University of Minnesota Athletics
Third-Ranked Wrestlers Dominate Virginia Tech, 46-4
12/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The third-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team dominated Virginia Tech, 46-4, today at Williams Arena, winning nine of 10 matches and eight with bonus points, including three-straight falls. The Golden Gophers' (2-1) 46 points was the most points scored by UM since shutting out Portland State, 48-0, on Dec. 12, 1999.
The meet began at 174 pounds with No. 19 Josh McLay posting a technical fall on Tomas Ovalle in 4:19. McLay ended the match with an 18-2 lead and accumulated 3:22 of advantage time to move to 2-1 this season. The Hokies (0-1) won their only match of the day at 184 pounds as No. 7 Scott Justus downed Casey Flaherty 21-8. Justus tallied eight takedowns to cruise to the major decision win.
Jacob Lininger got Minnesota back in the win columns with an 11-2 major decison over Canann Prater to gain his first dual meet victory as a Golden Gopher. Lininger didn't allow a VTU point until late in the third period. At heavyweight, Chad Mentel defeated Kris Wiedegreen, 4- 2, in a bout between two vastly different sized wrestlers. Wiedegreen outweighed Mentel by at least 50 pounds, but it was the Golden Gopher who got the deciding reversal in the third period for his second dual win at the U of M.
At 125 pounds, Bobbe Lowe got his first win at Minnesota with a 18-8 major decision over Geoff Head. Lowe registered six takedowns to roll to the win. The pinning began at 133 pounds as No. 4 Ryan Lewis overwhelmed Kyle Graham, posting the fall in 4:21. Lewis tallied five near-fall points and led 10-0 at the time of the pin. Trent Hatlevig tallied the second fall of the meet at 141 pounds, rolling Aaron Brown in 5:43. Hatlevig dominated in the bout, leading 11-0 at the time of the pin.
The pin parade continued at 149 pounds as top-ranked Jared Lawrence made quick work of Reed Carpenter with a fall in 1:58. Lawrence posted a takedown 30 seconds into the match and soon rolled Carpenter to his back to move Minnesota's team score to 34-4. The Maroon and Gold added 12 more team points in the next two matches as top-ranked Luke Becker won by forfeit at 157 pounds and No. 3 Jacob Volkmann won at 165 pounds with a Mike Cox disqualification for frequent stalling.
The Golden Gophers head to the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday- Saturday, Dec. 6-7, before hosting Oklahoma State on Friday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m., at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
No. 3 Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech
Sunday, December 1, 2002 ? 5 p.m.
Williams Arena
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 1,841
174 - No. 19 Josh McLay (MINN) tech. fall Tomas Ovalle (VTU), 4:19, 18- 2
184 - No. 7 Scott Justus (VTU) maj. dec. Casey Flaherty (MINN), 21-8
197 - Jacob Lininger (MINN) maj. dec. Canaan Prater (VTU), 11-2
HWT - Chad Mentel (MINN) dec. Kris Wiedegreen (VTU), 4-2
125 - Bobbe Lowe (MINN) maj. dec. Geoff Head (VTU), 18-8
133 - No. 4 Ryan Lewis (MINN) pinned Kyle Graham (VTU), 4:21
141 - Trent Hatlevig (MINN) pinned Aaron Brown (VTU), 5:43
149 - No. 1 Jared Lawrence (MINN) pinned Reed Carpenter (VTU), 1:58
157 - No. 1 Luke Becker (MINN) won by forfeit
165 - No. 3 Jacob Volkmann (MINN) won by disqualification over Mike Cox (VTU)
FINAL SCORE MINNESOTA 46 VIRGINIA TECH 4
