Huskers Drop Close Decision to Golden Gophers

Rochester, Minn. ? The Nebraska wrestling team suffered its first loss of the season, dropping a close match to tenth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, 17-16, Thursday afternoon at the Rochester Regional Sports Center. With the loss, NU had its 11-match dual win streak snapped.

Leading by three heading into the final weight class at 174 pounds, sophomore James Pummel lost by major decision to junior Jon Duncombe, 17-6, to give the Gophers the four-point bonus point victory.

NU got onto the board first when third-ranked Travis Pascoe defeated Josh McLay, 10-3 at 184 pounds. The win by Pascoe raised his record 14-0 on the season and 8-0 in dual matches. In a rematch from last season, sophomore B.J. Padden fell to top-ranked and defending national champion Damien Hahn, 6-3 at 197 pounds.

Senior Nathan McClain used an escape to record a 1-0 upset decision over sixth-ranked Cole Konrad at heavyweight. At 125 pounds, junior Jeremy Emerson wrestled in place of top-ranked Jason Powell, who was sick with the flu, and fell toAndrew Domingues, 6-3.

"Nathan McClain wrestled extremely hard today," Head Coach Mark Manning said. "He has lost to that kid before and won a hard fought battle."

NU regained the lead with three straight victories at 133, 141 and 149 pounds. Redshirt freshman Matt Keller scored a 7-6 victory over Quincy Brown, while 13th-ranked Matt Murray recorded a decision over Tommy Owen, 6-1. Junior Travis Shufelt gave NU a ten-point lead with his 15 straight victory scoring a major decision over Keri Stanley, 16-6.

Minnesota responded by winning the next two matches to bring theGophers within one heading into the 174-pound match.

"I’m very proud of our team," Manning said. "We came ready to do battle and just came up a little short. Padden wrestled the defending national champion extremely well, and guys like Murray and Keller had some big victories for us."

NU returns to action this Saturday, January 3, when they play host to Oregon at the NU Coliseum starting at 7 p.m.

#10 Minnesota 17, #3 Nebraska 16
184 Pascoe, Travis (NU) by dec. over McLay, Josh (MU), 10-3 NU 3, MU 0
197 Hahn, Damion (MU) by dec. over Padden, B.J. (NU), 6-3 Tied at Three
HWT McClain, Nathan (NU) by dec. over Konrad, Cole (MU), 1-0 NU 6, MU 3
125 Domingues, Andrew (MU) by dec. over Emerson, Jeremy (NU), 6-3 Tied at Six
133 Keller, Matt (NU) by. dec. over Osborn, Quincy (MU), 7-6 NU 9, MU 6
141 Murray, Matt (NU) by dec. over Owen, Tommy (MU), 6-1 NU 12, MU 6
149 Shufelt, Travis (NU) by maj. dec. Stanley, Keri (MU), 16-6 NU 16, MU 6
157 Nagel, Matt (MU) by dec. Wright, B.J. Nebraska (NU), 8-6 OT NU 16, MU 9
165 Volkmann, Jacob (MU) by maj. dec. Klein, Jacob (NU), 10-1 NU 16, MU 13
174 Duncombe, Jon (MU) by maj. dec. Pummel, James (NU), 17-6 MU 17, NU 16