Chris Pfarr gave up an early takedown to 20th-ranked Ryan Christensen but otherwise controlled their 174-pound bout, taking a 7-4 victory that gave the Gophers wrestling team an 18-15 victory over Wisconsin on Sunday at the Sports Pavilion.

Pfarr went 9-21 last season, including two loses to Christensen, who entered the final match with the Badgers appearing poised to end Minnesota's four-match winning streak in the series.

"I actually didn't know the score of the dual. I knew it was close. Our coaches always say it doesn't matter what the score is, you have to go out there and do you job," Pfarr said. "The emotion [in the arena], it was just huge. The crowd was into every second of the match. It was phenomenal."

Pfarr's chance came after four earlier Gophers victories, the most notable coming at 133 pounds, where No. 16 Mitch McKee pinned Eli Stickley in the final bout before intermission, scoring the three bonus points that would be the difference in the final score.

Minnesota also got victories from No. 2 Brett Pfarr at 197 pounds, No. 6 Ethan Lizak at 125, and No. 13 Tommy Thorn at 141.

USA women's team captures gold medal in U18 hockey

Team USA, with 10 current Minnesota high school players on the roster, beat Team Canada 3-1 for the gold medal in the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship on Saturday in Zlin, Czech Republic.

Breck forward Grace Zumwinkle scored the game-winner with 2 minutes, 32 seconds left in the third period to lift Team USA to its third straight gold medal and sixth in the tournament's 10-year history..

Jim Paulsen

Dungey races to second

Ken Roczen raced to his second consecutive AMA Supercross victory to open the season Saturday night, beating Ryan Dungey of Belle Plaine in the 450SX Class at San Diego's Petco Park.

Roczen, of Germany, also beat Dungey in the season-opening event in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan. 7, and now has 11 career victories.

Staff, news services