The second-ranked Golden Gopher wrestling team cruised to a 44-3 win over Arizona State to improve to 7-1 on the season. Sophomore Tyler Safratowich pulled off a huge upset with a 4-3 decision over No. 2 Brian Stith in the 157-pound bout as the Gophers won nine of 10 matches on the night, including two by forfeit.
With the match tied at three, Safratowich rode Stith the entire third period to score the bonus point and come away with the 4-3 decision. The victory had all of the 2,131 in attendance on their feet, while Stith humbly walked off the mat with his head down in complete disappointment.
Safratowich, who has now faced the top-two ranked wrestlers in the country in Minnesota’s last two duals, showed no effects of being intimidated from the opening whistle. After nearly scoring a takedown twice in the first 1:30 of the match, Safratowich finally got in on a single leg with 48 seconds remaining in the first period go ahead 2-0. He ended the period with a 2-1 lead after Stith got the escape. Safratowich started down in the second and quickly earned the escape to take a 3-1 lead. Stith tied the match with a takedown near the end of the second to set up the exciting final period.
Arizona State took an early 3-0 lead in the meet when Thor Moen defeated Justin Bronson by a narrow 1-0 margin at 197 pounds. Neither wrestler was able to generate any offense, with a second-period escape proving to be the difference.
The Sun Devils’ lead was short-lived, however, as a forfeit at heavyweight quickly gave Minnesota a 6-3 advantage.
The Gophers quickly expanded the lead with bonus points in each of the next four matches. Ninth-ranked Jason Ness earned a tech fall over ASU’s John Espinoza at 125 to give Minnesota an 11-3 lead. Ness scored two takedowns and a pair of three-point near falls in the first period to jump ahead of Espinoza 10-1 in the first period. After Ness took a 16-2 lead with just over a minute left in the match, a second stall warning on Espinoza with 36 seconds remaining provided the final outcome.
Mike Thorn and Manuel Rivera provided back-to-back first period pins to push Minnesota’s lead to 23-3 before intermission. ASU’s Shawn Jones jumped ahead of Thorn with a takedown just 21 seconds into the match. Thorn responded with a takedown with 1:12 remaining and quickly rolled Jones to earn the fall at 1:57.
Rivera followed by pinning Robert Galvan in 2:31. Rivera dominated the match, scoring two early takedowns and a three-point near fall before sticking Galvan with 29 seconds remaining in the first period. With the win, Rivera pushed his record to 22-0 on the season.
Top-ranked Dustin Schlatter was characteristically methodical in a 16-1 tech fall over Cameron Smith at 141 pounds. Schlatter scored a takedown just five seconds into the match and proceeded to roll Smith for four consecutive three-point near falls. After letting Smith escape with 1:11 remaining, Schlatter earned the decisive takedown with 56 seconds left in the first period.
Safratowich followed with the upset of Stith, completely eliminating any ray of light for Arizona State. The Sun Devils forfeited at 165, giving Minnesota a 37-3 lead.
Eighth-ranked Gabriel Dretsch added more bonus points to the Gophers’ total with a shutout of Alex Pavlenko at 174 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Dretsch turned on the offense with a takedown and two near falls in the second. He added a takedown in the third and earned the bonus point for riding time to win 11-0.
No. 2 Roger Kish capped off the night with a high-scoring 13-10 decision over Greg Gifford at 184 pounds. An eventful first period saw Kish score three takedowns, while Gifford countered with a takedown and near fall to trail by just a single point at the end of the first. Kish added two takedowns in the second and added a pair of escapes in the third to come away with the win.
The Gophers will now be off until the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Jan. 13-14, where they will look to re-gain the top ranking in the country.
#2 Minnesota 44, Arizona State 3
197 - Thor Moen (ASU) dec. Justin Bronson (MN), 1-0
Hwt - #1 Cole Konrad (MN) won by forfeit
125 - #9 Jayson Ness (MN) tech fall John Espinoza (ASU), 17-2
133 - Mike Thorn (MN) pinned Shawn Jones (ASU), 1:57
141 - #5 Manuel Rivera (MN) pinned Robert Galvan (ASU), 2:31
149 - #1 Dustin Schlatter (MN) tech fall Cameron Smith (ASU), 16-1
157 - Tyler Safratowich (MN) dec. #2 Brian Stith (ASU), 4-3
165 - Jeremy Larson (MN) won by forfeit
174 - No. 8 Gabriel Dretsch (MN) maj. dec. Alex Pavlenko (ASU), 11-0
184 - #2 Roger Kish (MN) dec. Greg Gifford (ASU), 13-10
Complete Play-by-Play
197 - Justin Bronson (MN) vs. Thor Moen (ASU)
1st period: Stall warning Moen 1:36
2nd period: Moen starts down; Moen escape 0:50 (0-1); Stall warning Bronson 0:13; Advantage time Bronson 1:09
3rd period: Bronson starts down; Advantage time Moen 0:51
Final: Moen dec. Bronson, 1-0
MINNESOTA 0
ARIZONA STATE 3
HWT - #1 Cole Konrad won by forfeit
Final: Konrad won by forfeit
MINNESOTA 6
ARIZONA STATE 3
125 - #9 Jayson Ness (MN) vs. John Espinoza (ASU)
1st period: Ness takedown 2:37 (2-0); Ness three-point near fall 1:36 (5-0); Stall warning Espinoza 1:18; Espinoza escape 0:58 (5-1); Ness takedown 0:43 (7-1); Ness three-point near fall 0:00 (10-1); Advantage time Ness 2:20
2nd period: Ness starts down; Ness reversal 1:50 (12-1); Stall warning Espinzoza 1:35 (13-1); Espinoza escape 1:13 (13-2); Advantage time Ness 2:57
3rd period: Ness starts down; Ness escape 1:11 (14-2); Ness takedown 1:08 (16-2); Stall warning Espinoza 0:36 (17-2)
Final: Ness tech fall Espinoza, 17-2
MINNESOTA 11
ARIZONA STATE 3
133 - Mike Thorn (MN) vs. Shawn Jones (ASU)
1st period: Jones takedown 2:39 (0-2); Thorn escape 2:33 (1-2); Thorn takedown 1:12 (3-2); Thorn fall 1:03
Final: Thorn pinned Shawn Jones, 1:57
MINNESOTA 17
ARIZONA STATE 3
141 - #5 Manuel Rivera (MN) vs. Robert Galvan (ASU)
1st period: Rivera takedown 2:36 (2-0); Galvan escape 1:50 (2-1); Rivera takedown 1:12 (4-1); Rivera three-point near fall 0:47 (7-1); Rivera fall 0:29
Final: Rivera pinned Galvan, 2:31
MINNESOTA 23
ARIZONA STATE 3
149 - #1 Dustin Schlatter (MN) vs. Cameron Smith (ASU)
1st period: Schlatter takedown 2:55 (2-0); Schlatter three-point near fall 2:41 (5-0); Schlatter three-point near fall 2:18 (8-0); Schlatter three-point near fall 1:38 (11-0); Schlatter three-point near fall 1:17 (14-0); Smith escape 1:11 (14-1); Schlatter takedown 0:56 (16-1)
Final: Schlatter tech fall Smith, 16-1
MINNESOTA 28
ARIZONA STATE 3
157 - Tyler Safratowich (MN) vs. #2 Brian Stith (ASU)
1st period: Safratowich takedown 0:48 (2-0); Stith escape 0:26 (2-1); Advantage time Safratowich 0:22
2nd period: Safratowich starts down; Safratowich escape 1:50 (3-1); Stall warning Stith 1:08; Stith takedown 0:20 (3-3); Advantage time Stith 0:06
3rd period: Stith starts down; Advantage time Safratowich 1:54 (4-3)
Final: Safratowich dec. Stith, 4-3
MINNESOTA 31
OKLAHOMA STATE 3
165 - Jeremy Larson (MN) won by forfeit
Final: Larson won by forfeit
MINNESOTA 37
ARIZONA STATE 3
174 - No. 8 Gabriel Dretsch (MN) vs. Alex Pavlenko (ASU)
1st period:
2nd period: Dretsch starts down; Dretsch escape 1:53 (1-0); Dretsch takedown 0:57 (3-0); Dretsch two-point near fall 0:46 (5-0); Dretsch three-point near fall 0:02 (8-0); Advantage time Dretsch 0:49
3rd period: Neutral start; Dretsch takedown 1:07 (10-0); Stall warning Pavlenko 0:34; Advantage time Dretsch 1:55 (11-0)
Final: Dretsch maj. dec. Pavlenko, 11-0
MINNESOTA 41
ARIZONA STATE 3
184 - #2 Roger Kish (MN) vs. Greg Gifford (ASU)
1st period: Kish takedown 2:34 (2-0); Gifford escape 2:26 (2-1); Kish takedown 1:50 (4-1); Gifford escape 1:37 (4-2); Stall warning Gifford 1:14; Gifford takedown 0:41 (4-4); Gifford two-point near fall 0:33 (4-6); Kish escape 0:16 (5-6); Kish takedown 0:00 (7-6); Advantage time Gifford 0:05
2nd period: Gifford starts down; Gifford escape 1:50 (7-7); Kish takedown 0:53 (9-7); Gifford escape 0:23 (9-8); Kish takedown 0:08 (11-8); Advantage time Kish 0:43
3rd period: Kish starts down; Kish escape 1:46 (12-8); Gifford takedown 1:15 (12-10); Kish escape 1:00 (13-10); Stall warning Kish 0:21; Advantage time Kish 0:15
Final: Kish dec. Gifford, 13-10
MINNESOTA 44
ARIZONA STATE 3
