University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Beats Iowa 16-15 to Advance to Championship
2/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 19, 2012
The No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes this afternoon 16-15, in the semifinals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. The victory puts the Gophers in the championship against host Oklahoma State, tonight at 6 p.m. CST.
Minnesota's win over Iowa today was the first victory against the Hawkeyes since February 18, 2007. The Gophers won 29-13 at Carver Hawkeye Arena that season and would go onto win the NCAA championship.
Iowa started out with a 9-0 lead against Minnesota. The Gophers did not get their first points until Dylan Ness scored an 11-2 major decision over Mike Kelly.
Minnesota would next get points from Cody Yohn, who picked up a 5-3 overtime win over Mike Evans. The win by Yohn made the score 13-10, in favor of Iowa.
The Gophers would win the final three matches from Kevin Steinhaus, Sonny Yohn and Tony Nelson. Steinhaus scored a 3-1 decision over Grant Gambrall, while Sonny Yohn defeated Iowa's Vinnie Wagner, who bumped up a weight class, by a 7-4 decision.
Tony Nelson would seal the deal for the Gophers with a 2-0 victory over Bobby Telford. Nelson controlled the match after recording 1:44 of riding time.
Minnesota and Oklahoma State are schedule battle at 6 p.m. this evening. Check Gophersports.com for a live blog at 5:45 p.m or a live video webcast at livesportsvideo.com
| 125 | Matt McDonough (#1 Iowa) over Zach Sanders (#2 Minnesota) Dec 7-4 | 0 | 3 |
| 133 | Tony Ramos (#3 Iowa) over Christopher Dardanes (#7 Minnesota) OT 6-1 | 0 | 3 |
| 141 | Montell Marion (#5 Iowa) over Nick Dardanes (#8 Minnesota) OT 6-4 | 0 | 3 |
| 149 | Dylan Ness (#10 Minnesota) over Mike Kelly (Iowa) Maj 11-2 | 4 | 0 |
| 157 | Derek St. John (Iowa) over Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota) Dec 6-3 | 0 | 3 |
| 165 | Cody Yohn (#14 Minnesota) over Michael Evans (Iowa) OT 5-3 | 3 | 0 |
| 174 | Ethen Lofthouse (#8 Iowa) over Logan Storley (#6 Minnesota) Dec 4-3 | 0 | 3 |
| 184 | Kevin Steinhaus (#7 Minnesota) over Grant Gambrall (Iowa) Dec 3-1 | 3 | 0 |
| 197 | Sonny Yohn (#6 Minnesota) over Vinnie Wagner (Iowa) Dec 7-4 | 3 | 0 |
| 285 | Tony Nelson (#4 Minnesota) over Bobby Telford (#14 Iowa) Dec 2-0 | 3 | 0 |
| Dual Meet Score | Minn 16 | Iowa 15 | |
Players Mentioned
