No. 1 Gopher Wrestlers Drop 18-13 Decision to No. 2 Iowa State

Cyclones come back at 197 and heavyweight to win

Dec. 3, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS (gophersports.com) - The top-ranked and defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team dropped a hard-fought 18-13 decision to No. 2 Iowa State Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena. The Gophers led until the 197-pound and heavyweight matches and lost for the first time in their last 24 meets despite suffering only six takedowns all afternoon. It was Minnesota's first loss to Iowa State in their last four meetings and their first home loss since Feb. 5, 2005.

The meet, which featured the top two finishers at last year's national championships, was expected to be close, but Minnesota (3-1) lost three pivotal matches as they dropped their first dual meet of the season to the Cyclones (6-0). Third-ranked Mack Reiter was edged out at 133 pounds by No. 8 Nick Fanthorpe 3-1 and No. 4 C.P. Schlatter was upset 3-2 by No. 10 Cyler Sanderson by a thin 3-2 margin. In the premier match of the afternoon, top-ranked 184-pound Jake Varner of the Cyclones successfully contained the Gophers' No. 2 Roger Kish, earning a 3-0 decision.

The meet began at 125 pounds, and sophomore Jayson Ness continued his torrid start to in 2007-08 with a 10-0 major decision over Mark Kist of ISU. Ness scored takedowns in the first two periods and scored three points on stall warnings by Kist, also accumulating 1:52 of riding time for the bonus point. Ness is now 10-0 this season with eight pins and one major decision.

A third-period reversal by Fanthorpe gave Reiter his first loss of the season at 133 pounds. After a scoreless first period, the Gopher senior and two-time All-American jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a second-period escape, but Fanthorpe's dramatic reversal at the 1:42 mark in the third proved to be the difference in an otherwise-uneventful match. Fanthorpe also picked up the bonus riding time point. Reiter is now 2-1 in dual meets this season.

At 141 pounds, Manuel Rivera stayed perfect on the season with a 7-4 win over ISU's Nick Gallick. The pair spent the first three minutes gauging each other before Rivera (now 11-0 on the year) took a 2-1 lead partway through the second with a takedown. Two more third-period takedowns and a bonus point for riding time allowed Rivera to give the Gophers a 7-3 lead three matches into the meet.

No. 1 Dustin Schlatter nearly picked up a much-needed major decision in his match against No. 16 Mitch Mueller, but had to settle for three points as he won 8-1 at 149 pounds. The two-time All-American had already built up 2:39 of riding time after just one period and brought a 4-1 lead into the final stanza, but Meuller was able to limit Schlatter to three third-period points (one escape and one takedown) to make the final tally 8-1. Schlatter remains undefeated this season (8-0, 4-0 in duals) and has lost just twice in 90 collegiate dual matches.

The Gophers brought a 10-3 lead into the 157-pound match, only to have No. 10 Cyler Sanderson (younger brother of legendary ISU head coach Cael Sanderson) pull off the upset. After yet another scoreless first period, the evenly-matched pair remained tied 1-1 after a Schlatter escape to open the third period. Sanderson's quick takedown 55 seconds into the third period gave him a 3-1 lead, as Schlatter (7-1) could not muster any offense in the final minute and dropped his first match of the season.

Fourteenth-ranked redshirt freshman Scott Glasser was overpowered by No. 7 Jon Reader at 165 pounds, falling 6-1. Glasser was unable to generate much offensively and suffered 3:12 of riding time at the hands of Reader, dropping his first dual match-up of the season.

After two straight losses, senior Gabe Dretsch appeared to get the Gophers back on track with a 9-2 decision over the Cyclones' Aron Scott at 174 pounds. Dretsch, who entered the meet ranked sixth nationally, built up a 6-0 lead after two periods by accumulating an escape, two takedowns and a penalty point. But with Scott's only goal seemingly to avoid allowing big points (the first-period penalty was called for fleeing the mat), Dretsch came up just one point shy of gaining a major decision. Dretsch held an 8-1 lead and to have a major decision in hand until Scott picked up an escape with only 18 seconds remaining in the match. The bonus point for riding time (1:33 in favor of Dretsch) made the final score 9-2.

The highly-anticipated 184-pound match proved to be a low-scoring affair, as Varner defeated Kish for the third straight time (including last year's NCAA semifinals and the 2007 All-Star Classic in November). Kish brought the crowd to its feet near the end of the first period as he narrowly missed a takedown in what proved to be a scoreless first period. But Varner was able to notch all three of his points in the second period as all of Kish's shooting attempts were rebuffed by his ISU rival. Varner now leads the all-time series between the two 3-2, including exhibition matches. The pair could meet again during January's National Duals.

Minnesota held a slim 13-12 lead heading into the final two matches of the afternoon, needing an upset at either weight class to avoid the defeat. Justin Bronson battled No. 18 David Bertolino at 197 pounds, suffering only one takedown, but dropped a close 4-0 decision.

With the Gophers trailing 15-13 entering the final match of the afternoon, the announced crow of 4,357 got to its feet to encourage heavyweight Ben Berhow as he took on No. 5 David Zabriske. Berhow appeared to be on the verge of a takedown on two separate occasions during the first period, only to come up short both times. Zabriske was able to pick up takedowns in all three periods and added an escape to emerge with a 7-2 victory. Berhow is now 4-4 on the year, including 1-1 in dual meets thus far. Gopher heavyweights are now a combined 1-3 in five dual meets this season.

Sunday's meet was televised live by the Big Ten Network, the first wrestling event on the new station this season. The 2008 Big Ten Championships, held at Williams Arena March 8-9, are also scheduled to be televised.

The Gophers will have little time to dwell on Sunday's loss as they host No. 14 Nebraska Thursday evening in the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis. The Gophers are 45-17 all-time against the Cornhuskers, including a 32-6 win in Lincoln last season. That meet will begin at 7:00 p.m.