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Top-Ranked Gophers Open Up Lead at Big Ten Championships


Flowrestling
March 3, 2007
The top-ranked Golden Gophers advanced five wrestlers to the finals and extended their team-lead during Session II of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Saturday night in East Lansing, Mich. Minnesota is 30 points ahead of second-place Wisconsin heading into the final day of competition.

Dustin Schlatter, C.P. Schlatter, Roger Kish and Cole Konrad will all have the opportunity to defend their 2006 Big Ten individual titles, while redshirt freshman Jayson Ness will look to capture his first. Four other Minnesota wrestlers are still alive in the consolation bracket.

C.P. Schlatter advanced to the finals by avenging an earlier loss to Illinois? top-ranked Mike Poeta in perhaps the most anticipated match of the semifinals. Ness was dominant in his first Big Ten Championship appearance, pinning both of his opponents, while Kish was equally as impressive with two pins of his own. Dustin Schlatter did not allow a single point on Saturday, shutting out his two opponents by a combined score of 10-0. Konrad will look to become just the third wrestler in school history to win three Big Ten individual titles after he extended his winning streak to 70 consecutive matches with three wins on Saturday.

Mack Reiter, Manuel Rivera, Tyler Safratowich and Gabriel Dretsch are all still alive in the consolation bracket and have wrapped up NCAA tournament berths. After tough quarterfinal losses, Reiter and Safratowich both stormed back with a pair of impressive wins on Saturday night in the wrestlebacks. Rivera suffered his first loss of the season to Wisconsin?s Kyle Ruschell in the semifinals, ending a streak of 35 consecutive wins. Gabriel Dretsch also lost a heartbreaker, falling 3-1 to top seed James Yonushonis of Penn State in double overtime.

Ness began the day with a pin of eighth-seeded Brandon Tucker of Purdue in 2:11 and followed it up with his second pin of the year against Illinois? Gabe Flores. In an entertaining first period against Flores which saw each wrestler score a reversal and back points, Ness took control in the second with another reversal and a three-point near fall before getting the fall at 4:22. With his two victories today, Ness extended his winning streak to 18 consecutive matches.

After a disappointing quarterfinal loss to No. 6 seed Andrae Hernandez from Indiana, Reiter came out with something to prove in the evening session. Against Northwestern?s Eric Metzler, Reiter scored a takedown in each period and was never seriously challenged on his way to a 7-0 victory. In his second wrestleback match, Reiter fell behind 2-0 when Iowa?s Mario Galanakis scored the first takedown. It was all Reiter from there, however, as he put Galanakis on his back late in the second period to get the fall in 4:44.

After extending his winning streak to 35 consecutive matches with a 10-8 decision over Michigan?s Justin Chrzanowski in the quarterfinals, Rivera had a tough time against Ruschell and fell behind 5-0 midway through the second period. Rivera made a late charge but it was not enough as he suffered his first loss of the season, 7-4

At 149, Dustin Schlatter shut out Indiana?s Matt Coughlin, 6-0, in round one before topping Wisconsin?s Tyler Turner, 4-0. Much like many of his opponents this year, both Coughlin and Turner played defense in an attempt to keep the score close. Schlatter was all too used to the strategy, however, and came away with a pair of relatively easy victories.

After winning a pair of matches in the morning to set up the showdown with Poeta, C.P. Schlatter battled through three defensive periods of wrestling against the Illinois grappler. Neither wrestler was able to finish on any shots in regulation, and the two wrestlers went into overtime tied at one apiece on a pair of escapes. After starting down in the tiebreaker, Schlatter got the escape to take a 2-1 lead and then was able to ride Poeta in the second 30 second period to earn the victory. With the win, Schlatter avenged a narrow 3-2 loss to Poeta earlier this year.

At 165, Safratowich won an event-filled match over Northwestern?s Greg Hagel in this first match of the day before dropping a narrow 6-4 decision in the sudden victory period to sixth-seeded Justin Fraga. Safratowich, who controlled much of the match against Fraga, came within three seconds of riding time of winning the match in regulation. In his first match of the wrestlebacks, Safratowich displayed tremendous resiliency with a late comeback victory over Wisconsin?s Jake Donar. Trailing 5-2 in the third period, Safratowich scored a reversal with under 30 seconds remaining and got two back points to win the match 6-5. He proceeded to beat Penn State?s Dave Rella, 9-6, in his final match of the night.

After defeating Trevor Perry, 9-4, in round one, Dretsch got the opportunity to renew his rivalry with Yonushonis in the semifinals. The two wrestlers did not disappoint, battling through a nail-biter in the 174-pound semifinal. Tied 1-1 after regulation, neither was able to score in the first overtime, but Yonushonis escaped with the victory with a takedown midway through the second sudden victory period.

Kish won a pair of matches in the morning session, pinning Purdue's Nick Skinner in 3:52 before winning a 9-7 decision over Illinois' John Dergo. In the semifinals, Kish made quick work of third-seeded Mike Pucillo, taking the Ohio State wrestler down to his back to get the pin in 1:33. Kish?s win sets up a showdown between the top two wrestlers in the country on Sunday in the finals, as he will meet Northwestern?s Jake Herbert for the title.

Yura Malamura was the only Gopher wrestler not to make it through the first day of competition, as he was eliminated with back-to-back losses to Mike Tamillow and Nate Everhart.

Konrad needed all of one minute in his first two matches in the morning to advance to the semifinals. After Michigan's Casey White defaulted in the first round, Konrad made quick work of Ohio State?s Corey Morrison in round two. With a clear size advantage, Konrad used a body lock to take Morrison down directly to his back and got the pin at 1:00. In the semifinals, Konrad scored a takedown late in the first period on Iowa?s Matt Fields, and it was all he would need to get the win. He added two more points on stalling penalties on Fields to make the final score 4-0.

Minnesota will look to wrap up its second straight Big Ten team title, and its sixth in the last nine years, during the final day of the tournament tomorrow. Competition begins at 11 a.m. (CST).


Team Standings

1. Minnesota, 121

2. Wisconsin, 81

3. Penn State, 80.5

4. Indiana, 78.5

5. Iowa, 71.5

6. Michigan, 70

7. Illinois, 66

8. Northwestern, 63.5

9. Ohio State, 62

10. Purdue, 24.5

11. Michigan State, 23



Weight-by-Weight Results

125 ? Jayson Ness, First Seed

Quarterfinals: Ness pinned No. 8 Brandon Tucker (PUR), 2:11

Semifinals: Ness pinned No. 5 Gabe Flores (ILL), 4:22

133 ? Mack Reiter, Third Seed

Quarterfinals: No. 6 Andrae Hernandez (IND) dec. Reiter, 5-2

Consolation: Reiter dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 7-0

Consolation: Reiter pinned No. 7 Mario Galanakis (IOWA), 4:44

141 ? Manuel Rivera, First Seed

Quarterfinals: Rivera dec. No. 8 Justin Chrzanowski (MICH), 10-8

Semifinals: No. 5 Kyle Ruschell (WIS) dec. Rivera, 7-4

149 ? Dustin Schlatter, First Seed

Quarterfinals: Schlatter dec. No. 8 Matt Coughlin (IND), 6-0

Semifinals: Schlatter dec. No. 5 Tyler Turner (WIS), 4-0

157 ? C.P. Schlatter, Fourth Seed

Pigtails: Schlatter maj. dec. Jason Johnstone (OSU), 9-1

Quarterfinals: Schlatter dec. No. 5 Ryan Morningstar (IOWA), 6-4

Semifinals: Schlatter dec. No. 1 Mike Poeta (ILL), 2-1 TB1

165 ? Tyler Safratowich, Third Seed

Pigtails: Safratowich dec. Greg Hagel (NU), 14-7

Quarterfinals: No. 6 Justin Fraga (PUR) dec. Safratowich, 6-4 SV1

Consolation: Safratowich dec. Jake Donar (WIS), 6-5

Consolation: Safratowich dec. No. 7 Dave Rella (PSU), 9-6

174 ? Gabriel Dretsch, Fourth Seed

Quarterfinals: Dretsch dec. No. 5 Trevor Perry (IND), 9-4

Semifinals: No. 1 James Yonushonis (PSU) dec. Dretsch, 3-1 SV2

184 ? Roger Kish, Second Seed

Pigtails: Kish pinned Nick Skinner (PUR), 3:52

Quarterfinals: Kish dec. No. 7 John Dergo (ILL), 9-7

Semifinals: Kish pinned No. 3 Mike Pucillo (OSU), 1:33

197 ? Yura Malamura, Unseeded

Pigtails: No. 2 Mike Tamillow (NU) maj. dec. Malamura, 12-2

Consolation: No. 8 Nate Everhart (IND) dec. Malamura, 8-2

Hwt ? Cole Konrad, First Seed

Pigtails: Konrad over Casey White (MICH), default

Quarterfinals: Konrad pinned No. 8 Corey Morrison (OSU), 1:00

Semifinals: Konrad dec. No. 4 Matt Fields (IOWA), 4-0

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