Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals report - 8:00 p.m. session

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
01/20/2001


Semifinals  No. 2 Minnesota 20, No. 3 Iowa 17    Iowa opened with their strong lightweights, and put the pressure on the Gophers. No. 2 Jody Strittmatter beat No. 4 Leroy Vega, 4-0 to take a 3-0 team lead. Top ranked Eric Juergens of Iowa controlled the entire bout to beat No. 2 Brett Lawrence, 8-2, giving the Hawkeyes a 6-0 team lead. No. 1 Doug Schwab continued the Iowa streak, beating Ryan Lewis with a 14-6 major decision. Minnesota rebounded at 147, when No. 3 Jared Lawrence came back from a 4-1 deficit in the first period to beat No. 5 Mike Zadick, 7-6. Lawrence scored two takedowns in the third period for the win. No. 1 T.J. Williams of Iowa won a solid 3-2 match against  No. 4 Luke Becker, to stretch the Hawkeye lead to 13-3. Minnesota's No. 3 Brad Pike was impressive in a decision over No. 8 Ben Shirk.  No. 4 Gabe McMahon gave the Hawks a boost with a 15-6 win over Jacob Volkmann, to stretch the team lead to 17-6. No. 4 Damion Hahn, a freshman star, helped the team with some late takedowns to score a 16-7 major decision over No. 6 Jessman Smith.  No. 9 Owen Elzen of Minnesota scored six big team points by pinning Ryan Fulsaas in the second period. Turning Fulsaas a number of times, Elzen locked up tight on the head and pinned him, closing the team score to 17-16. 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Garrett Lowney closed the door for the Gophers, dominating on his feet  for a 12-4 major decision over Josh Liddle at heavyweight.    Minnesota Head Coach J Robinson: "I think it was a situation where we knew they were tough in the bottom. We wrestled well in the bottom weights, but lost, but it did  make a difference at the end. In the upper weights, we knew we needed bonus points and that is where they were the weakest. The bonus points made a big difference. We are looking forward to another shot at Oklahoma State, with our 197 back and our new heavyweight."    No. 1 Oklahoma State 25, No. 4 Iowa State 13    The Cowboys won the first four matches to jump to a commanding 16-0 lead over the Cyclones. No. 9 Matt Brown scored a 22-7 win over Jacob Moore at 125 pounds.  At 133 pounds, No. 4 Johnny Thompson needed an overtime escape in a tiebreaker to beat No. 9 Matt Azevedo, 8-7.  In another tiebreaker, No. 17 Jerrod Sanders scored an escape to edge No. 8 Zach Roberson, 2-1. at 141 pounds . No. 2 Reggie Wright turned Benjie Weingardner with a cradle, then pressed him down for the pin at 149 pounds. Iowa State claimed the next two bouts in an attempt to fight back into the match. No. 6 Cole Sanderson edged No. 17 Shane Roller, 4-3, then  No. 1 Joe Heskett stopped No. 7 Ty Wilcox, 4-0.  No. 11 Tyrone Lewis of Oklahoma State, a freshman, was explosive and in control in a 14-3 win over No. 7 Perry Parks at 174 pounds, giving OSU a 20-6 edge. No. 1 Cael Sanderson of the Iowa State showed his dominance of the weight by dominating No. 2 Daniel Cormier in a 14-3 major decision. Sanderson scored a variety of takedowns, and a pair of backpoint turns, during the win. No. 3 Zach Thompson of Iowa Stat e edged No. 2 Mark Munoz, 2-1 in overtime, giving Munoz his second loss of the day.  James Huml of Oklahoma State finished off No. 11 Mark Knauer with a pin, to give the Cowboys the margin of victory.    Oklahoma State head coach: "There were alot of battles. The close matches we won today was a big difference in this meet. It's good to see us win those battles. We had a good performance, and we have put ourselves in a position to win the title. Reggie Wright, Matt Brown, Johnny Thompson and Tyrone Lewis, those four guys won all their matches today and made the difference in this match."    Consolation quarterfinals    Oklahoma 33, Penn State 3    The host team lost the momentum from two exciting wins in the consolation rounds when they ran into a talented and deep Sooner team. Oklahoma won nine of the 10 bouts, easily moving on to the next rounds. Nate Parker won the only Nittany Lion match at 141 pounds. Waymon May scored a pin at 197, and Jared Frayer (149), Rob Waller (165) and Josh Lambrecht (184) scored a major decision.     Michigan 22, Lehigh 16    Michigan opened with a technical fall by AJ Grant (125) and a pin by Foley Dowd (133) for a fast 10-0 lead. Lehigh won three straight matches, with Matt Goldstein (141), Dave Esposito (149) and Ryan Bernholz (157) bringing the team score to a 10-10 tie. Michigan closed out with four wins in the final five bouts, all by decisions, from Charles Martelli (165), Otto Olson (174), Andy Hrovat (184) and Matt Brink (Hwt). Jon Trenge (197) scored a pin for Lehigh in just 31 seconds over Joe DeGain.