The stage was set for Upper Iowa in front of the largest wrestling crowd in Dorman Gym since Iowa State visited Fayette in November 2005. A victory for the sixth-ranked Peacocks over the top-ranked Huskies would keep UIU alive in the chase for the NSIC regular season title. St. Cloud State carried a dual win streak of 45 straight into the match up and took an early 13-3 lead winning four of the first five matches.
Upper Iowa and Head Coach
Heath Grimm had a plan which began to take shape as the dual moved into the upper weights.
Trevor Franklin (#2 NWCA) posted an 8-3 decsion at 133 pounds over the nation’s top-ranked grappler Andrew Pokorny (#1 NWCA), but the win was UIU’s only mark on the scoreboard through the 157 pound bout.
Trailing by ten on the scoreboard, the Peacocks turned to
Wade Gobin (#4 NWCA) at 165 pounds to begin the rally. The Cannon Falls, Minn. native answered with an 11-3 major decision to pull UIU within six, 13-7, on the team scoreboard.
Blake Sorensen followed with a 3-1 victory thanks to a final period escape and takedown and getting the home team within three, 13-10.
Shamus O’Grady (#1 NWCA) was able to distance the Huskies from their hosts once again with a 13-1 major decision at 184, but it was here where UIU’s gameplan began to take effect.
Upper Iowa sent
Mitch Schultz (#5 NWCA, 184) to the mat for the 197 pound match. Schultz fed off the huge crowd and posted a win by major decision 10-0 giving the home team the opportunity they had hoped for.
Dorman Gym erupted when
Carl Broghammer (#1 NWCA, 197) entered through the tunnel to face the nation’s second-best heavyweight from SCSU, Jacob Kahnke. Each wrestler scored an escape in regulation, but neither could gain the takedown for victory. In the sudden death period, Broghammer got in on a single-leg shot, but Kahnke worked his position to create the two-point takedown and secure the victory for SCSU.
The Huskies pushed their win streak to 46 straight duals and set up a winner-take-all with the #10 Mavericks of Minnesota State for the NSIC crown next week.
Upper Iowa will spend the next two weeks training for the NCAA Super Regional on Sunday, Feb. 24, at Young Arena in Waterloo, Iowa.
#1 St. Cloud State 20 - #6 Upper Iowa 14
Match Summary UIU SCSU
125 Eric Forde (St. Cloud State) won by decision over
Chris Paulus (Upper Iowa) 4-2. 0 3.00
133 Trevor Franklin (Upper Iowa) won by decision over
Andrew Pokorny (St. Cloud State) 8-3. 3.00 0
141 Matt Nelson (St. Cloud State) won by major decision over
Matt Paulus (Upper Iowa) 13-4. 0 4.00
149 Jacob D. Horn (St. Cloud State) won by decision over
Jordan Rinken (Upper Iowa) 7-2. 0 3.00
157 Clint Poster (St. Cloud State) won by decision over
Bryce Lumzy (Upper Iowa) 4-2. 0 3.00
165 Wade Gobin (Upper Iowa) won by major decision over
Gabe Fogarty (St. Cloud State) 11-3. 4.00 0
174 Blake Sorensen (Upper Iowa) won by decision over
Kurt Salmen (St. Cloud State) 3-1. 3.00 0
184 Shamus O`Grady (St. Cloud State) won by major decision over
Brock Gobin (Upper Iowa) 13-1. 0 4.00
197 Mitch Schultz (Upper Iowa) won by major decision over
Michael Berg (St. Cloud State) 10-0. 4.00 0
285 Jake Kahnke (St. Cloud State) won in sudden victory 1 over
Carl Broghammer (Upper Iowa) 3-1. 0 3.00
Dual Meet Score 14.0 20.0