University of Minnesota Sports Information
Senior Cole Konrad was once again the hero for Minnesota, pinning Missouri's Tyler Perry in the final match of the night to give the Golden Gophers their second straight National Duals crown in dramatic fashion. The top-ranked heavyweight in the nation, Konrad overpowered Perry to put him on his back near the edge of the mat and earned the fall in 2:13.
With the win, Minnesota avenged a second-place finish to the Tigers at the Southern Scuffle to win its fourth National Duals crown in the last seven years. Now 11-1 on the season, Minnesota will likely regain the No. 1 ranking in the nation in this week's polls.
In an interesting development of events, Missouri adjusted its lineup to pit Ben Askren, the top-ranked 174 pounder in the nation, against Roger Kish in the 184-pound bout. Although Askren won the match by a narrow 5-4 margin, the move did not pay off for the Tigers. Minnesota true freshman Brent Eidenschink avoided bonus points against top-ranked Max Askren in the 197-pound match, limiting Missouri's lead in the dual to just 16-14 heading into the heavyweight bout.
Konrad took care of business from there and, with his 58th consecutive victory, tied Tim Hartung for the longest winning streak in school history.
His heroics would not have been possible, however, without a number of key performances ahead of him. C.P. Schlatter completed a perfect weekend in his return from a knee injury with a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over No. 12 Mike Chandler. Manuel Rivera and Dustin Schlatter both remained unbeaten on the season, and redshirt freshman Jayson Ness continued to impress with a major decision at 125 pounds.
Ness recorded the second shutout of his career with the 11-0 major over No. 18 John Olinowski to give Minnesota the early 4-0 advantage. He countered a shot by the Tiger wrestler midway through the first period to score a takedown and two-point near fall. After starting down in the second, Ness got the escape and then quickly fired in on a single leg to extend his lead to 7-0. He added another takedown in the third and was awarded points for a stall warning on Olanowski and 3:09 of riding time at the end of the match.
Missouri evened the match at four apiece with a major decision of their own at 133 pounds, but Rivera got Minnesota rolling with yet another major in the following match. Rivera scored a pair of early takedowns on No. 15 Ashton Primus and worked him to his back with under 10 seconds remaining in the first period to take a 6-1 lead. With bonus points on his mind, Rivera used a series of takedowns and releases over the next two periods to extend his lead, ultimately coming away with an 18-7 victory to improve to 26-0 on the season.
The breath went out of the building in the next match when the unthinkable almost happened. Top-ranked Dustin Schlatter was in trouble when Missouri's Josh Wagner nearly rolled him to his back midway through the first period, but Schlatter used his quickness and strength to counter the attack and avoid any damage. In a nail-biting match in which both wrestlers seemed to counter the other's every move, Schlatter built up enough riding time to earn the bonus point and come away with a 1-0 victory.
C.P. Schlatter followed with the pivotal victory at 157 pounds. Trailing 3-0 entering the third period, Schlatter turned up the intensity to erase the deficit. He got on the board with a takedown with 1:18 remaining and quickly proceeded to allow Chandler to escape. Schlatter followed the same method two more times and scored the winning takedown with 42 seconds remaining to give the Gophers a 14-4 lead in the dual and bring the Minnesota crowd to its feet.
The excitement slowly turned to nerves as Missouri shifted its lineup and won each of the next four matches, but the Gophers kept the damage to a minimum by avoiding any bonus points.
Curiosity set in when Missouri's Nick Marable came out to wrestle Jeremy Larson instead of Matt Pell, who is ranked No. 7 at 165 pounds. The strategy became clear, however, when Pell came out to wrestle Gabriel Dretsch in the 174-pound match. Figuring their only chance to win the dual was a victory at 184 pounds, the Tigers sent Ben Askren out to face Roger Kish instead of No. 5 Raymond Jordan. While both bold and clever, the move did not pay off for Missouri.
The match between Kish and Askren provided plenty of entertainment, with both wrestlers trying to will their team to victory. Trailing 5-1 midway with under 30 seconds remaining, Kish made it interesting with takedown and then desperately tried to roll Askren to his back. Askren was able to counter however, ultimately coming away with a 5-4 decision to cut Minnesota's lead in the dual to 14-13.
Eidenschink followed with a courageous effort at 197, giving top-ranked Max Askren more than what he bargained for. Clearly expecting to earn bonus points, Askren used a series of takedowns and releases to build an early lead in the first period, but Eidenschink caught him off-guard with a takedown late in the period to cut into the lead. He was effective the rest of the way in limiting Askren's offense, allowing only a reversal in the third period. The riding time advantage gave Askren the 11-5 decision.
With a 16-4 lead heading into the heavyweight match, Missouri put its hopes in the hands of Perry. However, he proved no match for Konrad, who was mobbed by his team following the victory.
Replays of all four Minnesota matches at the National Duals will be available in the Gold Zone this week.
The Gophers open Big Ten action Sunday, Jan. 21 when they host Penn State at the Sports Pavilion. Live video of the dual with the Nittany Lions will be available in the Gold Zone.
Augsburg wins event for third time
Augsburg College Sports Information
For the third time in the six-year history of the event, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed the championship at the National Wrestling Coaches Association/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals, winning 15 of 20 individual matches in claiming two dual-meet victories on Sunday afternoon at the University of Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome.
Augsburg, the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division III national rankings, won eight of 10 matches in a 30-6 win over No. 6-ranked Johnson and Wales (R.I.) in the semifinals. In the championship match, Augsburg won the first seven individual bouts in beating No. 2-ranked and defending national champion Wartburg (Iowa) 22-10.
The Auggies are now 7-0 on the season, having won 60 of 70 individual matches in its seven team victories this season. Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is now 214-16 since the 1989-90 season, losing just 11 matches to non-Division I opponents since the 1995-96 season. Against teams from Division III, Augsburg is now 228-19 since the 1979-80 season and 152-9 since 1989-90. Augsburg has won nine Division III national titles in the last 16 seasons.
Augsburg and Wartburg, the two dominant teams in small-college wrestling, have met in each of the six NWCA Division III National Duals championship matches in its current format (16-team bracket), Each team has now won three times, with Augsburg winning in 2002, 2005 and 2007, and Wartburg winning in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
The Auggies and Knights will meet again in a dual meet on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis.
Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked No. 1 nationally at 165 pounds, won both his matches on Sunday, improving his collegiate winning streak to 135 straight matches. LeVesseur, who won Division III national titles at 157 pounds three times (2003, 2004, 2005), has the second-longest winning streak in college wrestling history, behind the 159 of Cael Sanderson at Iowa State (1998-2002). LeVesseur has yet to lose a college wrestling match and is 11-0 this season. LeVesseur claimed a major-decision win in the match against Johnson and Wales, then scored a 5-1 win in the victory over Wartburg.
Augsburg built a 22-0 lead against Wartburg in the championship match, winning the first seven individual matches before Wartburg won the final three. The Auggies won four of the six meetings of ranked wrestlers in the meet.
Top-ranked Jeremy Anderson (Jr., Thief River Falls, Minn.) claimed a 5-4 win over No. 4-ranked Aaron Wernimont of Wartburg at 157 pounds, while Augsburg's Jafari Vanier (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), the top-ranked wrestler at 133, scored a 5-2 win over No. 3-ranked Jacob Helvey. Seth Flodeen (So., Cannon Falls, Minn.), ranked No. 3 at 125, scored a 6-3 win over No. 7-ranked Robert Struthers, and Robbie Gotreau (Jr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS), ranked No. 3 at 174, claimed a 5-2 decision over No. 4-ranked Jason Zastrow.
Quincy Osborn (Jr., Grand Rapids, Minn.), ranked No. 2 at 141, improved to 26-1 with a major-decision win, and Jared Evans (Sr., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS), ranked No. 4 at 149, improved to 22-1 with a victory.
Wartburg won the final three matches of the dual, with No. 2-ranked Romeo Djournessi claiming an 8-5 win over George Lynaugh (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) of Augsburg at 184, top-ranked T.J. Miller won at 197 and top-ranked Blake Gillis scored an 11-2 major-decision win over Augsburg's Andrew Neumann (Sr., Somerset, Wis.), ranked No. 6 at heavyweight.
In the match against Johnson and Wales, Augsburg won eight of 10 matches, highlighted by a 1:14 pin victory by Osborn at 141. Anderson, LeVesseur and Lynaugh all scored major-decision victories for the Auggies, with LeVesseur scoring an 8-0 win over JWU's Steve Martell, ranked No. 3 at 165.
Augsburg returns to action on Saturday (1/20), as the varsity competes at the Northwestern-Iowa Red Raider Invitational in Orange City, Iowa, and the White Team (JV) competes at the Minnesota West Community College Open in Worthington, Minn. Both events begin at 9 a.m.
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