. fall Jeremy Benesh (NIU), 17-0
174 Josh McLay (MINN) dec. George Kirgan (NIU), 5-3
184 No. 9 Ben Heizer (NIU) tech. fall Casey Flaherty (MINN), 16-0
197 James Oliva (NIU) dec. Eli Ross (MINN), 8-4
