Gopher wrestlers struggle in semifinals, trail Iowa St. by 3.5 points

For the second year in a row, the Gopher wrestling team entered the NCAA Championships as the favorites and for the second consecutive year, the Gophers are on their way to a disappointing second place finish unless they come up with a near perfect day on Saturday. Minnesota and Iowa State each entered the day with 7 wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket but the day did not go according to Coach J Robinson’s plan and finished with only heavyweight Cole Konrad advancing to the finals.

The scoring system in the wrestling championships is far too confusing to explain here, but it’s basically a two team race with Iowa State at 83.5 points and the Gophers at 80. Missouri is a distant third with 69.5, 4-time defending champs Oklahoma State is in fourth with 62.5, but neither has enough wrestlers left to score enough points to overtake the top two. The unique aspect of the wrestling tournament is the wrestlebacks. It allows individuals to keep scoring team points after they lose, and usually they’re a major factor in deciding the national champion. This year should be no different.

The Gophers entered the afternoon session with a 3.5 point lead over Iowa State and a chance to lock up the title but the day started bad and got worse with nearly every match. At 125 the Gophers were hoping for an upset from freshman Jayson Ness, but it didn’t happen as Ness fell against top-ranked Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma 10-0. Next up at 133 was Mack Reiter in the wrestlebacks. He dropped a 4-2 decision to Missouri’s Tyler McCormick ending his tournament. Also in the wrestlebacks at 141was Manny Rivera, who was nursing an injury. He also exited the tourney losing 9-5 to West Virginia’s Brandon Radar. Both Reiter and Rivera we’re expected to score points and losing both of those put Minnesota in a hole. All hope was not lost though as the Gophers still had three of their big guns remaining.

The shock of the day came at 149 pounds when defending champion Dustin Schlatter, who in the midst of a 65 match unbeaten streak, lost a 2-1 decision to Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro. At 157 Dustin’s brother C.P. Schlatter finally stopped the bleeding (if only for a while) with a win in the wrestlebacks. C.P. also won a match at the end of the day to keep his chances alive for a third place finish and guaranteed himself of All-American honors.

While the Gophers were struggling, Iowa State wasn’t doing much better until top ranked 157 pounder Travis Paulson advanced to finals in convincing fashion. Next up was his brother Travis at 165. Travis lost in overtime and heading into today he is the only Iowa State wrestler still alive who is not in the finals. The biggest match of the night and one that may end up being the deciding factor in the team title was the Roger Kish vs. Jake Varner match at 184. This was the only time on Friday that a Gopher and a Cyclone faced off. As the #2 seed Kish was a big favorite and had defeated Varner twice during the season already, but in a close match that went to overtime, Varner scored with 5 seconds left to pull the 4-2 upset. That put the Cyclones up by 7 points, and then went up by 14 when Kurt Backes won at 197. That win put three ISU wrestlers in the finals.

Minnesota finally won a big match with heavyweight Cole Konrad nailing down his 75th straight win, although even King Cole struggled and had to fight for a 2-1 win.

The Gophers do still have a chance to win the National Title today but it will be a difficult task. The Gophers have five wrestlers still alive, ISU four. ISU has three in the finals but only Trent Paulson at 157 is favored and his win. A Paulson win would be cancelled out by Konroad, who faces #2 Aaron Anspach. Konrad pinned Anspach at the Big Ten tournament. ISU’s two other finalist are lower seeds who weren’t expected to still be alive and both face top ranked opponents and will both have to win to score team points. In the consolation bracket, ISU only has one, while the Gophers have 4 in Ness, Kish, and the Schlatter brothers. They will all have to wrestle early Saturday to advance to the third place match and score some much need bonus points that will decide the team title. Kish and Dustin Schlatter we’re expected to be in the finals so they will be favored in both matches. The Gophers will know early on what there chances are when Jayson Ness goes against defending champion Troy Nickerson who was upset Friday. If Ness goes down, they will need to be perfect. It’s not what J Robinson expected going into today’s final round, but the chance is still there to win his third team title in the last seven years and avoid finishing 2nd for the fifth time since 1998.

The morning matches start at 9am and can be heard for free at http://www.intermatwrestle.com/takedownradio/home2.aspx The Finals will start at 7 pm and be carried live on ESPN.