University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Oklahoma State
Gophers are National Duals Champions!
2/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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Feb. 23, 2013
For the second year in a row, the Golden Gopher wrestling team beat Oklahoma State to win the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Dual Championship. No. 3 Minnesota handled the No. 1 Cowboys, 28-9. Tonight marks the eighth time that Minnesota has captured the title.
The Gophers blasted through a strong Oklahoma State lineup, winning a total of seven bouts, and tallied two pins over top-three opponents. David Thorn got the team off to a solid start at 125 lbs. with a 5-2 win over Eddie Klimara. Chris Dardanes followed with an overtime victory over Jon Morrison. The two went seven rounds before Dardanes capitalized on a reversal with 20 seconds remaining and rode out to the 4-2 score. Getting revenge against Julian Feikert, Nick Dardanes scored bonus points with a 14-5 major decision to give the Gophers a 10-0 lead after only three wrestlers.
Oklahoma State would win the next three consecutive bouts to come within one of Minnesota's team score. Jordan Oliver edged Dylan Ness at 149 lbs. (6-4), Alex Dieringer narrowly defeated Danny Zilverberg at 157 lbs. (3-1), and Tyler Caldwell bested Cody Yohn at 165 lbs. (7-2).
Then Logan Storley took to the mat. Storley's lone loss of the season came from OSU's Chris Perry at the Southern Scuffle. Here in Minneapolis, he got revenge. Another bout that went into overtime, Storley went in for the kill and shocked the Cowboys by pinning Perry at 8:20. At 184 lbs., Kevin Steinhaus worked for a 4-3 decision over Chris Chionuma and Scott Schiller followed with a 6-2 decision over Blake Rosholt at 197 lbs.
Nelson put an exclamation point on the evening against OSU's Alan Gelogaev. The Gophers didn't need the extra points, but Nelson delivered them anyway, pinning the Cowboy late in the second period. The fall gave the Gophers a victorious 28-9 final score and cemented the duals title at Minnesota for another year.
Players Mentioned
