No. 3 Gophers Comeback for Victory Over No. 15 Beavers; Tony Nelson prevailed in double overtime to give the Gophers the victory
In a tight match, the No. 3 Golden Gophers staged a comeback to earn the win over the No. 15 Beavers. The night came down to the heavyweight bout where Tony Nelson prevailed with a double overtime victory. Minnesota move to 7-2 on the season, while Oregon State drops to 1-2 overall.
At 125 lbs., David Thorn outlasted Joey Palmer to put Minnesota on the board early. Down by two, Thorn received an extra point for two stalling penalties on Palmer and earned an escape in the final seconds to come back and tie the dual at eight. Thorn would go on to notch the sudden victory after scoring a takedown and a near fall early in the tiebreaker. Chris Dardanes followed at 133 lbs. with an 11-6 decision over Drew Van Anrooy.
Following three straight victories from the Beavers, two of which were falls in favor of Oregon State, Minnesota trailed 15-6 with Cody Yohn next on the mat. Yohn got the Gophers back on track with a 16-5 major decision over Alex Elder. Alec Ortiz once again competed at 174 lbs. and earned his first victory of the season, defeating Austin Morehead. Ortiz delivered in the tiebreaker round for a 7-5 sudden victory that marked a turning point in the match.
The Gophers took the lead in the 184-pound weight class. Kevin Steinhaus proved his No. 3 ranking with a dominating 22-7 technical fall over OSU’s Ty Vinson. Steinhaus tallied a total of six takedowns in the third period and gathered four minutes of riding time to push for the bonus points.
With the score tied 18-18, Nelson faced No. 6 Chad Hanke at heavyweight for the decisive round. Nelson and Hanke would go five overtime periods before Nelson was declared the winner due to 0:08 seconds of accumulated riding time.
Minnesota will take a break from action for the holidays and will return for the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Jan. 1.
#3 Minnesota 21, #15 Oregon State 18
125: #6 David Thorn (Minnesota) dec Joey Palmer (Oregon State) 12-8 sv
133: #5 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) dec Drew Van Anrooy (Oregon State) 11-6
141: #5 Mike Mangrum (Oregon State) dec #11 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) 7-6
149: #8 Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) fall Thane Antczak (Minnesota) 1:30
157: #9 RJ Pena (Oregon State) fall Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota) 2:27
165: #9 Cody Yohn (Minnesota) maj dec Alex Elder (Oregon State) 16-5
174: Alec Ortiz (Minnesota) dec Austin Morehead (Oregon State) 7-5 sv
184: #3 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) tech fall Ty Vinson (Oregon State) 22-7
197: #10 Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) dec #7 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) 8-2
285: #1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec #6 Chad Hanke (Oregon State) 3-3 tb2 (0:08 Riding Time)
