The Gophers followed the lead of their seniors on the night, and Jayson Ness (Bloomington, Minn.) set a great standard to follow. Still battling injury, Zach Sanders (Wabasha, Minn.) got the night off as the Gophers gave the forfeit at 125. The 6-0 deficit was short lived, though, as Ness responded with a pin in a mere 1:17 over Penn State's Bryan Pearsall.
The lopsided score was no surprise to the fans in the Sports Pavilion, as the win completed an undefeated career in home dual meets for the senior. Top-ranked Ness also won his 140th match and logged his 17th fall of the season with the victory. He becomes just the forth Gopher ever with 140 career wins, and is just three fall shy of tying, and four from breaking, his own school record for pins in a single season.
Just as impressive as Ness' quick pin, was fellow senior Dustin Schlatter's (Massillion, Ohio) shutout of No. 6 Cyler Sanderson at 157. In the only top-10 match-up of the night, No. 2 Schlatter took control early and led the entire match for the 4-0 win. Schlatter entered the match riding a 13-match winning streak, and extended to 14 with his first win over a ranked opponent at 157. In his final home meet, Schlatter ends his career with just one lone loss in front of the Minnesota crowd.
The Gophers went into the intermission up 15-9 after Schaltter's match, thanks in part to a fall from Mike Thorn (St. Michael, Minn.). Following in Ness' footsteps, Thorn logged his sixth fall of the season at 141, scoring a first period pin over the Nittany Lions' Adam Lynch. Sixth ranked Thorn notched one of his fastest falls of the season, ending the match in just 2:18, and won his third match of the season over a ranked opponent, handing No. 20 ranked Lynch just his second Big Ten loss.
Scott Glasser (Bismarck, N.D.) and Sonny Yohn (Alamosa, Colo.) won similar matches at 174 and 197 respectively. Each turned on the scoring late to notch major decisions with Glasser winning 12-3 over Justin Ortega and Yohn winning 14-5 over David Crowell.
Yohn was looking at just a decision late in his match, but fought and managed one final takedown with just two seconds left for the final nine-point margin. The major decision by Yohn sealed the match for the Gophers, giving them a 23-16 lead with just one match left to go.
Despite the outcome of the match already decided the final bout at heavyweight still came with plenty of drama. The Gopher's Ben Berhow (Hayward, Minn.) battled No. 12 Cameron Wade to a scoreless first period. Wade entered the match with a 6-1 Big Ten record, but it was Berhow who scored the first points, tallying a reversal early in the second after starting the period down. Two escapes by Wade tied the match, but with just three seconds left Berhow got the big takedown for the winning points in the 4-2 decision.
With a 12-5 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the Big Ten, Minnesota locked up second place in the Big Ten, tied with Ohio State who dropped their first conference match this evening to dual meet champion Iowa. The Gophers have won seven or more Big Ten matches for the third time in the last five years.
Along with Ness and Schlatter, fellow seniors Matt Everson (Mitchell, S.D.) and Nate Matousek (Glencoe, Minn.) were also honored tonight, during a ceremony at the intermission.
They wrestlers will take a much needed break next week in preparation for the Big Ten Tournament Mar. 6-7 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Results:
125: #13 Brad Pataky (PSU) For - - / 0-6
133: #1 Jayson Ness (MINN) fall Bryan Pearsall (PSU), 1:17 / 6-6
141: #6 Mike Thorn (MINN) fall #20 Adam Lynch (PSU), 2:18 / 12-6
149: #4 Frank Molinaro (PSU) dec. #16 Mario Mason (MINN), 7-3 / 12-9
157: #2 Dustin Schlatter (MINN) dec. #6 Cyler Sanderson (PSU), 4-0 / 15-9
165: #7 Dan Vallimont (PSU) dec. Cody Yohn (MINN), 10-3 / 15-12
174: #8 Scott Glasser (MINN) maj. Justin Ortega (PSU), 12-3 / 19-12
184: #10 David Erwin (PSU) maj. Kaleb Young (MINN), 12-3 / 19-16
197: #12 Sonny Yohn (MINN) maj. David Crowell (PSU), 14-5 / 23-16
HWT: Ben Berhow (MINN) dec. #12 Cameron Wade (PSU), 4-2 / 26-16
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