Cowboys rough up Gophers wrestlers

Minnesota worked its way back from an early deficit, but an upset at 141 pounds was too much to overcome.

By ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ, Star Tribune

Last update: January 1, 2009 - 11:47 PM

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It was an unhappy start Thursday to the new year for Gophers coach J Robinson and his wrestling team.

Oklahoma State, ranked No. 13 in the national polls, beat the No. 7 Gophers 23-13 at the Sports Pavilion before an announced crowd of 3,278.

The nonconference dual meet was the first competition at home this season for the Gophers (3-2).

"Obviously, we are disappointed," Robinson said. "It's not the kind of show we want our fans to see."

The Cowboys (7-2) took a quick 7-0 lead. Neil Erisman defeated Tyler Safratowich 6-4 at 157 pounds and Brandon Mason beat Scott Glasser 16-2 at 165 for a four-point major decision.

"We thought we had a pretty good chance to win those two matches," Robinson said, "so that put us in a hole. It changed kind of everything."

Safratowich, ranked No. 14 nationally at his weight, fell behind 4-0 in the first period.

"Safratowich got off to a slow start, and he can't do that," Robinson said. "A lot of our guys do really good once the match gets going, but they just don't get started fast enough."

Glasser's downfall was an injury. He was limping on his right leg after a takedown 31 seconds into his match.

"Glasser had hurt his leg before," Robinson said. "He hadn't wrestled for about three weeks. It was all right in practice but, in that first flurry, he got it caught."

After a Gophers' injury timeout, Mason scored the next 16 points.

Back-to-back decisions by Zach Sanders and Jayson Ness at 125 and 133 got the Gophers within 16-13 with two matches left.

But, at 141, redshirt freshman Jamal Parks upset Gophers sophomore Mike Thorn 10-7 to put Oklahoma State ahead 19-13.

"[Thorn] lost his focus and he can't do that," Robinson said. "And then he got behind, it just accentuates everything."

Cowboys coach John Smith said Parks "has lost a lot of close matches this year and it's good to see him win a close one. He is trying to figure out his way right now."

So are the Gophers, who wrestle in the Lone Star Duals in Dallas on Saturday and the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Jan. 10-11.

"There is just a lot of small things we got to fix," said Gophers heavyweight Ben Berhow, who lost 3-2 to No. 1-rated Jared Rosholt. "Like we said in the locker room, 'Every guy has to fix their own thing.' We are not there right now. But what matters is March when nationals come. That is what we are working for."

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