Gopher Wrestlers Fall To Michigan

(Ann Arbor, MI) - In their fifth Big Ten dual of the season, the No. 2 University of Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team fell for the first time this season in dual competition as they were defeated by Michigan, 19-14. The Golden Gophers are now 7-1 on the season and 4-1 in Big Ten Competition.

As expected, the dual started at 125 as Sam Brancale kicked things off for the Golden Gophers. Brancale was coming off a win over Michigan State's Brenan Lyon on Friday evening. Despite a tough battle, Brancale was unable to defeat his Michigan opponent, Conor Youtsey. Youtsey won by a 12-6 decision as Brancale was able to save his team the point of the major decision.

No. 9 David Thorn was able to rack up the only three points of the first five bouts as he won by decision over Michigan's Rosario Bruno.

Minnesota's Josh Shupe wrestled again in place of No. 5 Chris Dardanes and was unable to grab a victory as he was defeated by Stephen Dutton III by major decision, 16-3.

The last two bouts before the intermission proved tough for the Gophers as Michigan's Eric Grajales upset No. 2 N. Dardanes at 149 and No. 8 Dylan Ness fell to Brian Murphy. Going into the intermission, Gophers trailed Michigan 13-3.

Out of intermission, Brandon Kingsley stepped in for Danny Zilverberg at 165. Kingsley battled No. 7 Daniel Yates of Michigan. Kingsley was unable to grab any team points for the Gophers as he fell to Yates by decision, 7-5.

No. 5 Logan Storley looked to add to the Gophers score as he wrestled Collin Zeerip of Michigan. Storley was able to dominate the match, leading 11-3 going into the third period for the Gophers. He was able to hold on and win by major decision, 15-4, and added four team points to the board for the Gophers.

No. 9 Kevin Steinhaus followed suit and was able to win by decision over Domenic Abounader at 184, 12-5. The win by Steinhaus, the Gophers were able to come within 6 of Michigan after trailing 16-3 at one point.

No. 1 Scott Schiller looked to extend his undefeated season record as he took on Michigan's Christopher Heald. After the first period, Schiller led by three as he was able to finish with two takedowns. At the conclusion of the second period, Schiller led 11-3. In an effort to tally a major decision for the Gophers, Schiller fought hard throughout the third and was able to come away with a 14-4 major decision.

The Gophers would then trail Michigan 16-14. The dual would come down to heavyweights as No. 2 Tony Nelson would be set to battle No. 1 Adam Coon. A scoreless first period and a quick escape in the second period by Coon allowed Coon to lead 1-0 after the second period. Nelson was able to escape early in the third to tie up the score at 1 with 1:45 left in the third period. The tie score led to an OT appearance for No. 1 Coon and No. 2 Nelson. Coon was able to win in sudden victory OT 2 and essentially win the dual, 19-14 for the Wolverines.

The Golden Gophers will hit the road again next weekend as they travel to take on Iowa City, Iowa. The dual will begin at 1 p.m. CT.