Hipps Toss: Weekly College Wrestling Recap
A Look Back at the Week of College Wrestling
By Andrew Hipps – Staff Writer
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What if”¦
On Saturday night, as Minnesota was wrestling Illinois in the semifinals of the National Duals, two former Gophers, 157-pounder Marcus LeVesseur of Augsburg and 141-pounder Cory Cooperman of Lehigh, were wrestling at the same time on other mats.
Ironically, LeVesseur and Cooperman were roommates at Minnesota before transferring out in 2002. LeVesseur is now a two-time Division III national champion with a 108-0 career record, while Cooperman is a returning All-American and currently ranked fourth in the country at 141. The Gophers lost that match to Illinois, 20-15, and went on to place third. But it left me wondering (especially after the Gophers struggles at 141 and 157), what if LeVesseur and Cooperman would have stayed at Minnesota? With those two wrestlers in their lineup, would the Gophers have enough firepower to challenge for the national title this season? They would have certainly filled the Gophers biggest needs. With LeVesseur at Augsburg and Cooperman at Lehigh, the point is obviously moot now, but it’s a lot of fun to speculate.
The Unexpected at the D-I National Duals
Steve Mocco pinned Mike Behnke to give top ranked Oklahoma State a 22-15 victory over second-ranked Illinois in the finals of the National Duals at the CSU Convocation Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cowboys winning the National Duals was expected, but let’s look at some of the unexpected things that happened over the weekend in Cleveland.
Minnesota Claims Third Place
The young Gopher squad entered the tournament as the sixth seed with a lot of question marks in their line-up. But after upsetting Michigan in the quarterfinals and staying close with Illinois in the semifinals (20-15), it appears that the Gophers are ready to challenge for the Big Ten title.
Zack Esposito Loses
Entering the National Duals, Esposito had been dominant this season. He was 17-0 with 10 of those matches ending in pin, technical fall, or major decision. But in Oklahoma State’s quarterfinal match with Cornell, Esposito lost to second-ranked Dustin Manotti, 6-4. Esposito previously defeated Manotti, 8-3, at the Marines All-Star Classic on November 22nd.
Jon Trenge Gets Disqualified”¦ Again
For the second time in three weeks, Trenge was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. The first time, which took place in a dual on January 7th, occurred after Trenge threw Penn State’s Joel Edwards out of bounds. In the third place match at the National Duals, Trenge was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct after throwing a punch at Minnesota freshman Matt Koz in the first period. Both teams were penalized one team point, but the six-point disqualification gave Minnesota an 18-14 lead and eventually the win after Lehigh forfeited the heavyweight match.
Matt Nagel Finishes Weekend 0-5
Alright, it’s not as bad as it sounds. In fact, the only reason this is mentioned is because Nagel is ranked in the top-10 nationally at 165. With the exception of an 8-4 loss to 15th-ranked Donny Reynolds of Illinois (a match he lost in the final 10 seconds), all of Nagel’s losses came to wrestlers ranked in the top eight. He lost to seventh-ranked David Bolyard of Central Michigan (4-3 and 5-2), second-ranked Ryan Churella of Michigan (5-4), and top-ranked Troy Letters of Lehigh (8-2). Unfortunately for Nagel, it doesn’t get any easier this week as he is slated to face Churella again on Sunday when Michigan comes to Minnesota.
Mack Reiter beats Mark Jayne
Reiter, a 133-pounder for Minnesota, has wrestled as well any freshman in the country. Entering the Gophers semifinal match with Illinois, he had yet to beat a wrestler ranked in the top five in the country. But that changed on Saturday when Reiter defeated third-ranked Mark Jayne. The match was tied at three in the third period, before Reiter took the lead on an escape and eventually grabbed a 6-3 lead off a takedown with 18 seconds to go in the match. Reiter, meanwhile, held on for the 7-4 victory.
Michigan Places a Disappointing Seventh
The Wolverines, seeded third, entered the National Duals as one of the hottest teams in the country. After winning the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December, the Wolverines reeled off six straight dual meet victories. But at the National Duals, Michigan was upset by sixth seeded Minnesota, 21-16, in the quarterfinals. They lost again to Oklahoma in the consolation bracket, before beating Penn State for seventh place. The Wolverines wrestled the entire National Duals without a 125-pounder.
Hofstra Struggles
Based on their performance at the National Duals, it’s hard to believe that Hofstra defeated the second ranked team in the country earlier this season. Of course, it didn’t help that at the Pride forfeited at heavyweight in every match at the National Duals except one. Jon Masa, one of their top wrestlers, lost all three of his matches over the weekend. In the first round, Hofstra lost to unseeded Northern Iowa, 22-14. In the consolation bracket, they squeaked by Cal Poly, 23-16, but were eventually eliminated by Michigan, 19-18.
Iowa and Iowa State Forgo National Duals; Host Matches
Strangely, both Iowa and Iowa State opted not to compete in the National Duals this year. The Hawkeyes, Cyclones and Nebraska were the only two teams ranked in the top-10 not to compete in Cleveland. Instead, both teams hosted duals over the weekend.
On Sunday afternoon, Iowa won the last match of the dual to hold off Wisconsin, 19-14, in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It was Iowa’s 31st straight victory in the series and the 780th dual win in school history. Iowa won decisions in the first two matches, but found itself down 11-6 after Wisconsin won matches at 174, 184 and 197. Iowa used freshman Matt Fields’ 15-4 major decision at heavyweight and sudden victory wins by freshman Charlie Falck at 125 and junior Marion Galanakis at 133 to take a 16-11 team lead. Wisconsin grabbed three team points with Ed Gutnik’s 7-2 win over true freshman Alex Tsirtsis at 141 to make the team score 16-14 and the win a possibility for the Badgers with a win at 149. But Ty Eustice spoiled the Badger’s upset plans, scoring his 70th career win with a 3-2 decision over Craig Henning to end the meet. Johnston picked up his 75th career win in the dual.
Jesse Sundell had two pins to help fourth-ranked Iowa State beat Lock Haven, 35-12, and Stanford, 23-18, on Friday night in Hilton Coliseum. The victories make Iowa State 14-0 for the first time since the 1970-71 campaign when the Cyclones went 17-0 for the entire season. The Cyclones wrestled without starters Grant Nakamura (125), who had the flu, and Travis Paulson (165) who is nursing an injury. Iowa State had three pins in the win over Lock Haven. Sundell pinned Jim Collins at the 3:20 mark of their 133 pound match. Nick Passolano pinned Carlos Ponce in just 39 seconds at 174 pounds. And Kurt Backes stuck Justin Johnston at the 4:22 mark of their 184 pound match.
Nebraska-Omaha Wins D-II National Duals Title; Augsburg Claims D-III Crown
Nebraska-Omaha edged conference rival Augustana, 20-18, to claim the championship of the Division II National Duals. Each team won five matches, but the difference came in the last match, at heavyweight, where Augustana had to forfeit due to an injury to Cris Bietz in Saturday morning’s semifinal win over Central Oklahoma.
Augsburg defeated rival Wartburg, 18-15, in the finals of the Division III National Duals on Saturday night. The Auggies led 18-3 after six matches and held on as Wartburg claimed decision wins in the final four matches of the night. Marcus LeVesseur improved to 24-0 on the season with a first period pin over second ranked Cory Connell. LeVesseur also was named the Division III tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler. Matt Shankey, the defending 125 pound national champion, returned to the Auggies line-up and defeated second ranked Justin McClintock. Shankey finished the weekend 4-0. These two teams battle again on February 3rd at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. And to spice things up, the match will feature a raised mat, similar to the stage-like setting at the national tournament. Augsburg officials are renting the platform from a staging company specifically for the dual.
Tidbits”¦
Northwestern claimed its first Big Ten win in almost five years Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette, Indiana by defeating Purdue, 27-10. Northwestern last won a conference dual match on Jan. 28, 2000 with a 25-15 home victory against Ohio State”¦ Plymouth State University will have a new head wrestling coach for the 2005-06 season. Panther head wrestling coach Donnie Perrin has announced that he will step down at the end of the current season. PSU athletic director John P. Clark has also announced that second-year assistant wrestling coach Jason Holder will take over from Perrin as the new head coach”¦ Freshman Andy Pickar picked up his fifth pin of the season at 165-pounds and Matt Hermann notched career win number 50 to lead North Dakota State to a 31-3 victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday at the Bison Sports Arena. NDSU won nine of ten matches over UNC and extended its home winning streak to 19 consecutive at the Bison Sports Arena”¦ The Bakersfield Roadrunners defeated Stanford, 29-12, in Bakersfield to end a busy weekend for Cardinal wrestling. The Roadrunners won six of the first seven matches to take an insurmountable 25-3 lead. Cardinal fans should take solace in Matt Gentry’s return to competition and the continued dominance of Imad Kharbush at 174 pounds”¦ Newberry College wrote yet another page in its wrestling history books Saturday, capturing two third places, two seconds, and one champion against much more established programs at the Southern Slam Invitational hosted by Eastside High School”¦ Freshman Matt Shank won all three of his bouts to lift his record to 28-5 and lead Gettysburg to a 2-1 day in a quad match at York in non-conference wrestling action on Saturday. The Bullets defeated Albright, 37-15, and won a close match against Messiah, 24-23, before falling to the host Spartans, 40-3″¦ The 19th-ranked Indiana wrestling team improved to 12-1 on the season, posting three dual victories over Missouri Baptist, 45-6, McKendree College, 45-6, and Indianapolis, 48-0. In all the Hoosiers won 28 of 30 matches”¦ Four Army wrestlers won individual titles Saturday to lead the Black Knights to their second consecutive New York State Wrestling Championship. Army, who became the first team to successfully defend its title since Cornell in 1996-97, tallied 195 points to edge Buffalo (172 points)”¦
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