Terry & Tom Brands (Photo/The Guillotine)On paper, the first three weight classes (125, 133, 141) were thought to be critical matches that could go in either direction. If the Gophers were going to pull the upset, it was assumed that they would need to win all three to have a chance. As it turned out, the Hawkeyes won two of three matches to start the dual meet, plus added bonus points in both of those victories.
Fourth-ranked Matt McDonough got things rolling for the Hawkeyes with a one-sided 13-2 major decision victory over sixth-ranked Zach Sanders at 125 pounds. The Iowa redshirt freshman picked up two takedowns in the first period to go up 4-1. In the second period, after a quick escape, McDonough added another takedown and secured a deep half nelson, forcing Sanders to his back and nearly getting the pin, but settled for three nearfall points, which put the match out of reach.
Three-time All-American and top-ranked Jayson Ness excited the Gopher faithful at 133 pounds with an 8-4 win over No. 3 Daniel Dennis. The Gopher senior captain used a first period takedown and a tilt to quickly go up 4-0, which helped pace him to the victory and cut the dual meet deficit to one.
"Ness is in a good place," said Minnesota coach J Robinson. "I think he's doing what he needs to do. He's very, very good at adapting. He's very, very good at learning new stuff. He spent a lot of time over the summer doing certain things ... and as we watched the match, a lot of them paid off."
But seventh-ranked Montel Marion helped shift the momentum back to Iowa' s side with a convincing 15-7 victory over sixth-ranked Mike Thorn, avenging a loss from the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals last month. The match was competitive throughout. Marion led 3-2 after the opening period and 7-5 after two periods, but widened the gap in the third period with a reversal, takedown, nearfall points (plus riding time) to pick up the major decision.
"I felt like I came out with a lot of confidence and made sure that I was getting on my offense right away," said Marion, who improved to 18-3 with the victory. "I didn't let the last match affect me at all ... because the fact is I knew if I stayed aggressive, if I was aware of all situations, and if I got in on my offense, head up through, like I've been saying all year, then good things are going to happen."
Brent Metcalf cruised to a technical fall victory over Mario Mason at 149 pounds (Photo/The Guillotine)"It was probably me just getting overanxious," said Metcalf of giving up a takedown. "I know he's good in those positions. I was in killer mode you could say. I just wanted to get a hold of him ... rather than being smart ... and rather than being in ties where I'm good. Error on me and good for him because he got to where he wanted. I just have to keep those things tight. I hate giving up points."
Metcalf's victory put the Hawkeyes in front 13-3.
Second-ranked Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota scored the only takedown of the match in the first period against Jake Kerr to win an uneventful match, 4-1, at 157 pounds heading into intermission.
"He spent a year in freestyle and he's kind of used to that ... It's a one or two-takedown game and he kind of holds on there," said Robinson. "But we're trying to get him to open up. He's taken a real leadership role in getting the rest of the guys on the team to do some extra stuff, so I think that will kick in once we get to the Big Ten and national tournament."
Jay Borschel picked up a 14-2 major decision over Scott Glasser at 174 pounds (Photo/The Guillotine)At 165 pounds, fourth-ranked Ryan Morningstar scored a 9-0 shutout victory over Cody Yohn. Second-ranked Jay Borschel hammered No. 8 Scott Glasser, 14-2, at 174 pounds. At 184 pounds, No. 12 Phil Keddy won 9-1 over Kaleb Young.
Sonny Yohn stopped the bleeding for Minnesota with a 7-0 victory over Luke Lofthouse at 197 pounds, but it was too little too late. Returning All-American Dan Erekson put the finishing touches on the Iowa's dominating 28-9 victory with a win in sudden victory, 5-3, over Ben Berhow.
"You want to develop and you want to get better ... and that's what we did," said Metcalf, who improved to 27-0 with his victory. "We widened the gap and it was good. You work hard to put more points on the board. McDonough comes to mind ... a guy like that. Maybe that should be a close match, but he just blows it out."
With the victory, the Hawkeyes improved to 21-0 and extended its school-record consecutive dual meet winning streak to 59. Iowa will conclude its regular season next weekend with Ohio State on Friday and Wisconsin on Friday.
The Gophers fall to 11-5 and will conclude its regular season on Friday with a home dual meet against Penn State.
"They have to get out there and battle and some of them didn't battle tonight," said Robinson. "They didn't battle. They didn't fight. They stepped back and they took a backset in some of the matches and that can't happen. That's not acceptable here ... and they know it."
Results:
125: No. 4 Matt McDonough (Iowa) major dec. No. 6 Zach Sanders (Minnesota), 13-2
133: No. 1 Jayson Ness (Minnesota) dec. No. 3 Daniel Dennis (Iowa), 8-4
141: No. 7 Montell Marion (Iowa) major dec. No. 6 Mike Thorn (Minnesota), 15-7
149: No. 1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) technical fall No. 16 Mario Mason (Minnesota), 24-8
157: No. 2 Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) dec. Jake Kerr (Iowa), 4-1
165: No. 4 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) major dec. Cody Yohn (Minnesota), 9-0
174: No. 2 Jay Borschel (Iowa) major dec. No. 8 Scott Glasser (Minnesota), 14-2
184: No. 12 Phil Keddy (Iowa) major dec. Kaleb Young (Minnesota), 9-1
197: No. 12 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) dec. Luke Lofthouse (Iowa), 7-0
285: No. 10 Dan Erekson (Iowa) dec. Ben Berhow (Minnesota), 5-3 SV
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