University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Wrestling, Lewis and Becker Capture Las Vegas Invitational Titles
12/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
It took until midway through the third period for Lewis to score on his opponent, but the top-seeded Golden Gopher persevered and defeated No. 2 Kevin Black of Wisconsin, 5-2, to capture the 133- pound title. After a scoreless first period, Lewis tallied an escape in the second, followed by Black’s escape to start the third. From there, Lewis found a way to the Badger’s legs, scoring two takedowns in the final minute to improve to 7-1 on the season.
At 149 pounds, top-seeded Jared Lawrence suffered his first loss since the 2002 Big Ten Championships with a 6-4 defeat at the hands of third-ranked Eric Larkin of Arizona State. Larkin’s takedown late in the first period proved to be the difference as Lawrence could not rebound to avoid his first loss of the season. Lawrence, ranked No. 1 in the nation, falls to 7-1 on the season.
Becker picked up Minnesota’s second individual title of the night, dropping No. 3 Keaton Anderson of Ohio State, 8-5, in the 157-pound championship bout. Anderson scored a takedown 11 seconds into the match, but Becker fought back to stretch his winning streak to 27 consecutive matches. The wrestlers battled to a 5-5 tie after two periods, but Becker registered an escape and a last-second takedown to gain the crown and move his record to 8-0 on the season.
Top-ranked Matt Lackey of Illinois thwarted Minnesota’s efforts for a third individual title, dropping No. 2 Jacob Volkmann, 6-2, at 165 pounds. Lackey scored early in the first period and did not allow a Volkmann takedown to cruise to the win. Volkmann suffered his first loss of the season, falling to 8-1 on the year.
In the consolation finals at 174 pounds, No. 11 Josh McLay was edged out of third place by No. 12 Blake Kaplan of Ohio State, 2-1. McLay and Kaplan exchanged escapes, but the Buckeye finished the bout with exactly one minute of advantage time to pick up third place. With his fourth-place finish, McLay went 4-2 for the tournament to move his record to 6-3 on the season.
In all, the Maroon and Gold finished with two champions, two runners- up, one fourth-place wrestler and two eighth-place finishers (125- pound Bobbe Lowe and heavyweight Jacob Lininger).
Complete Minnesota results are below. For more results from the Las Vegas Invitational, check www.thewrestlingmall.com.
Minnesota will send a handful of competitors to the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., on Decemeber 28-29 before hosting top-ranked Oklahoma State in the Ice Dual on Friday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m., at downtown Minneapolis’ Target Center.
Championship Bracket Finals Results
133 – No. 1 Ryan Lewis (MINN) dec. No. 2 Kevin Black (Wisconsin), 5- 2
149 – No. 3 Eric Larkin (Arizona St.) dec. No. 1 Jared Lawrence (MINN), 6-4
157 – No. 1 Luke Becker (MINN) dec. No. 3 Keaton Anderson (Ohio St.), 8-5
165 – No. 1 Matt Lackey (Illinois) dec. No. 2 Jacob Volkmann (MINN), 6-2
Play-by-play
133 – No. 1 Ryan Lewis (MINN) vs. No. 2 Kevin Black (Wisconsin)
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: Lewis starts down; Lewis escape 0:46 (1-0); Advantage time Black 0:46
3rd period: Black starts down; Black escape 0:27 (1-1); Lewis takedown 1:07 (3-1); Black escape 1:18 (3-2); Lewis takedown 1:50 (5- 2); Advantage time even
Final: Lewis dec. Black, 5-2
149 – No. 1 Jared Lawrence (MINN) vs. No. 3 Eric Larkin (Arizona St.)
1st period: Larkin takedown 2:20 (0-2); Lawrence escape 2:30 (1-2); Advantage time Larkin 0:10
2nd period: Larkin starts down; Larkin escape 0:36 (1-3); Larkin stall warning 1:50; Advantage time Lawrence 0:26
3rd period: Lawrence starts down; Lawrence escape 0:40 (2-3); Larkin takedown 1:14 (2-5); Lawrence reversal (4-5); Larkin escape (4-6); Advantage time Larkin 0:47
Final: Larkin dec. Lawrence, 6-4
157 – No. 1 Luke Becker (MINN) vs. No. 3 Keaton Anderson (Ohio St.)
1st period: Anderson takedown 0:11 (0-2); Becker escape 0:43 (1-2); Becker takedown 2:56 (3-2); Advantage time Anderson 0:28
2nd period: Anderson starts down; Anderson reversal 0:13 (3-4); Becker reversal 0:21 (5-4); Anderson escape 0:32 (5-5); Advantage time Anderson 0:12
3rd period: Becker starts down; Becker escape 0:20 (6-5); Becker stall warning 1:51; Becker takedown 1:59 (8-5); Advantage time Anderson 0:33
Final: Becker dec. Anderson, 8-5
165 – No. 2 Jacob Volkmann (MINN) vs. No. 1 Matt Lackey (Illinois)
1st period: Lackey takedown 2:53 (0-2); Advantage time 0:07
2nd period: Volkmann starts down; Volkmann escape 0:03 (1-2); Lackey takedown 1:23 (1-4); Advantage time Lackey 0:40
3rd period: Neutral start; Lackey takedown 1:04 (1-6); Volkmann escape 1:14 (2-6); Advantage time Lackey 0:49
Final: Lackey dec. Volkmann, 6-2
Consolation Bracket Finals Results
125 - Seventh-place match – No. 6 Kyle Ott (Illinois) dec. No. 8 Bobbe Lowe (MINN), 8-4
174 - Third-place match – No. 12 Blake Kaplan (Ohio St.) dec. No. 11 Josh McLay (MINN), 2-1
HWT - Seventh-place match – No. 5 Brad Steele (Wyoming) dec. No. 9 Jacob Lininger (MINN), 5-3 SVO
Play-by-play
174 - Third-place match – No. 11 Josh McLay vs. No. 12 Blake Kaplan (Ohio St.)
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: McLay starts down; McLay escape 1:14 (1-0); Advantage time Kaplan 1:14
3rd period: Kaplan starts down; Kaplan escape 0:14 (1-1); Advantage time Kaplan 1:00 (1-2)
Final: Kaplan dec. McLay, 2-1
Final Team Scores
1. Minnesota 131.0
2. Illinois 123.5
3. Ohio State 118.5
4. Arizona State 112.0
5. West Virginia 96.5
6. Nebraska 89.0
7. Michigan 87.0
8. Wisconsin 77.5
9. Boise State 75.5
10. Missouri 73.5
