On a night in which three athletic events took place within 30 yards of each other on campus, the Gophers wrestling team took care of Iowa State 34-6 at Williams Arena.
âÄúI think overall weâÄôre starting to go forward and do what we want to do,âÄù head coach J Robinson said. âÄúBut itâÄôs the same thing âÄî we have to be more aggressive, we have to move our hands and we have to be more dominant when weâÄôre wrestling.
âÄúThe guys are starting to get the idea, but weâÄôre not there yet, and we have got to keep that aggressive pressure on them all the time.âÄù
The dual was held at Williams because of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament at the Sports Pavilion. The Gophers menâÄôs hockey team was also in action across the street at Mariucci Arena.
ISU forfeited the 125-pound match that was supposed to feature No. 10 Ryak Finch and No. 1 Zach Sanders, who only recently took over the top spot. The forfeit gave the Gophers an early 6-0 lead.
Minnesota did not look back from there. It won the next four matches before the intermission break.
David Thorn (141) and Dylan Ness (149) both recorded major-decision wins for the Gophers.
âÄúI wanted to come out and wrestle like I should have been, because I havenâÄôt been doing too well in my opinion that last couple weeks,âÄù Ness said. âÄúThe plan was to stay at him the whole time and keep the pressure on him and score as many points as I can.âÄù
Alec Ortiz (157) had a huge night for the Gophers, recording a pin with 16 seconds left in the first period.
âÄúI donâÄôt remember [the match] too well because there was a lot of adrenaline and what not,âÄù Ortiz said. âÄúI just saw the body lock, and IâÄôm really comfortable with my upper-body so the second time I got to it I just decided to commit, and it worked out pretty well.âÄù
Ortiz replaced Jake Deitchler in the Gophers lineup.
ISU won the next two matches after the intermission in entertaining fashion. The 165- and 174-pound weights were the only weights in which the Cyclones had higher ranked wrestlers than the Gophers.
The CyclonesâÄô Andrew Sorenson (165) defeated MinnesotaâÄôs Cody Yohn after the two teams were tied at 3-3 after one period.
Chris Spangler (174) won the final match of the night for ISU against the GophersâÄô Logan Storley 5-3.
Storley wrestled in his first dual for the Gophers this season after sitting out the past couple weeks with a sprained ankle.
âÄú[Storley] wanted to get a match in; we wanted him to get a match in before the Southern Scuffle,âÄù Robinson said. âÄúIt was a good thing to see where he is, and itâÄôs a good thing for him to understand what heâÄôs got to do here the next three weeks getting ready for the Southern Scuffle.âÄù
It looked like Storley had recorded a takedown in the third period when Spangler was up 3-2; however, it was not called by the referee. The non-call brought head assistant coach Brandon Eggum to the edge of the mat, where he argued with the referee.
Despite the lopsided victory, Robinson said his team needs to work on winning close matches.
âÄúWe need to score more points; we need to find ways to win those one-point matches,âÄù Robinson said. âÄúAt [165] and [174], weâÄôve got to win those, and in order to do that we have to attempt more shots and go after them more.âÄù
Minnesota won the last three matches of the dual. Kevin Steinhaus (184), Sonny Yohn (197) and Tony Nelson (heavyweight) all recorded wins for the Gophers. Steinhaus and Sonny Yohn had major-decision wins.
Minnesota will take a three-week break from live action before the Southern Scuffle on New YearâÄôs Day.
