University of Minnesota Athletics
WR: Konrad to Wrestle Mocco for NCAA Championship
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The Golden Gophers are currently in fourth place in the team race with 66.0 team points. Oklahoma State is in first place with 127.5 points, while Cornell is second with 71.5. Michigan is in third place with 66.0 points. Iowa is fifth with 64.0.
This will be the second official meeting of the season between Konrad and Mocco. On Dec. 5, Mocco defeated Konrad, 3-1, in overtime. Mocco also won an overtime match in an exhibition all-star match in late November. An NCAA Champion in 2003 while a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Mocco took an Olympic redshirt last season and then transferred to Oklahoma State. He has not lost since 2002 during his freshman year with the Hawkeyes.
Konrad advanced to the finals with his decision against Velasquez. After a scoreless first period, Velasquez took a 1-0 lead on a second-period escape. Konrad then scored a critical takedown to take a 2-1 lead with one minute to go in the period. In the third period, he tacked on another takedown to seal the victory. Konrad avenged a loss to Velasquez from early December.
Konrad is now 41-2 on the year and is currently riding a 29-match winning streak. That is the sixth-longest streak in school history. Konrad’s 41 wins are the fourth-most in school history. He is the sixth wrestler in school history to record 40 or more wins in a single season. Konrad earned All-American status as a freshman after placing fourth at the 2004 NCAA Championships.
“After getting close last year, I’ve worked all season to get to this point,” Konrad said. “Being the underdog, I know there’s not a lot of pressure on me. I know tomorrow will be tough. He’s excellent defensively and is always ready to pounce when you make a mistake. I think I learned a lot from wrestling him earlier this season.”
Konrad will attempt to become the school’s 14th NCAA Champion and the sixth in the last seven years. He is Minnesota’s 10th All-American at heavyweight in the last 11 years.
After clinching All-American status last night, Reiter was defeated in the semifinals at 133 pounds by second-seeded Shawn Bunch of Edinboro by the score of 6-4. Bunch took an early lead after countering an initial move by Reiter. He scored the takedown just eight seconds into the match and then rode Reiter for over a minute. Reiter pulled into a 2-2 first-period tie after Bunch was penalized for a technical violation.
Bunch started down in the second and scored the lone point of the period with an escape. In the third period, Bunch was penalized for grasping the equipment, which again knotted the match at three. With under 30 seconds to go in the match, Bunch was able to take Reiter down for a 5-3 lead. Reiter managed to escape, but it was too late. With a bonus point for riding time, Bunch advanced to the finals with a 6-4 win.
Reiter will wrestle in tomorrow’s consolation semifinals. A win against Pittsburgh’s Drew Headlee, would earn him a spot in the third-place match. Reiter beat Hedlee, 7-5, earlier this season.
Lowe earned his second All-American citation with a dominating 16-5 major decision against seventh-seeded Andrew Hochstrasser of Boise State. Lowe took control early with two takedowns and a near fall in the first two minutes of the match. Lowe will wrestle in tomorrow’s seventh-place match after he was defeated by sixth-seeded Efren Ceballos of Cal-State Bakersfield. Ceballos scored a double-leg takedown as time expired in an 8-6 decision. Lowe will face Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State tomorrow morning. Scott defeated Lowe, 4-3, in the second round on Thursday.
Nagel became a first-time All-American with a hard-fought 2-1 upset of eighth-seeded Travis Paulson of Iowa State. Trailing 1-0 in the third period and with Paulson starting down, Nagel rode on top for over 90 seconds. After Paulson tied the match with an escape, he was unable to take down Nagel in the final 17 seconds. With over a minute of riding time, Nagel earned the bonus point and the victory. Nagel then defeated fifth- seeded Tyron Woodley of Missouri, 4-2, in double overtime. Nagel will face second- seeded Ryan Churella of Michigan for a berth in the third-place match.
A pair of Golden Gopher freshmen fell one win short of All-American status. At 157 pounds, C.P. Schlatter dropped a narrow 3-1 decision against 10th-seeded Brian Stith of Arizona State. At 184 pounds, Roger Kish was defeated by Missouri’s Matt Pell, 10-7. Both rookies finished with 3-2 records in their first career NCAA Tournament.
Session V begins tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. with the wrestle-backs and the third- through seventh-place matches. The championship finals will begin at 4 p.m. and be aired live on ESPN.
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
St. Louis, Mo.
March 18, 2005
Session IV
Team Scores
1. Oklahoma State, 127.5
2. Cornell, 71.5
3. Michigan, 67.0
4. Minnesota, 66.0
5. Iowa, 64.0
6. Oklahoma, 61.0
7. Illinois, 60.5
8. Iowa State, 52.5
Golden Gopher All-Americans
125 – Bobbe Lowe, Sr.
133 – Mack Reiter, RS Fr.
165 – Matt Nagel, Jr.
HWT – Cole Konrad, Soph.
Session IV
Championship Semifinals
133 - #2 Shawn Bunch (Edinboro) dec. #3 Mack Reiter (MN), 6-4
HWT - #2 Cole Konrad (MN) dec. #3 Cain Velasquez (Arizona State), 6-2 Consolation (Win secures All-American status)
125 - #8 Bobbe Lowe (MN) maj. dec. #7 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State), 16-5
157 – #10 Brian Stith (Arizona State) dec. C.P. Schlatter (MN), 3-1
165 - #10 Matt Nagel (MN) dec. #8 Travis Paulson (Iowa State), 2-1
184 - Matt Pell (Missouri) dec. #10 Roger Kish (MN), 10-7
Consolation
125 - #6 Efren Ceballos (CS Bakersfield) dec. #8 Bobbe Lowe (MN), 8-6
165 - #10 Matt Nagel (MN) dec. #5 Tyron Woodley (Missouri), 4-2 SV2
Sunday’s Schedule
Championship Finals
HWT - #2 Cole Konrad (MN) vs. #1 Steve Mocco (Oklahoma State)
Consolation Semifinals
133 - #3 Mack Reiter (MN) vs. Drew Headlee (Pittsburgh)
165 - #10 Matt Nagel (MN) vs. #2 Ryan Churella (Michigan)
Seventh Place Match
125 - #8 Bobbe Lowe (MN) vs. #9 Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State)
