Jan. 20, 2006

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's 16h-ranked wrestling team fell to top-ranked Minnesota Friday in its conference-opening match. The 'Cats took the lead after the 125-pound match, but dropped their next five matches and could never catch up with the Gophers.

At 125 lbs., eighth-ranked John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) was the first to take the mat for Northwestern, taking on Minnesota's Andrew Domingues. The two traded fakes and shot attempts through the first two minutes, but Velez turned up the intensity in the last minute of the period, tallying a takedown and two-point nearfall, to give him a 4-0 lead heading into the second period.

With Domingues on top to start the second period, Velez added a point with an escape 15 seconds into the second. After a scoreless third period, Velez notched a point for riding time and went on to win, 6-0.

At 133 lbs., Daniel Quintela (St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park) faced the Gophers' third-ranked Mack Reiter. Reiter tallied two points on an early takdedown, but Quintela made the score 2-1 with an escape. Quintela started down in the second period, and tied the score at 2-2 with 1:40 remaining in the second with another escape. Reiter scored another takedown to give him a 4-2 lead entering the third period. After a scoreless third, Reiter took the match 5-2 with riding time, tying the team score at 3-3.

Freshman Marty Gould (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) looked to help the Wildcats rebound at the 141-pound weight class, facing Minnesota's 19th-ranked Manuel Rivera. Gould wrestled tough throughout the match, scoring on three escapes, but Rivera took the 13-3 major decision win.

Jimmy Kim (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria Community) faced Minnesota's second-ranked Dustin Schlatter at 149 lbs. Schlatter scored a takedown in the first ten seconds and tallied three three-point nearfalls in the first period en route to a 16-1 technical-fall victory.

With Minnesota trailing 12-3, Greg Hagel (Linwood, N.J./Blair Academy) faced the Gophers' sixth-ranked C.P. Schlatter at 157 lbs. Schlatter jumped into the lead with two takedowns and an escape, but Hagel scored an escape and a reversal to make the score 5-3 at the end of the first period.

Hagel made the score 5-4 with a reversal with 1:30 left in the second, but Schlatter scored a takedown with 30 second remaining to take a 7-4 lead into the third period.

Hagel started the final period in the up position and rode Schlatter throughout the period, but couldn't get the takedown he needed, and fell 9-4.

Northwestern looked to regroup and refocus during a 15-minute break following the 157-pound match.

No. 17 Will Durkee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) took the mat at 165 lbs. for Northwestern, looking to cut Minnesota's lead versus No. 10 Matt Nagel.

Nagel scored a takedown with 30 seconds remaining in the first period to take a 2-0 lead into the second. Nagel made it 3-0 with an early escape in the second, and the two wrestled to a stalemate the rest of the period.

Durkee got on the board with an early escape in the third, but dropped the match in the end, 3-1.

Second-ranked Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) then took the mat for Northwestern at 174 lbs. Facing the Gophers' eighth-ranked Gabriel Dretsch, Herbert scored a takedown just over one minute into the match to take a 2-0 lead.

Herbert rode Dretsch throughout the second period and recorded a reversal with 1:30 left to take a 4-0 lead.

Herbert entered the third period with a 4-0 lead and more than three minutes of riding time. He tallied three more takedowns in the third and won the match 13-3 with the riding time, making the team score 18-7.

At 184 lbs., 10th-ranked Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) faced Minnesota's ninth-ranked Roger Kish. Kish went up 2-0 with a first-period takedown, but Tamillow cut the lead in half with an escape in the second. Kish scored on a late takedown, however, to enter the second round with a 4-1 lead.

Tamillow again cut the lead in half with an escape late in the second period, but Kish notched another takedown to push his lead to 5-2 entering the final round.

Tamillow came close on a series of late takedown attempts, but Kish took the match with riding time, 6-2.

At 197 lbs., 11th-ranked Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) faced Minnesota's Mitch Kuhlman. Delguyd scored a takedown and a three-point nearfall halfway through the first period to take a 5-0 lead.

Delguyd made the score 6-0 with a second-period escape, and added three more takedowns in the third to take the major decision, 13-2.

No. 9 Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) faced Minnesota's top-ranked Cole Konrad in the final match of the night at 285 lbs. Konrad took a 2-0 lead after an early takedown and increased his lead to 3-0 after an escape in the second. Konrad claimed a 4-0 win with riding time, giving Minnesota the 24-11 win.

With the loss, Northwestern falls to 5-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

The Wildcats return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 at the UW-Field House.

125- #8 John Velez (NU) dec. Andrew Domingues (UM) 6-0 (3-0)
133- #3 Mack Reiter (UM) dec. Daniel Quintela (NU) 5-2 (3-3)
141- #19 Manuel Rivera (UM) MD Marty Gould (NU) 13-3 (7-3)
149-#2 Dustin Schlatter (UM) Tech fall. Jimmy Kim (NU) 16-1 (12-3)
157- #6 C.P. Schlatter (UM) dec. Greg Hagel (NU) 9-4 (15-3)
165- #10 Matt Nagel (UM) dec. #17 Will Durkee (NU)  3-1 (18-3)
174- #2 Jake Herbert (NU) MD #8 Gabriel Dretsch  (UM) 13-3 (18-7)
184- #9 Roger Kish (UM) dec. #10 Mike Tamillow (NU) 6-2 (21-7)
197- #11 Matt Delguyd (NU) MD Mitch Kuhlman (UM) 13-2 (21-11)
285- #1 Cole Konrad (UM) dec. #9 Dustin Fox 4-0 (24-11)