University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers hold lead, upend Wildcats 18-16
2/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
The eighth-ranked Golden Gopher wrestling team salvaged a weekend split Sunday afternoon by downing the No. 16 Northwestern Wildcats 18-16 at the Sports Pavilion. Major decisions from Ben Berhow, Jayson Ness and Scott Glasser helped Minnesota avenge a Big Ten loss to Michigan on Friday and improved to 4-1 in the conference.
The victory was Minnesota’s ninth straight dual meet win over the Wildcats the Gophers have not lost to Northwestern head-to-head since 1996.
Glasser got things started on the right foot for the Gophers. He handily defeated Kyle Bertin by a 12-3 major decision in the 165-pound match, improving his season mark to 19-11 and putting the Gophers up 4-0.
Back-to-back losses at 174 and 184 pounds put Minnesota back in a hole, however. Redshirt freshman Kaleb Young and Northwestern’s Robert Kellogg went to a sudden-victory overtime period tied 3-3 in the 174-pound bout, but a Kellogg takedown just 38 seconds into the frame gave the Wildcats a victory in the match by a 5-3 decision.
Fellow redshirt freshman Sonny Yohn had a tall order at 184, as he matched up against top-ranked and undefeated Jake Herbert. Yohn held his own during the first period, trailing just 4-1 after three minutes, but the 2007 NCAA champion soon took over and cruised to a 16-5 major decision. Herbert improved to 23-0 on the season and has not lost since the 2006 NCAA title match.
Trailing 7-4 in the meet, Minnesota needed clutch performances by upper weight wrestlers Gordon Bierschenk (197) and No. 19 Berhow (heavyweight). Bierschenk delivered in a thrilling way against Northwestern’s Jake Schoen, using a late second period takedown to grab a 3-2 lead and then holding on during the final frame to claim the victory. Berhow made short work of Paul Rands in the heavyweight match, scoring six takedowns and a nearfall en route to a 16-5 major decision win.
Minnesota led 11-7 at the meet’s halfway point.
The meet’s marquee match-up came at 125 pounds between the Gophers’ No. 7 Zach Sanders and No. 3 Brandon Precin. The pair, which entered the match with a combined 43-2 record on the season, battled through an epic match. An early nearfall propelled Precin to a big 6-0 lead early in the third period. Sanders, however, managed to tie the match at seven apiece with a last-second three-point nearfall. Precin desperately avoided the pin in the waning seconds of the match to win 8-7 on the strength of the bonus riding time point.
No. 4 Ness continued his winning ways by sound defeating Eric Metzler by a 12-4 major decision at 133 pounds. Eighth-ranked Mike Thorn also notched a very business-like 5-1 decision over his ranked opponent, No. 16 Keith Sulzer. The light weight victories staked Minnesota to an 18-10 lead.
Needing only to avoid major bonus points in the final two matches to gain the team victory, the Gophers held on despite losses by Joe Grygelko (4-3 to Andrew Nahdir at 149 pounds) and No. 17 Tyler Safratowich (10-3 to #14 Jason Welch at 157).
The victory improved Minnesota’s record to 14-5 overall. The Gophers travel to Madison Friday to take on No. 17 Wisconsin and then head down to Iowa to tackle the top-ranked and defending national champion Hawkeyes Sunday. Sunday’s meet will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network beginning at 2 p.m.
165: Scott Glasser (MN) maj. dec. Kyle Bertin (NU), 12-3 (4-0)
174: Robert Kellogg (NU) dec. Kaleb Young (MN), 5-3;SV2 (4-3)
184: #1 Jake Herbert (NU) maj. dec. Sonny Yohn (MN), 16-5 (4-7)
197: Gordon Bierschenk (MN) dec. Jake Schoen (NU), 3-2 (7-7)
Hwt: #19 Ben Berhow (MN) maj. dec. Paul Rands (NU), 16-5 (11-7)
125: #3 Brandon Precin (NU) dec. #7 Zach Sanders (MN), 8-7 (11-10)
133: #4 Jayson Ness (MN) maj. dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 12-4 (15-10)
141: #8 Mike Thorn (MN) dec. #16 Keith Sulzer (NU), 5-1 (18-10)
149: Andrew Nadhir (NU) dec. Joe Grygelko (MN), 4-3 (18-13)
157: #14 Jason Welch (NU) dec. #17 Tyler Safratowich (MN), 10-3 (18-16)
The victory was Minnesota’s ninth straight dual meet win over the Wildcats the Gophers have not lost to Northwestern head-to-head since 1996.
Glasser got things started on the right foot for the Gophers. He handily defeated Kyle Bertin by a 12-3 major decision in the 165-pound match, improving his season mark to 19-11 and putting the Gophers up 4-0.
Back-to-back losses at 174 and 184 pounds put Minnesota back in a hole, however. Redshirt freshman Kaleb Young and Northwestern’s Robert Kellogg went to a sudden-victory overtime period tied 3-3 in the 174-pound bout, but a Kellogg takedown just 38 seconds into the frame gave the Wildcats a victory in the match by a 5-3 decision.
Fellow redshirt freshman Sonny Yohn had a tall order at 184, as he matched up against top-ranked and undefeated Jake Herbert. Yohn held his own during the first period, trailing just 4-1 after three minutes, but the 2007 NCAA champion soon took over and cruised to a 16-5 major decision. Herbert improved to 23-0 on the season and has not lost since the 2006 NCAA title match.
Trailing 7-4 in the meet, Minnesota needed clutch performances by upper weight wrestlers Gordon Bierschenk (197) and No. 19 Berhow (heavyweight). Bierschenk delivered in a thrilling way against Northwestern’s Jake Schoen, using a late second period takedown to grab a 3-2 lead and then holding on during the final frame to claim the victory. Berhow made short work of Paul Rands in the heavyweight match, scoring six takedowns and a nearfall en route to a 16-5 major decision win.
Minnesota led 11-7 at the meet’s halfway point.
The meet’s marquee match-up came at 125 pounds between the Gophers’ No. 7 Zach Sanders and No. 3 Brandon Precin. The pair, which entered the match with a combined 43-2 record on the season, battled through an epic match. An early nearfall propelled Precin to a big 6-0 lead early in the third period. Sanders, however, managed to tie the match at seven apiece with a last-second three-point nearfall. Precin desperately avoided the pin in the waning seconds of the match to win 8-7 on the strength of the bonus riding time point.
No. 4 Ness continued his winning ways by sound defeating Eric Metzler by a 12-4 major decision at 133 pounds. Eighth-ranked Mike Thorn also notched a very business-like 5-1 decision over his ranked opponent, No. 16 Keith Sulzer. The light weight victories staked Minnesota to an 18-10 lead.
Needing only to avoid major bonus points in the final two matches to gain the team victory, the Gophers held on despite losses by Joe Grygelko (4-3 to Andrew Nahdir at 149 pounds) and No. 17 Tyler Safratowich (10-3 to #14 Jason Welch at 157).
The victory improved Minnesota’s record to 14-5 overall. The Gophers travel to Madison Friday to take on No. 17 Wisconsin and then head down to Iowa to tackle the top-ranked and defending national champion Hawkeyes Sunday. Sunday’s meet will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network beginning at 2 p.m.
#8 Minnesota (14-5, 4-1) 18, #16 Northwestern (9-5-1, 2-2-1) 16
Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009
Sports Pavilion (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Attendance: 2,571
165: Scott Glasser (MN) maj. dec. Kyle Bertin (NU), 12-3 (4-0)
174: Robert Kellogg (NU) dec. Kaleb Young (MN), 5-3;SV2 (4-3)
184: #1 Jake Herbert (NU) maj. dec. Sonny Yohn (MN), 16-5 (4-7)
197: Gordon Bierschenk (MN) dec. Jake Schoen (NU), 3-2 (7-7)
Hwt: #19 Ben Berhow (MN) maj. dec. Paul Rands (NU), 16-5 (11-7)
125: #3 Brandon Precin (NU) dec. #7 Zach Sanders (MN), 8-7 (11-10)
133: #4 Jayson Ness (MN) maj. dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 12-4 (15-10)
141: #8 Mike Thorn (MN) dec. #16 Keith Sulzer (NU), 5-1 (18-10)
149: Andrew Nadhir (NU) dec. Joe Grygelko (MN), 4-3 (18-13)
157: #14 Jason Welch (NU) dec. #17 Tyler Safratowich (MN), 10-3 (18-16)
Players Mentioned
HWT
/ Wrestling
197
/ Wrestling
165
/ Wrestling
149
/ Wrestling
133
/ Wrestling
157
/ Wrestling
125
/ Wrestling
141
/ Wrestling
184
/ Wrestling
174
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