No. 4 Jayson Ness started the Gophers off in style with a 20-3 tech fall over Michigan's Michael Watts, and Manuel Rivera, Gabriel Dretsch, and Cole Konrad each added major decisions to contribute bonus points to the team score. Konrad's victory was his 60th straight, extended his school-record winning streak.
The Gophers also won the two marquee match-ups of the night, with top-ranked Dustin Schlatter earning a 2-1 decision over No. 3 Josh Churella at 149 pounds and No. 2 Roger Kish downing No. 4 Tyrel Todd, 15-8, at 174. Minnesota's other two victories came from Mike Thorn and C.P. Schlatter.
Ness gave Minnesota an early 5-0 lead with his victory over Watts. Ness dominated from the opening whistle, countering a shot attempt by Watts to score the first takedown of the match 25 seconds in. He earned five back points and scored another takedown to lead 9-1 after the first. Ness extended his lead throughout the next two periods, capped off with a three-point near fall with under 10 seconds remaining to earn the tech fall.
Ness' win was a sign of things to come for the Wolverines, as the Gophers won each of the next four bouts to put Michigan away early in the dual.
In a battle between two true freshman at 133, Thorn fought his way to a close 7-5 decision over Chris Diehl. With the match knotted at four entering the third period, Thorn started down and took the lead with a reversal 28 seconds later. Diehl got the escape to make it 6-5, but Thorn prevented him from getting any shots in and earned the bonus point for riding time.
Rivera, ranked No. 2 in the nation at 141, followed with a dominant 19-6 major decision over Justin Chrzanowski at 141. With a 9-2 lead entering the third, Rivera looked to extend his lead with a series of takedowns. Chrzanowski was able to avoid the tech fall, but Rivera proved once again that he is one of the nation's best with his 28th consecutive victory.
In a low-scoring match at 149, Dustin Schlatter simply found a way to win once again, battling his way to a 2-1 decision over the third-ranked Churella to extend his winning streak to 53 consecutive matches. After a scoreless first period, Schlatter rode Churella the entire second period to build the riding time advantage. A double stall warning made the score 1-1, and with neither wrestler able to finish a shot in the third, Schlatter's riding time proved to be the difference.
Third-ranked C.P. Schlatter turned in a 13-7 decision over Rob Sulaver at 157. Clearly the superior wrestler, Schlatter went to work immediately, scoring three takedowns in the first period. He held an 8-4 advantage after the third and attempted to earn bonus points in the third, but Sulaver was able to keep the damage to a minimum.
Jeremy Larson faced a tough test in No. 2 Eric Tannenbaum, but as he has done all year against top competition, Larson fought throughout to prevent any bonus points. Tannenbaum finally got Michigan on the board with a 12-5 decision.
The Gophers finished the night by winning three of the final four matches. No. 12 Gabriel Dretsch shut out his fourth opponent of the season, downing Jordan Sherrod, 8-0. Dretsch was never seriously threatened as he scored a takedown in each period, added an escape in the second and earned the bonus point with 2:28 of riding time.
In the other bout between two-top five wrestlers, Kish was too much for Todd to handle at 184 pounds. Kish utilized his superior strength and athleticism to wear Todd down. He struck first with an takedown just over 30 seconds into the match and built his lead from there, opening it up in the second with a pair of takedowns and escapes with Todd visibly reeling with knee problems. In the end, Kish came up just short of earning bonus points but extended Minnesota's lead to 25-3 nonetheless.
True freshman Brent Eidenschink turned in another solid effort against a ranked wrestler at 197 but eventually fell, 7-3, to No. 17 Nick Roy for Michigan's second victory of the night.
Konrad erased any hopes Omar Maktabi may have had early in the match, scoring a takedown just 17 seconds in. With bonus points on his mind, Konrad immediately let Maktabi escape and went right back to work. The theme remained the same for much of the bout, as Konrad piled up nine takedowns in the match to eventually earn a 21-7 victory.
CSTV will air tonight's match on tape delay on Monday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. (CST). A complete replay will be available in the Gold Zone next week.
Minnesota will again be in action at the Sports Pavilion on Sunday when it hosts Purdue at 2 p.m. Live video of the match against the Boilermakers will be available in the Gold Zone.
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