Jayson Ness, Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter, Dustin Schlatter and Gabe Dretsch all went a perfect 3-0 on the day, while Mack Reiter, Scott Glasser and Justin Bronson each won both of their matches. Tyler Safratowich, Brandon Sitch and Ben Berhow also earned single victories on the day. An estimated crowd of well over 1,500 people traveled to the Rochester Community Technical College campus to watch the all-day event.
In the 10 a.m. opener against the Huskies of Northern Illinois, the Gophers won the first seven matches before eventually prevailing by a score of 35-12. Third-ranked Ness started things off with a pin of T.J. Wunnicke (4:43) in the 125 pound match, while Mack Reiter (currently ranked second at 133 pounds) followed that with a well-earned 4-3 decision over 10th-ranked Pat Castillo. It was Reiter's first non-exhibition match of the season – he also participated in last Monday's NWCA All-Star Classic.
Rivera and the Schlatter brothers won the next three matches, with Dustin picking up a tech fall (16-1) and C.P. his first pin of the season (in 2:42 over Michael Smith). Scott Glasser then won his collegiate dual meet debut, a 4-2 decision over Bryan Deutsch. Sixth-ranked Gabe Dretsch won a hard-fought 3-2 match with No. 12 Duke Burk in a battle of ranked opponents at 174 pounds.
After forfeiting the 184 pound match to Roger Kish, the Huskies picked up two straight pins to end the match – one over 197 pound former junior college national champ Yura Malamura and another over heavyweight Joe Nord. It was Minnesota's first loss at heavyweight in over two years – two-time national champion Cole Konrad (who ended his career on a 76-match winning streak) graduated last spring.
The second meet of the day for Minnesota came against Northern Colorado and got underway at 12 p.m., with the Gophers pulling out a 29-9 win. Minnesota improved to 5-0 all-time against the Bears with the win, as the Gophers won eight of ten weight classes.
Ness got things started once again with an 8-3 decision to remain perfect on the season. Redshirt freshman Jake Mellmer received his first dual meet start at 133 pounds in relief of Mack Reiter but lost a hard-fought 4-2 match to Blayze Bahe. After Rivera (10-4 win), and the Schlatters (major decisions of 14-3 and 14-2 for Dustin and C.P., respectively) earned victories, 2006-07 NCAA qualifier Tyler Safratowich was able to defeat Devan Lewis by a score of 8-5. Redshirt freshman Brandon Sitch got the call at 174 pounds in place of Gabe Dretsch and responded with an impressive 7-2 win over Ryan Johnson.
Roger Kish utterly dominated Vince Mendez before pinning him at the 5:29 mark, setting the stage for senior Justin Bronson. Bronson, contending for a starting spot at 197 pounds, delivered with an 8-1 decision over Patrick Carey. Nord was pinned for the second time on the day to round out the meet, this one coming at the hands of No. 17 Reece Hopkins.
The third and final match of the day was between the Gophers and Bison, with Minnesota romping to a 45-0 win. The Gophers are now 14-1 all-time vs. NDSU, including two consecutive shutouts (the last one coming in 2000).
Ness began the meet with his eighth fall in nine matches so far this year, making quick work (2:03) of Andy Hackenmueller. Reiter was next with a 14-4 major decision at 133 pounds, and Rivera improved to 10-0 on the season with an 8-3 win over Gabe Mooney. Dustin Schlatter rounded out a day in which he outscored his opponents a whopping 49-6 by tech falling Andrey Patselov 18-3.
C.P. Schlatter sent the crowd into a frenzy when he earned his second pin of the afternoon, this one coming in 4:47 over Adam Aho. Schlatter entered the day with just five pins in three previous seasons but picked up two at the Northern Quad. Glasser, Dretsch (now 9-1 this season) and Kish followed with major decision victories before Bronson took to the mat once more at 197 pounds. The senior established himself even further by defeating 2006-07 NCAA qualifier Jake Bryce 4-0.
Haywood, Minn. native Ben Berhow completed the sweep at heavyweight by pinning NDSU's Justin LaGosh in 3:55. It was the redshirt freshman's first-ever collegiate dual meet appearance.
The Gophers have now won 23 consecutive dual meets, dating back to Nov. 25 of last season. They are still ranked first in every national wrestling poll.
Minnesota will now prepare for their Dec. 2 meet with Iowa State, which will get underway at 2 p.m. in Williams Arena a week from Sunday. The Cyclones were the runners-up at last season's NCAA Championships and have already won five dual meets this season (5-0). The meet will be televised either live or via tape delay by the Big Ten Network. Stay tuned to gophersports.com for more updates.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now