Hoosiers fall to No. 1 Gophers; next meet Friday

Coming into this weekend, the IU wrestling team was determined to rebound from two tough losses at home last weekend. The No. 1- ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers proved to be too much for the No. 15 Hoosiers, who dropped their third straight dual meet 25-13 Sunday. The loss dropped IU to 2-3 on the Big Ten season and 11-3 overall.\nThe Golden Gophers took an early 10-0 lead following losses by sophomore Max Dean, sophomore Marc Bennett and a major decision against sophomore Justin Curran. The three sophomores each fell to ranked Minnesota opponents.\nIn the 197-pound match senior Brady Richardson held a 10-2 lead over Mitch Kuhlman. The No. 8-ranked Richardson was 10 seconds away from securing the eight-point difference required for a four-point major decision when Kuhlman scored an escape, cutting Richardson's lead to 10-3, giving the Hoosiers only three points.\nAfter Richardson's match, sophomore Dave Herman dropped an 8-3 match to the No. 1-ranked heavyweight, Cole Konrad, extending the Gophers' lead 13-3. But IU was able to quickly erase the deficit. \nSenior Joe Dubuque responded by posting a 10-2 major decision over Travis Lang, narrowing the Gophers' lead to 13-7. The win gave the No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Dubuque a 17-0 record on the season and extended his winning streak to 24. The win was the 103rd of Dubuque's IU career, moving him within two wins of tying Mark Gaylan (1978-1982) and Scott Holman (1986-1990) for the ninth-most wins at IU with 105.\nThe next match featured freshman Andrae Hernandez, who looked to take down Minnesota's replacement, Daniel Jackson. The No. 18 Hernandez pinned Jackson 3:48 into the match, and the score was tied at 13 with three matches to go.\nBut the Hoosiers dropped the final three matches with a major decision posted against freshman Scott Kelly, a technical fall against junior Matt Cooper and a 7-6 loss by sophomore Brandon Becker.\nIU is back in action Friday night when it takes on No. 9-ranked Penn State at University Gym. The Nittany Lions will be the fourth straight top 10 opponent the Hoosiers face.