No. 3 University of Minnesota wrestling came back from a 15-7 deficit to defeat Big Ten rival No. 11 University of Michigan, 23-15, at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis Friday night.
Michigan had rung up four straight wins from its middleweights (including 2011 NCAA champ Kellen Russell getting a fall at 141 pounds), and appeared to be headed towards an upset. However, Minnesota's 174-pound freshman Logan Storley battled back from a deficit of his own to tie his match in the last seconds of regulation, then scored a takedown on Justin Zeerip in overtime to secure a 7-5 win, and launch a four-match win streak for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota's Sonny Yohn propelled his team into the lead with an injury default win at 197.
With the win, Minnesota is now 9-2 overall for the season, and 6-0 in the Big Ten, while Michigan is 5-3 for the season, and 3-2 in the conference. In the long-standing Gophers-Wolverines series, Minnesota has edged ahead, 30-29-2.
Match Results:
- 125: No. 1 Zach Sanders (Minn) maj. dec. Grant Pizzo (Mich), 19-9
- 133: No. 7 Chris Dardanes (Minn) dec. No. 18 Zac Stevens (Mich), 5-1
- 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Mich) pinned Seth Lange (Minn), 2:28
- 149: No. 7 Eric Grajales (Mich) dec. No. 11 Dylan Ness (Minn), 5-3
- 157: Brandon Zeerip (Mich) dec. Alec Ortiz (Minn), 6-4
- 165: No. 17 Dan Yates (Mich) dec. No. 14 Cody Yohn (Minn), 7-2
- 174: No. 7 Logan Storley (Minn) dec. No. 5 Justin Zeerip (Mich), 7-5 SV
- 184: No. 8 Kevin Steinhaus (Minn) maj. dec. Hunter Collins (Mich), 14-5
- 197: No. 6 Sonny Yohn (Minn) inj. def. win No. 15 Max Huntley (Mich), 3:18
- Hwt: No. 4 Tony Nelson (Minn) dec. over No. 11 Ben Apland (Mich), 3-2
Want to know more? Get distinctly different perspectives on the Gophers-Wolverines dual from Minnesota wrestling (with a link to photos from TheGuillotine.com) and Michigan wrestling.
Listen to this: InterMatWrestle.com has post-match audio interviews with Minnesota head coach J Robinson and wrestler Logan Storley... and Michigan coach Joe McFarland and mat champ Kellen Russell.
Stay on top of college wrestling! Be among the first to know -- click the "subscribe" button on this page to get the latest news from College Wrestling Examiner, winner of Amateur Wrestling News' Dellinger Award as wrestling writer of 2011. You won't miss a single thing all year 'round... and best of all, it's absolutely FREE!
Resources
College Wrestling 101: Links to College Wrestling Examiner articles answering basic questions about wrestling, including rules, scoring, uniforms, more
Comments