MOUNTAINEERS DOWN CYCLONES, 22-14
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (January 4, 2003) - It was a historic day
Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum as over 700 fans saw No.9 West
Virginia earn its first-ever win over No.13 Iowa State, 22-14. The win
also marked the 500th for the Mountaineer wrestling program.
"I knew there would be four, five or six matches that could go
either way and there were a lot of momentum swings," head coach Craig
Turnbull said. "Our guys showed a lot of character and won some close
matches that helped keep momentum on our side."
The match started at 174 where top-ranked Greg Jones improved to
13-0 on the year with a major decision over Ken Cook. After that came a
series of tightly-contested in which each team edged out close
decisions. At 184, 18th-ranked Austen Palmer scored a takedown in the
first period and managed to hold on for the 3-2 upset decision over
No.10 Ryan Wilman. Adrian Thompson (197) then answered for WVU by
winning a 3-2 decision of his own over Woodley Milord.
An Iowa State forfeit at heavyweight extended WVU's lead to 13-3
and a 7-3 decision by No.19 Seth Lisa (125) kept the momentum with the
Mountaineers. Lisa was down early to Nakamura, but scored a reversal and
three back points to open the second period to earn the victory.
Sixth-ranked Zach Roberson (133) kept Iowa State in the match with a
16-0 technical fall over No.12 Brandon Lauer to make the score 16-8.
One of the featured matches today was expected to be No.14 Shane
Cunanan and No.1 Aaron Holker at 141, but Iowa State weighed both Nate
Gallick and Holker at 141 and opted to wrestle Gallick against Cunanan
and move Holker up to 149. The move nearly worked as Cunanan needed a
late takedown to push the match to overtime.
After neither wrestler managed a score in the one minute
overtime period, Gallick chose bottom in the 30-second ride out
tiebreaker. With the vocal WVU fans urging him on, Cunanan did not allow
Gallick to escape and held on for the victory.
"It was a critical point in the match and I thought it was a
good switch on their part," Turnbull said. "Shane really wanted to
wrestle Holker, and that's where is focus was. I think when they sent
out the other guy it caused him to lose his focus for a bit, but he came
through. When it's a close match, he's one of the ones I am confident in
to pull it out."
Holker then went on to defeat No.6 Billy Smith, 5-2, at 149 to
make the score 19-11. Holker led 1-0 after two periods and chose to
start the third on top. After turning Smith for two near fall points,
Smith reversed Holker to make the score 3-2. Holker, though, scored
another reversal to grab the win.
With the result of the match in the balance, Matt Lebe (157)
scored a takedown against Nels Matson to win 9-7 in overtime to secure
the West Virginia victory. ISU's Nick Passolano defeated Tom McMath at
165 to conclude the match.
West Virginia will have an even tougher test on Thursday,
January 9, when the fifth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes visit the WVU
Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on
www.MSNsportsNET.com.
"Ohio State, depending on who we face at the National Duals
tournament, will likely be the best team we face this year," Turnbull
said. "They have someone at each weight class who can battle us."
No.9 West Virginia 22, No.13 Iowa State
174 - #1 Greg Jones (WV) maj. dec. Ken Cook (IS), 18-6 4-0
184 - #18 Austen Palmer (IS) dec. Ryan Wilman (WV), 3-2 4-3
197 - Adrian Thompson (WV) dec. Woodley Milord (IS), 3-2 7-3
HWT - #11 Brent Miller (WV) won by forfeit 13-3
125 - #19 Seth Lisa (WV) dec. Grant Nakamura (IS), 7-3 16-3
133 - #6 Zach Roberson (IS) tech. fall.#12 Brandon Lauer (WV), 16-0
(6:15) 16-8
141 - #14 Shane Cunanan (WV) dec. Nate Gallick (IS), 4-4 (tb) 19-8
149 - #1 Aaron Holker (IS) dec. #6 Billy Smith (WV), 5-2 19-11
157 - #20 Matt Lebe (WV) dec. Nels Matson (IS), 9-7 (sv) 22-11
165 -#19 Nick Passolano (IS) dec. #16 Tom McMath (WV), 7-4 22-14
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