University of Minnesota Athletics
Volkmann and Hahn Advance to NCAA Wrestling Semifinals
3/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Oklahoma State leads the tournament with 61.0 points, followed by Iowa with 55.0 points. Oklahoma and Nebraska are tied for third with 44.5 points, followed by Illinois at 42.0. Minnesota is seeking its eighth straight top-three finish.
Minnesota entered this morning's matches with nine wrestlers in the tournament, but advanced just three into tonight's session. Bobbe Lowe and Quincy Osborn won their consolation openers, but were eliminated in their next matches. Tommy Owen, Matt Nagel, Jon Duncombe and Josh McLay were defeated in their first matches this morning.
"The guys who wrestled hardest all season are the ones that are still alive," head coach J Robinson said. "We didn't have guys step up like others have done in the past for us."
With his win this morning, Hahn has become the school's fourth four-time All-American, joining Chad Kraft, Jared Lawrence and Luke Becker. Hahn faced unseeded Josh Birt of Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals at 197 and earned a 6-2 decision. With a lightning quick move, Hahn scored the takedown with just eight seconds remaining in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. He added another takedown in the third and had 1:40 in riding time advantage. Hahn will face fourth-seeded Ryan Bader of Arizona State in the semifinals. Hahn defeated Bader, 4-1, earlier this season in the two teams' dual meet in January.
Volkmann advanced to the semifinals at 165 pounds for the second consecutive year with a 3-0 decision against fifth-seeded Pat Owen of Michigan. Volkmann also defeated Owen in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships. Entering the second period with no score, Owen started down and could not escape the hold of Volkmann. With two minutes in riding time, Volkmann scored the deciding reversal in the third period with just over a minute to go. Volkmann will meet top-ranked Tyrone Lewis of Oklahoma State in the semifinals. Last month, Volkmann handed Lewis his only loss of the year with a 3-1 decision in Stillwater, Okla.
Konrad failed to advance to the semifinals at heavyweight after a hard-fought battle with fourth-seeded Leonce Crump of Oklahoma. Crump claimed a 5-3 decision to send Konrad into the consolation bracket. With the match tied at two in the third period, Crump scored the takedown with 44 seconds to go. He earned an additional point for time advantage.
The day began well for Minnesota as Lowe and Osborn won their opening matches. Lowe and Iowa State's Grant Nakamura went to double overtime before Lowe prevailed 4-2 with a takedown. In his next match, Lowe was eliminated from the tournament by an 11-4 decision against Tennessee-Chattanooga's Matt Pitts. Pitts broke the match open with three takedowns and back points in the second period.
Osborn won his second match in a row at 133 pounds with a 6-1 decision against Sean Markey of The Citadel. Osborn took a 4-0 second-period lead and put the match away with a reversal in the third period with time winding down. Osborn's run ended in the next round in double overtime against Scott Jorgenson of Boise State. With Jorgenson starting down in the second overtime period, he scored the escape and held off Osborn for the 4-3 decision.
Owen was eliminated at 141 pounds by a 6-0 decision against 11th-seeded Andy Simmons of Michigan State. Nagel was ousted at 157 by a 3-2 decision against Clarion's Chris Horning. Nagel was on his way to the winning takedown just as time expired. Duncombe had won his previous two matches against Wisconsin's Ralph DeNisco, but DeNisco came out on the winning end of an 11-5 decision at 174 pounds. At 184 pounds, McLay fell by a 2-0 decision against sixth-seeded Nick Frost of Arizona State.
Session IV of the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., resumes at 6 p.m. tonight. The championship semifinals will be held, in addition to more consolation matches.
Team Standings - Through Session III
1. Oklahoma State, 61.0
2. Iowa, 55.0
3t. Oklahoma, 44.5
3t. Nebraska, 44.5
5. Illinois, 42.0
6t. Minnesota, 37.5
6t. Lehigh, 37.5
6t. Cornell, 37.5
9. Iowa State, 36.0
10. Michigan, 35.5
Tonight's Semifinals
165 - No. 4 Jacob Volkmann vs. No. 1 Tyrone Lewis (Ok. State)
Volkmann upset Lewis, 3-1, on Feb. 22
197 - No. 1 Damion Hahn vs. No. 4 Ryan Bader (Arizona State)
Hahn defeated Bader, 4-1, on Jan. 1
This morning's results
Quarterfinals
165 - No. 4 Jacob Volkmann (3-0)
Qtrs - Volkmann dec. No. 5 Pat Owen (Michigan), 3-0
197 - No. 1 Damion Hahn (3-0)
Qtrs - Hahn dec. Josh Birt (Pittsburgh), 6-2
HWT - No. 5 Cole Konrad (2-1)
Qtrs - No. 4 Leonce Crump (Oklahoma) dec. Konrad, 5-3
Consolation
125 - No. 11 Bobbe Lowe
Consolation - Lowe dec. Grant Nakamura (Iowa State), 4-2 OT
Consolation - Matt Pitts (UT Chattanooga) dec. Lowe, 11-4
Eliminated with 2-2 record
133 - Quincy Osborn
Consolation - Osborn dec. Sean Markley (The Citadel), 7-1
Consolation - Scott Jorgenson (Boise State) dec. Osborn, 4-3 OT
Eliminated with 2-2 record
141 - Tommy Owen
Consolation - No. 11 Andy Simmons (Michigan State) dec. Owen, 6-0
Eliminated with 1-2 record
157 - Matt Nagel
Consolation - Chris Horning (Clarion) dec. Nagel, 3-2
Eliminated with 1-2 record
174 - No. 12 Jon Duncombe
Consolation - Ralph DeNisco (Wisconsin) dec. Duncombe, 11-5
Eliminated with 1-2 record
184 - Josh McLay
Consolation - No. 6 Nick Frost (Arizona State) dec. McLay, 2-0
Eliminated with 1-2 record
