Feb. 19, 2012

The No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes this afternoon 16-15, in the semifinals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. The victory puts the Gophers in the championship against host Oklahoma State, tonight at 6 p.m. CST.

Minnesota’s win over Iowa today was the first victory against the Hawkeyes since February 18, 2007. The Gophers won 29-13 at Carver Hawkeye Arena that season and would go onto win the NCAA championship.

Iowa started out with a 9-0 lead against Minnesota. The Gophers did not get their first points until Dylan Ness scored an 11-2 major decision over Mike Kelly.

Minnesota would next get points from Cody Yohn, who picked up a 5-3 overtime win over Mike Evans. The win by Yohn made the score 13-10, in favor of Iowa.

The Gophers would win the final three matches from Kevin Steinhaus, Sonny Yohn and Tony Nelson. Steinhaus scored a 3-1 decision over Grant Gambrall, while Sonny Yohn defeated Iowa’s Vinnie Wagner, who bumped up a weight class, by a 7-4 decision.  

Tony Nelson would seal the deal for the Gophers with a 2-0 victory over Bobby Telford. Nelson controlled the match after recording 1:44 of riding time.

Minnesota and Oklahoma State are schedule battle at 6 p.m. this evening. Check Gophersports.com for a live blog at 5:45 p.m or a live video webcast at livesportsvideo.com