McDonough upsets Sanders as Iowa wrestling edges Minnesota, 19-17

Led by Matt McDonough's upset victory at 125 pounds, University of Iowa wrestling -- No. 4 or 5 in national rankings -- held onto to a 19-17 victory over No. 3 Minnesota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City Sunday afternoon.

The Hawkeyes got off to a rousing start when McDonough -- ranked No. 2 at 125 pounds -- earned a decisive 7-1 victory over top-ranked Zach Sanders, starting a string of three Iowa wins in the lowest weight classes. At one point, Iowa had built a 19-4 lead in the first six bouts. The Golden Gophers battled back, gaining four consecutive victories from 174 through heavyweight, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit and win the dual. 

Each team won five matches, and each scored bonus points in two bouts. The difference-maker: while Minnesota had two major-decision victories at 149 and 174 (worth four points each), Iowa had one major decision from Nick Moore at 157, immediately followed by Mike Evans' pin at 165, worth six points. The home team's ten bonus points was two more than the visitor's. 

With the win, Iowa is now 10-3 for the season, and 5-2 in the Big Ten -- those two conference losses coming last weekend against Ohio State and Penn State. Despite the loss, Minnesota is still at the top of the Big Ten standings, with a conference record of 6-1, and an overall record of 9-3.

Match Results:

• 125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 1 Zach Sanders (Minnesota), 7-1
• 133: No. 4 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 7 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), 5-2
• 141: No. 7 Montell Marion (Iowa) dec. No. 12 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota), 3-2
• 149: No. 11 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) maj. dec. Mike Kelly (Iowa), 15-7
• 157: Nick Moore (Iowa) maj. dec. Alec Ortiz (Minnesota), 11-2
• 165: No. 8 Mike Evans (Iowa) pinned No. 14 Cody Yohn (Minnesota), 6:02
• 174: No. 7 Logan Storley (Minnesota) dec. No. 9 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 5-3
• 184: No. 8 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) maj. dec. Vinnie Wagner (Iowa), 12-4
• 197: No. 6 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) dec. Grant Gambrall (Iowa), 5-3
• Hwt: No. 4 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. Blake Rasing (Iowa), 7-2

Want to know more? Get perspectives from both teams by reading the reports from the Iowa wrestling website... and from Minnesota wrestling.  And check out Iowa Hawkeye Examiner Troy Hyde's write-up of the Hawkeye-Gopher dual.

Listen to this: InterMatWrestle.com has post-dual audio interviews with a number of Iowa wrestlers (including Matt McDonough), and with Minnesota head coach J Robinson.