Ness, Storley spark top-ranked Minnesota to 28-15 victory at Air Force
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Minnesota senior Dylan Ness, shown after a big win earlier in his career, recorded a fall in his team’s win over Air Force on Saturday. Tony Rotundo photo.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers were missing three key starters.
And Minnesota actually fell behind early in its dual meet against Air Force.
But the powerful Gophers quickly regrouped behind top-ranked seniors Dylan Ness and Logan Storley in earning a 28-15 college wrestling victory on Saturday morning at Clune Arena.
The Gophers finished a close second behind Penn State in last season’s NCAA tournament. Minnesota returns five seniors who are all ranked in the top five nationally in their respective weight classes. The Gophers are ranked No. 1 nationally by WIN Magazine.
“We were missing some guys today, but our wrestlers competed hard and did a good job,” said legendary Minnesota coach J Robinson, a three-time NCAA championship coach. “We came very close to a national title last year and there was a little bit of pain with the team not winning it. Everybody felt we could’ve done better and felt we should’ve won it.
“That’s last year and we have to forget it, but we also have to use it as a tool for us to be ready this year. These seniors don’t have another year after this year. This is it. They need to do it now and they know it. That’s what we will use as part of our focus this year.”
Minnesota grabbed the lead for good against Air Force on Saturday when Ness scored a first-period fall over Sam Kreimier at 157 pounds.
Ness, a two-time NCAA runner-up and three-time All-American, scored an early takedown before eventually cranking his opponent over for the fall. Gopher freshman Nick Wanzek followed by knocking off No. 15 Jesse Stafford of Air Force by a 9-3 decision at 165.
Storley won by a 15-0 technical fall over Scott Reilly at 174. That pushed the Gopher team lead to 24-11 and clinched the dual-meet victory.
Minnesota’s Brett Pfarr prevailed at 184 before Air Force’s Jack Carda closed the dual with a victory at 197.
The Falcons jumped out to the early 11-3 lead with a pair of impressive early wins on the Air Force Academy campus.
NCAA qualifier Josh Martinez of Air Force rolled to a 16-0 technical fall over Sam Brancale at 125 pounds and teammate Anthony McHugh locked up a near-side cradle to win by fall over Gopher backup Jordan Kingsley at 133. Martinez, a standout junior from Colorado Springs, is ranked No. 9 nationally.
“We’ve been focusing on attitude, effort and execution,” Air Force coach Sam Barber said. “Our 10 guys showed up and represented the institution phenomenally. Our effort and conditioning, we were in matches and we fought to the last whistle. We got beat in some positions and we got beat by some better wrestlers, but as far as effort goes I’m extremely proud of our guys.
“We learned a lot by wrestling a high-caliber team like Minnesota. We can compete with anybody and we can do it here at the U.S. Air Force Academy. We just have to focus on continuing to improve.”
Minnesota came right back after losing two of the first three bouts. Conrad Rangell used a series of tilt maneuvers to earn a 9-0 major decision over Carter McElhany at 141. Gopher Jake Short followed with a 1-0 victory at 149 before Ness earned his quick pin to give his team the lead for good.
Minnesota heavyweight Michael Kroells surrendered the first takedown before coming on strong in the third period to down Marcus Malecek 10-3 in the dual’s first match.
The Gophers were wrestling without All-Americans Scott Schiller (197), Chris Dardanes (133) and Nick Dardanes (141). All three are ranked in the top five nationally.
“It’s nothing serious with any of them,” Robinson said. “They will all be back soon.”
The meet attracted a strong and vocal crowd despite starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“It was good – we need to continue to do stuff like this,” Barber said. “Minnesota obviously was a big draw. We promoted this event harder than we’ve ever promoted things. The lesson there is we need to promote our duals the same way we promoted this dual meet.
“If we ask, people will come. Colorado Springs is a phenomenal wrestling town. If we let them know what we’re doing and they get to see what we have here, I think we will get more people to come watch what we do.”
Robinson, a former Army Ranger, said it was special to have his team compete at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
“It’s great to come into an environment that is super positive and is all about integrity,” Robinson said. “It’s not about you, it’s about serving others. I think it’s important for our guys to see these young guys their age that really believe in their country and want to do something to serve their country.
“It was great to have a chance to compete here against the Air Force team. It was a very positive experience for us.”
Minnesota was scheduled to wrestle at No. 21 Wyoming on Saturday night in Laramie, Wyo.
Minnesota 28, Air Force 15
285 – Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. Marcus Malacek, 10-3. 125 – Josh Martinez (Air Force) won by tech. fall over Sam Brancale, 16-0. 133 – Anthony McHugh (Air Force) pinned Jordan Kingsley, 1:48. 141 – Conrad Rangell (Minnesota) dec. Carter McElhany, 9-0. 149 – Jake Short (Minnesota) dec. Jerry McGinty, 1-0. 157 – Dylan Ness (Minnesota) pinned Sam Kreimier, 1:52. 165 – Nick Wanzek (Minnesota) dec. Jesse Stafford, 9-3. 174 – Logan Storley (Minnesota) won by tech. fall over Scott Reilly, 15-0. 184 – Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) dec. Konner Witt, 13-0. 197 – Jake Carda (Air Force) dec. Chris Pfarr, 12-2.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers were missing three key starters.
And Minnesota actually fell behind early in its dual meet against Air Force.
But the powerful Gophers quickly regrouped behind top-ranked seniors Dylan Ness and Logan Storley in earning a 28-15 college wrestling victory on Saturday morning at Clune Arena.
The Gophers finished a close second behind Penn State in last season’s NCAA tournament. Minnesota returns five seniors who are all ranked in the top five nationally in their respective weight classes. The Gophers are ranked No. 1 nationally by WIN Magazine.
“We were missing some guys today, but our wrestlers competed hard and did a good job,” said legendary Minnesota coach J Robinson, a three-time NCAA championship coach. “We came very close to a national title last year and there was a little bit of pain with the team not winning it. Everybody felt we could’ve done better and felt we should’ve won it.
“That’s last year and we have to forget it, but we also have to use it as a tool for us to be ready this year. These seniors don’t have another year after this year. This is it. They need to do it now and they know it. That’s what we will use as part of our focus this year.”
Minnesota grabbed the lead for good against Air Force on Saturday when Ness scored a first-period fall over Sam Kreimier at 157 pounds.
Ness, a two-time NCAA runner-up and three-time All-American, scored an early takedown before eventually cranking his opponent over for the fall. Gopher freshman Nick Wanzek followed by knocking off No. 15 Jesse Stafford of Air Force by a 9-3 decision at 165.
Storley won by a 15-0 technical fall over Scott Reilly at 174. That pushed the Gopher team lead to 24-11 and clinched the dual-meet victory.
Minnesota’s Brett Pfarr prevailed at 184 before Air Force’s Jack Carda closed the dual with a victory at 197.
The Falcons jumped out to the early 11-3 lead with a pair of impressive early wins on the Air Force Academy campus.
NCAA qualifier Josh Martinez of Air Force rolled to a 16-0 technical fall over Sam Brancale at 125 pounds and teammate Anthony McHugh locked up a near-side cradle to win by fall over Gopher backup Jordan Kingsley at 133. Martinez, a standout junior from Colorado Springs, is ranked No. 9 nationally.
“We’ve been focusing on attitude, effort and execution,” Air Force coach Sam Barber said. “Our 10 guys showed up and represented the institution phenomenally. Our effort and conditioning, we were in matches and we fought to the last whistle. We got beat in some positions and we got beat by some better wrestlers, but as far as effort goes I’m extremely proud of our guys.
“We learned a lot by wrestling a high-caliber team like Minnesota. We can compete with anybody and we can do it here at the U.S. Air Force Academy. We just have to focus on continuing to improve.”
Minnesota came right back after losing two of the first three bouts. Conrad Rangell used a series of tilt maneuvers to earn a 9-0 major decision over Carter McElhany at 141. Gopher Jake Short followed with a 1-0 victory at 149 before Ness earned his quick pin to give his team the lead for good.
Minnesota heavyweight Michael Kroells surrendered the first takedown before coming on strong in the third period to down Marcus Malecek 10-3 in the dual’s first match.
The Gophers were wrestling without All-Americans Scott Schiller (197), Chris Dardanes (133) and Nick Dardanes (141). All three are ranked in the top five nationally.
“It’s nothing serious with any of them,” Robinson said. “They will all be back soon.”
The meet attracted a strong and vocal crowd despite starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“It was good – we need to continue to do stuff like this,” Barber said. “Minnesota obviously was a big draw. We promoted this event harder than we’ve ever promoted things. The lesson there is we need to promote our duals the same way we promoted this dual meet.
“If we ask, people will come. Colorado Springs is a phenomenal wrestling town. If we let them know what we’re doing and they get to see what we have here, I think we will get more people to come watch what we do.”
Robinson, a former Army Ranger, said it was special to have his team compete at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
“It’s great to come into an environment that is super positive and is all about integrity,” Robinson said. “It’s not about you, it’s about serving others. I think it’s important for our guys to see these young guys their age that really believe in their country and want to do something to serve their country.
“It was great to have a chance to compete here against the Air Force team. It was a very positive experience for us.”
Minnesota was scheduled to wrestle at No. 21 Wyoming on Saturday night in Laramie, Wyo.
Minnesota 28, Air Force 15
285 – Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. Marcus Malacek, 10-3. 125 – Josh Martinez (Air Force) won by tech. fall over Sam Brancale, 16-0. 133 – Anthony McHugh (Air Force) pinned Jordan Kingsley, 1:48. 141 – Conrad Rangell (Minnesota) dec. Carter McElhany, 9-0. 149 – Jake Short (Minnesota) dec. Jerry McGinty, 1-0. 157 – Dylan Ness (Minnesota) pinned Sam Kreimier, 1:52. 165 – Nick Wanzek (Minnesota) dec. Jesse Stafford, 9-3. 174 – Logan Storley (Minnesota) won by tech. fall over Scott Reilly, 15-0. 184 – Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) dec. Konner Witt, 13-0. 197 – Jake Carda (Air Force) dec. Chris Pfarr, 12-2.
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