WVU Drops Opening Dual At Nebraska
By Tim Goodenow
WVU Sports Information Office
November 27, 2004
LINCOLN, NEB. - The 10th-ranked West Virginia University wrestling team dropped its opening dual meet, 20-15, to 3rd-ranked Nebraska on Saturday evening at the NU Coliseum.
The Cornhuskers won six bouts on the night, including the first three matches, to improve to 2-0 on the season. The Mountaineers dip to 0-1 on the dual meet slate.
The night’s opening match featured lots of action from WVU 197-pounder Jared Villers and No. 8 ranked B.J. Padden. Villers notched a takedown at the edge of the mat with :23 seconds left in the first to lead 5-4. Padden jumped out to a 12-6 lead after two periods and scored at the buzzer for a 17-8 major decision.
Nebraska won the next two bouts at heavyweight and 125 pounds to take an 11-0 team lead. At heavyweight, WVU’s Jeff Courtney wrestled well despite giving up nearly 40 pounds to No. 19 ranked Mitch Manstedt. The two grapplers felt each other out for a scoreless first period and Courtney escaped for a 1-0 lead to begin the second period. Manstedt tallied a takedown with :06 seconds left in middle period to lead 2-1. The Husker big man then scored two takedowns in the final period for a 7-5 decision.
At 125 pounds, NU’s 8th-ranked Matt Keller notched a takedown and near fall on Nathan Kendjorsky for a 5-0 lead. Kendjorsky gained back riding time to start the second period until a Keller reversal made it 7-0. A three-point near fall for Keller in the third closed the match with an 11-0 decision.
Seth Lisa put West Virginia on the board with his 7-1 decision at 133 pounds. After a scoreless opening period, Husker Dusty Spaulding escaped from the defensive position for an early 1-0 lead. Lisa forced the action and scored a single-leg takedown to lead 2-1 after two periods. The junior Mountaineer escaped to begin the third period before notching a second takedown and was then awarded one point for a Husker stalling to win 7-1.
Sixth-ranked Brandon Lauer wrestled to a scoreless first period with Nebraska’s Chris Nedens. Nedens selected down to start the second period and was ridden for the entire two minutes. All-American Lauer turned Nedens and was awarded three-points in a near fall at end of the period. Lauer was cut to start the final period and then took Nedens down for a 6-0 lead. Nedens scored an escape and takedown as time ran down with Lauer victorious, 8-3.
A highly anticipated match at 149 pounds turned into a scary moment at NU Coliseum. Nebraska’s All-American Travis Shufelt injured his right elbow only :32 seconds into the match giving Mike Torriero the injury default win as West Virginia took its first team lead at 12-11.
The 157 pound matched lived up to its billing as Mountaineer Matt Lebe battled Nebraska’s B.J. Wright. After a scoreless opening period, No. 6 ranked Wright escaped for a 1-0 lead in the second period. No. 7 ranked Lebe could not get out of his defensive position as Wright maintained his lead after five minutes of action. Lebe nearly scored a reversal in the final :30 seconds before falling 2-0.
Two more ranked grapplers met at 165 pounds with No. 17 Zac Fryling and No. 4 ranked Jacob Klein. After a scoreless first period, NU’s All-American Klein escaped to lead 1-0. Frlying started the third period in the defensive position and tied it up at 1-1 with an illegal hold call for locking hands by Klein. With one minute remaining in the match, Fryling escaped to lead 2-1. Klein countered for the winning takedown with :28 seconds left to gain a 4-2 victory with riding time.
Trailing 17-12, the Mountaineers sent Ryan Wilman to the mat to face Nebraska’s Marc Harwood at 174 pounds. The referee awarded an escape to Harwood at the edge of the mat in the second period for the bout’s first points and a 1-0 lead. Wilman escaped to begin the third period and tie the score at 1-1. Moments later, Harwood scored with an inside trip to lead 3-1. Wilman escaped with 1:20 remaining to make it 3-2. A second stalling call was made, knotting the score at 3-3. In sudden victory, Harwood notched the winning takedown :29 seconds into overtime for the 5-3 decision.
The evening’s final match saw two-time NCAA champion Greg Jones decision No. 8 ranked Travis Pascoe. Pascoe scored a takedown in the first period as Jones quickly escaped to make it 2-1. Jones evened the score at 2-2 with an escape to start the middle period. An aggressive Jones forced the action the final four minutes and notched a double-leg takedown to go ahead 4-2. Pascoe started in the down position to begin the third and escaped to make it 4-3. Jones garnered another takedown for a 6-3 decision victory.
West Virginia next travels to Las Vegas, Nev., to compete in the two-day Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 3-4.
No. 10 West Virginia 15 (0-1, 0-0 EWL)
No. 3 Nebraska 20 (2-0, 0-0 Big 12)
197: #8 B.J. Padden (NEB) Major Jared Villers (WVU), 17-8
285: #19 Mitch Manstedt (NEB) dec Jeff Courtney (WVU), 7-5
125: #8 Matt Keller (NEB) Major Nathan Kendjorsky (WVU), 11-1
133: Seth Lisa (WVU) dec Dusty Spaulding (NEB), 7-1
141: #6 Brandon Lauer (WVU) dec Chris Nedens (NEB), 8-3
149: #11 Mike Torriero (WVU) Inj Def #4 Travis Schufelt (NEB), 0:32
157: #6 B.J. Wright (NEB) dec #7 Matt Lebe (WVU), 2-0
165: #4 Jacob Klein (NEB) dec #15 Zac Fryling (WVU), 4-2
174: Marc Harwood (NEB) dec #19 Ryan Wilman (WVU), 5-3 SV
184: #1 Greg Jones (WVU) dec #6 Travis Pascoe (NEB), 6-3
Official: Bill Roths
Attendance: 771
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