Rev Audio: Tom Brands (Iowa)
Rev Audio: Manny Rivera (Minnesota)
Rev Audio: Kellen Russell (Michigan)
Rev Audio: Brent Metcalf (Iowa)
Rev Audio: Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota)
Rev Audio: Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan)
Rev Audio: Mark Perry (Iowa)
Rev Audio: Gabe Dretsch (Minnesota)
Rev Audio: Steve Luke (Michigan)
Rev Audio: Mike Tamillow (N'western)
Minnesota overtakes Iowa
University of Minnesota Sports Information
The two-time defending conference champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team enjoyed a day of ups and downs at the 2008 Big Ten Championships at Williams Arena. The Gophers had four wrestlers qualify for Sunday's championships but lost seniors Roger Kish and C.P. Schlatter to injury as they took the lead in the team competition 106-93.5 over Iowa.
Seven Gophers advanced to Saturday night's semifinals, with Jayson Ness, Manuel Rivera, Dustin Schlatter and Gabe Dretsch progressing to Sunday's championship round. But the elder Schlatter and Kish were both forced to injury default during their respective semifinal matches and will not wrestle during Sunday's placement matches. Minnesota has automatically qualified eight wrestlers for the 2008 NCAA Championships.
Saturday's second session drew an announced crowd of 6,391 to Williams Arena (6,229 were in attendance during the first session), and it was the senior (and Minnesota native) Dretsch that drew the loudest reaction during his semifinal match against Iowa's Jay Borschel. Dretsch held a slim 3-2 lead after a period and extended it to 4-2 with an escape in the second before bringing the crowd to its feet with a late takedown.
Dretsch's 6-3 win advanced him to the conference finals for the first time in his career, after finishing fourth each of the past two years and seventh in 2005. He will face top-seeded Steve Luke of Michigan in Sunday's final after advancing with a 4-1 quarterfinal win over Indiana's Trevor Perry.
Minnesota suffered a major scare during Ness' semifinal match against Illinois' Gabe Flores at 125 pounds. The undefeated sophomore held a 4-2 lead heading into the final period, but was abruptly reversed and put on his back by Flores partway through the frame. Ness miraculously staved off what seemed like a surefire pin for nearly one minute during the third period before reversing Flores with 35 seconds remaining, grabbing a 6-5 lead and hanging on for the 7-5 win.
"I got off my back and I got the strength to get out of it," said Ness after the match. "I got put on my back a lot, but I always got out of it somehow. I kept fighting, kept pushing, and I never gave up. It was a lot of heart that got me through the match."
Ness, who beat Wisconsin's Collin Cudd to advance to the semifinals, remained undefeated at 35-0 on the season.
"He showed what I've been trying to teach and that is, you need guts to succeed," said Robinson about Ness' effort at 125 pounds. "He was straining and going back and forth. By getting out of the hold and getting the victory, he showed how much of a warrior he was and how tough of a kid he is. He demonstrated that you always need to come back strong to get a victory."
Rivera advanced to Saturday night's semifinal round at 141 pounds with a big 6-2 victory over third-seeded J Jaggers of Ohio State in quarterfinals before beating Keith Sulzer of Northwestern 3-2 in the semis. His victory over Jaggers was the first-ever opening round win for Rivera in a conference tournament, and Sunday's final appearance will also be a career first for the senior.
Dustin Schlatter's convincing 8-0 major decision win over Purdue's Jake Patacsil in the semifinals Saturday set up what many consider a "dream match-up" in Sunday's semifinal. Schlatter, a four-time Ohio State high school champion, will meet former four-time Michigan high school champ Brent Metcalf of Iowa tomorrow afternoon. Schlatter and Metcalf have yet to wrestle as collegians and last faced each other during the finals of the Senior High School Nationals in 2005.
Schlatter, who was seeded second entering Saturday, advanced to the Patacsil match with an 8-1 win over Indiana's Kurt Kinser remained undefeated (8-0) in Big Ten Championship competition. The two-time defending conference champ will wrestle for his third title Sunday.
It appeared that Dustin's older brother C.P. would get a chance to defend his two Big Ten titles when he advanced to the semifinals Saturday night with a hard-fought 4-2 win over rival Craig Henning (Wisconsin) during the quarterfinals. But Schlatter was forced to injury default late in the third period with an apparent leg injury and will not wrestle Sunday, according to Robinson. Schlatter will finish the 2008 Big Ten Championships in sixth place.
Kish, after narrowly scraping out a 4-2 overtime win over Wisconsin's Trevor Brandvold in the pigtails, came back with a strong 5-4 win over Penn State's Phil Bomberger in the quarterfinals. But he too was forced to injury default in his semifinal match with top-seeded Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) and will qualify for NCAAs as a sixth-place finisher.
Senior and fifth-seeded Mack Reiter enjoyed a nice revenge victory in his quarterfinal match before losing in the semis. After falling behind 2-0 early to Wisconsin's Zach Tanelli (who beat Reiter at a Feb. 20 dual meet), Reiter stormed back to take the lead in the match before pinning Tanelli at the 6:35 mark.
But Illinois' Jimmy Kennedy got the better of Reiter for the second straight time in their seimifinal match. Reiter mustered little offensively (he also lost 6-0 to Kennedy Feb. 17) in a 5-1 defeat and will wrestle for a chance at third place Sunday afternoon.
Third-seeded junior Tyler Safratowich suffered an upset loss to Indiana's Kurt Kinser in the quarterfinals, but stormed back to pin Northwestern's Dominic Marella in the wrestlebacks. Safratowich then lost a close 5-4 match to Penn State's Dave Rella and will take on Wisconsin's Jake Donar for seventh place and an NCAA qualifying spot Sunday.
Redshirt freshman Ben Berhow, competing in his first-ever conference tournament, was a pleasant surprise at heavyweight and remained alive after the Saturday's first day. Berhow lost 9-7 to Indiana's Nathan Everhart in the pigtails but bounced back to defeat Penn State's John Laboranti in the wrestlebacks 7-3 Saturday night. He then upset sixth-seeded Chris Kasten of Purdue 4-1 in the consolation bracket and can finish no lower than sixth place, automatically qualifying him for the 2008 NCAA Championships.
Senior Justin Bronson lost twice Saturday at 197 pounds, but due to a friendly bracket draw is still alive Sunday. Bronson was defeated by Illinois' Patrick Bond 11-3 in the quarterfinals and again by Indiana's Joe Fagiano in consolation wrestling. He will wrestle for seventh place Sunday.
"We have to do what we have to do," said Robinson Saturday night. "Injuries aren't new to us and we need to find ways to win. The whole year we've been trying to get everyone together and we finally did recently. However, tonight put is back to where we had been."
Sunday's third session will begin at noon Williams Arena, with championship matches beginning at approximately 2:05 p.m. Sunday's championships will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
Metcalf, Perry advance to finals
University of Iowa Sports Information
Hawkeye senior Mark Perry (165) and sophomore Brent Metcalf (149) advanced to Sunday's Big Ten Championship finals with semifinal wins Saturday night. The top-ranked Hawkeyes are in second place in the team race with 93.5 points after the first day of competition. Host Minnesota is in first place with 106.
While Iowa went a disappointing 3-8 in Saturday night's second round of competition, the Hawkeyes still have nine wrestlers competing and have automatically qualified eight competitors for the NCAA Championships, which are set for March 20-22 in St. Louis, MO. The top seven Big Ten placewinners in each weight class automatically advance to the national tournament, so the Hawkeyes could score an additional qualifier in sophomore Ryan Morningstar (157) if he wins his seventh-place match Sunday. The conference coaches will select two additional wild card qualifiers after the conclusion of the meet Sunday.
Metcalf and Perry were two of the bright spots on the night for the Hawkeyes. Metcalf scored a 15-3 major decision over Penn State's Bubba Jenkins in the 149-pound semifinal. The Davison, MI, native will put his 26-match winning streak and his 29-1 season record on the line when he faces two-time Big Ten champion and two-time all-American Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota in the finals. It will be the first collegiate meeting between the two.
"I have to continue to score points by bringing it on the offense," said Metcalf about his finals match. "I want to keep a high pace up so I can keep scoring. I am excited for tomorrow's match. I have been waiting for it all season."
Perry scored a takedown in sudden victory to defeat Illinois' Roger Smith-Bergsrud, 3-1, in the 165-pound semifinal. He will face Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum in the finals - a rematch of the 2007 Big Ten finals. Perry, who is a four-time Big Ten finalist, is 2-1 against the Wolverine, winning a 4-1 decision at the 2008 National Duals and a 5-2 decision in the 2007 Big Ten finals. Tannenbaum won the first meeting between the two - a 6-2 decision in sudden victory at the 2007 dual.
Iowa's third win of the session came when Ryan Morningstar scored an 11-0 major decision over Northwestern's Andrew Nadhir in the 157-pound consolations. It was Morningstar's 45th career victory. He will wrestle Purdue's Nick Bertucci in the seventh-place match to try to secure an NCAA bid.
Sunday's consolation matches will start at noon, with the championship finals, third-place and fifth-place matches starting at 2 p.m. The championship finals will be aired live on the Big Ten Network.
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