Iowa wrestlers move past No. 8 Minnesota
By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
February 12, 2005
Iowa City, Ia. – One fireman’s carry, one duck-under and one reshot produced one big Big Ten Conference wrestling victory for Iowa on Friday night.
The Hawkeyes, 9-4 and ranked No. 10, clipped No. 8 Minnesota, 23-14, before an announced crowd of 5,711 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The fireman’s carry was by 157-pounder Joe Johnston, who used it to pin Danny Williams and give the Hawkeyes a lead they would not relinquish.
Mark Perry at 165 provided the duck-under to beat Minnesota’s Matt Nagel in overtime.
The reshot was by Adam Fellers, who got a takedown on Matt Koz in overtime at 197 to clinch Iowa’s third consecutive victory and improve its conference record to 4-2.
“Maybe I haven’t been supporting my team enough as far as putting points on the scoreboard, “said Fellers, who was 0-7 in duals prior to Friday since replacing the injured Dane Pape. “I dreamed about this all week, clinching the dual against Minnesota. It’s a huge rivalry. It was a good win for me. I think I could have beat the guy by five or six points, but I got the win and that’s what I was happy about.”
Perry liked Fellers’ effort.
“That’s a huge win for Fellers, probably the biggest win he’s ever had, “Perry said. “It’s not like (Koz) is a pushover. That guy was ranked No. 1 in the country (at 215) coming out when we were seniors.”
Minnesota coach J Robinson was not happy about the injury timeout Perry used to deal with what appeared to be a bothersome hamstring or gluteus muscle.
“It’s nice to see that Iowa is now taking time out, “said Robinson, former interim head coach and assistant at Iowa. “He wasn’t hurt and they know it. And they let him (take the injury time). What’s the word I would want to use? That’s disappointing.”
Nagel had a good defensive game plan against Perry, but the freshman’s duck-under with 45 seconds left in the 1-minute overtime seemed to catch the five-time Minnesota state champion flat-footed.
That victory gave the Hawkeyes a 16-8 lead. Johnston got the initial lead, 13-8, because he kept getting deeper on each shot against Williams. The fireman’s carry was a perfect way for Johnston to finish.
The Golden Gophers (8-7) would have won the meet had the two overtime matches been reversed. That would have created a 17-17 tie going into the heavyweight match, where Minnesota’s Cole Konrad beat Iowa’s Matt Fields, 2-0.
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