No. 8 Golden Gophers overtake No. 1 Hawkeyes to grab lead at Big Ten Championships
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by Craig Sesker
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota's Jayson Ness was on his back and looking straight up at the lights at Williams Arena.
He was in trouble. Big trouble.
No. 5 seed Gabriel Flores of Illinois had flipped the top-ranked Ness onto his back and had him locked tight in a pinning combination in the third period of their 125-pound semifinal at the Big Ten Championships.
The unbeaten Ness spent close to a minute squirming, fighting and clawing to get off his back. And somehow he finally managed to not only break free, but he gained a reversal to pull out an improbable 7-5 victory.
Ness' 35th win in as many matches, along with teammate Gabe Dretsch's mild upset over Iowa's Jay Borschel at 174 pounds, provided a huge springboard for the Gophers as they grabbed the lead on Saturday night before 6,391 fans.
"I was trying to be aggressive and he caught me with a pretty good move," Ness said. "I just knew I couldn't get pinned and I had to keep fighting. It took a lot of heart and strength to get out of that. It was kind of scary being down there because he had me real tight. It would have been devastating to lose that match. I just never gave up."
The returning Big Ten and NCAA champion Gophers, ranked just eighth nationally after an injury-plagued season, hold a 106-93.5 lead over No. 1 Iowa entering the second and final day of the competition on Sunday. Illinois is third with 79 points and two finalists while Michigan is fourth with 78 points and four wrestlers in the finals.
Minnesota placed four wresters in the finals. The Hawkeyes struggled in the semifinals, winning just 2 of 8 matches.
Minnesota's chances for winning the team title did take a significant jolt when senior All-Americans C.P. Schlatter (157) and Roger Kish (184) both had to default their semifinal bouts because of injuries sustained during their matches.
Minnesota coach J Robinson said neither Schlatter nor Kish will compete Sunday. Both wrestlers will finish sixth. Schlatter and Kish had already qualified for nationals.
One of the most anticipated matches of the season will finally happen in the 149 finals when No. 1 Brent Metcalf of Iowa will face No. 2 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. Metcalf is unbeaten against Big Ten competition this year. Schlatter is a two-time Big Ten champion and 2006 NCAA champion.
"I'm excited about it," Metcalf said of the finals match. "It's on. I've been waiting and the world's been waiting. Let's do it."
Metcalf and Schlatter last met in 2005 when Schlatter won in the finals of the Senior High School Nationals.
"I'm excited about the match," Schlatter said. "Obviously he's a tough wrestler. I think a lot of people have been waiting the whole year to see this. I'm really looking forward to it. It should be fun."
Even though Schlatter already has won a national title and pieced together a 65-match winning streak in college, many wrestling observers consider him the underdog against the hard-charging Metcalf.
"It's a whole new dynamic, but it's a position that I am comfortable with," Schlatter said. "I will be the hunter instead of the hunted. I'm fine with where I'm at right now and I'm excited."
Returning national champion and No. 1 seed Mark Perry of Iowa won a scramble in overtime to score the winning takedown in a 3-1 semifinal win over No. 5 Roger Smith-Bergsrud of Illinois at 165.
Wisconsin's Craig Henning, a returning NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds, went 0-2 Saturday and failed to qualify for nationals.
BIG TEN FINALS MATCHUPS
125 POUNDS
Jayson Ness (Minnesota) vs. Angel Escobedo (Indiana)
133 POUNDS
Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) vs. Franklin Gomez (Michigan State)
141 POUNDS
Kellen Russell (Michigan) vs. Manuel Rivera (Minnesota)
149 POUNDS
Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota)
157 POUNDS
Mike Poeta (Illinois) vs. Dan Vallimont (Penn State)
165 POUNDS
Mark Perry (Iowa) vs. Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan)
174 POUNDS
Steve Luke (Michigan) vs. Gabe Dretsch (Minnesota)
184 POUNDS
Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) vs. Tyrel Todd (Michigan)
197 POUNDS
Mike Tamillow (Northwestern) vs. Phil Davis (Penn State)
HEAVYWEIGHT
J.D. Bergman (Ohio State) vs. Dustin Fox (Northwestern)
He was in trouble. Big trouble.
No. 5 seed Gabriel Flores of Illinois had flipped the top-ranked Ness onto his back and had him locked tight in a pinning combination in the third period of their 125-pound semifinal at the Big Ten Championships.
The unbeaten Ness spent close to a minute squirming, fighting and clawing to get off his back. And somehow he finally managed to not only break free, but he gained a reversal to pull out an improbable 7-5 victory.
Ness' 35th win in as many matches, along with teammate Gabe Dretsch's mild upset over Iowa's Jay Borschel at 174 pounds, provided a huge springboard for the Gophers as they grabbed the lead on Saturday night before 6,391 fans.
"I was trying to be aggressive and he caught me with a pretty good move," Ness said. "I just knew I couldn't get pinned and I had to keep fighting. It took a lot of heart and strength to get out of that. It was kind of scary being down there because he had me real tight. It would have been devastating to lose that match. I just never gave up."
The returning Big Ten and NCAA champion Gophers, ranked just eighth nationally after an injury-plagued season, hold a 106-93.5 lead over No. 1 Iowa entering the second and final day of the competition on Sunday. Illinois is third with 79 points and two finalists while Michigan is fourth with 78 points and four wrestlers in the finals.
Minnesota placed four wresters in the finals. The Hawkeyes struggled in the semifinals, winning just 2 of 8 matches.
Minnesota's chances for winning the team title did take a significant jolt when senior All-Americans C.P. Schlatter (157) and Roger Kish (184) both had to default their semifinal bouts because of injuries sustained during their matches.
Minnesota coach J Robinson said neither Schlatter nor Kish will compete Sunday. Both wrestlers will finish sixth. Schlatter and Kish had already qualified for nationals.
One of the most anticipated matches of the season will finally happen in the 149 finals when No. 1 Brent Metcalf of Iowa will face No. 2 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. Metcalf is unbeaten against Big Ten competition this year. Schlatter is a two-time Big Ten champion and 2006 NCAA champion.
"I'm excited about it," Metcalf said of the finals match. "It's on. I've been waiting and the world's been waiting. Let's do it."
Metcalf and Schlatter last met in 2005 when Schlatter won in the finals of the Senior High School Nationals.
"I'm excited about the match," Schlatter said. "Obviously he's a tough wrestler. I think a lot of people have been waiting the whole year to see this. I'm really looking forward to it. It should be fun."
Even though Schlatter already has won a national title and pieced together a 65-match winning streak in college, many wrestling observers consider him the underdog against the hard-charging Metcalf.
"It's a whole new dynamic, but it's a position that I am comfortable with," Schlatter said. "I will be the hunter instead of the hunted. I'm fine with where I'm at right now and I'm excited."
Returning national champion and No. 1 seed Mark Perry of Iowa won a scramble in overtime to score the winning takedown in a 3-1 semifinal win over No. 5 Roger Smith-Bergsrud of Illinois at 165.
Wisconsin's Craig Henning, a returning NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds, went 0-2 Saturday and failed to qualify for nationals.
BIG TEN FINALS MATCHUPS
125 POUNDS
Jayson Ness (Minnesota) vs. Angel Escobedo (Indiana)
133 POUNDS
Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) vs. Franklin Gomez (Michigan State)
141 POUNDS
Kellen Russell (Michigan) vs. Manuel Rivera (Minnesota)
149 POUNDS
Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota)
157 POUNDS
Mike Poeta (Illinois) vs. Dan Vallimont (Penn State)
165 POUNDS
Mark Perry (Iowa) vs. Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan)
174 POUNDS
Steve Luke (Michigan) vs. Gabe Dretsch (Minnesota)
184 POUNDS
Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) vs. Tyrel Todd (Michigan)
197 POUNDS
Mike Tamillow (Northwestern) vs. Phil Davis (Penn State)
HEAVYWEIGHT
J.D. Bergman (Ohio State) vs. Dustin Fox (Northwestern)
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