University of Minnesota Athletics
WR: Iowa Wrestlers Take Down Golden Gophers 23-14
2/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The Golden Gophers got off to a strong start behind senior Bobbe Lowe's 21-6 technical fall against junior Matt Morkel at 125 pounds. Leading 4-1 at the end of the first period, Lowe put the match away with three takedowns. He added a reversal, a near fall and three third-period takedowns to put the Golden Gophers up 5-0.
In the most anticipated match of the evening, Iowa native Mack Reiter took the mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena as a member of the Golden Gophers. The first blue-chip recruit out of Iowa to wrestle for the Golden Gophers, Reiter earned a hard-fought 2-0 decision against 11th-ranked Mario Galanakis at 133 pounds. Reiter rode Galanakis the entire second period and added a third-period escape to improve to 15-0 during the dual meet season. Ranked third in the nation, Reiter improved to 31-3 overall.
The Hawkeyes rebounded from the early 8-0 deficit with four straight wins, including 17th-ranked Alex Tsirtsis' 11-1 major decision against 19th-ranked Tommy Owen at 141 pounds. Leading 2-0 in the second, Tsirtsis widened his lead with a near fall. He added a takedown and another near fall in the third to give the Hawkeyes the bonus point.
Iowa followed that with a win at 149 pounds, the first of three weight classes that the Golden Gophers were forced to wrestle back-ups. Sophomore Quincy Osborn moved up from 141 pounds to make his first career start at 149. He battled seventh-ranked Ty Eustice to the wire, but was defeated 4-2. Osborn cut the lead to two with an escape to start the third period, but was unable to score the tying takedown.
Also making his first career start at a new weight, sophomore Danny Williams moved up from 149 to wrestle at 157 in place of an injured C.P. Schlatter. Ninth-ranked Joe Johnston cut Williams' debut short with a pin in 3:36 to give Iowa a 13-8 lead.
Following intermission, Iowa got the first of its two critical overtime wins. Fourth-ranked Mark Perry led 1-0 against 10th-ranked Matt Nagel in the third period. At the end of regulation, Nagel was awarded a bonus point for his riding time advantage of 1:25. Perry gave Iowa another win with his takedown just 15 seconds into the first overtime.
Minnesota got back on track at 174 pounds as redshirt freshman Gabriel Dretsch earned his third win of the season against Iowa's Luke Lofthouse with an 11-7 decision. Both wrestlers led early on, but Dretsch ended the first period with a takedown and near fall to lead 7-3. In the third period, Lofthouse managed to cut Dretsch's advantage to 10-7 with just 18 seconds left, but the Golden Gopher held on for the win.
Wrestling his fifth dual in a row in place of sixth-ranked Roger Kish, Minnesota's Jeremy Larson faced ninth-ranked Paul Bradley at 184 pounds. Bradley started strong with three first-period takedowns to take a 6-2 lead. In the second period, Larson earned a point for an escape and was able to hold off Bradley to keep the score 6-3 heading in to the third. Bradley took control though and finished the match with two takedowns, including one with 13 seconds to go in the match. That earned Bradley the major decision by a 12-4 margin.
Leading 20-11 with two matches to go, Iowa put the dual away with another overtime win at 197 pounds. After Minnesota's Matt Koz and Iowa's Adam Fellers traded escapes, Fellers took Koz down 31 seconds into the first overtime to claim a 3-1 decision.
The Hawkeye victory sealed the match, but the Golden Gophers finished strong behind second-ranked heavyweight Cole Konrad. He extended his career-long winning streak to 18 with a 2-0 decision against ninth-ranked Matt Fields. Konrad rode Fields the entire second period to take a two-minute advantage in riding time. He earned an escape to start the third period and held off Fields to take the win.
Minnesota will look to rebound on Sunday when Ohio State comes to the Sports Pavilion. The match will begin at 2 p.m.
#12 Iowa 23, #7 Minnesota 14
Feb. 11, 2005
Carver-Hawkeye Arena
Iowa City, Iowa
125 - #6 Bobbe Lowe (MN) tech. fall Matt Morkel (IA), 21 -6
133 - #3 Mack Reiter (MN) dec. #11 Mario Galanakis (IA), 2-0
141 - #17 Alex Tsirtsis (IA) maj. dec. #19 Tommy Owen (MN), 11 -1
149 - #7 Ty Eustice (IA) dec. Quincy Osborn (MN), 4-2
157 - #9 Joe Johnston (IA) pins Danny Williams (MN), 3:36
165 - #4 Mark Perry (IA) dec. #10 Matt Nagel (MN), 3-1 SV
174 - Gabriel Dretsch (MN) dec. Luke Lofthouse (IA), 11-7
184 - #9 Paul Bradley (IA) maj. dec. Jeremy Larson (MN), 12-4
197 - Adam Fellers (IA) dec. Matt Koz (MN), 3-1 SV
HWT - #2 Cole Konrad (MN) dec. #9 Matt Fields (IA), 2-0
