University of Northern Iowa
Iowa
Panthers fall to ninth-ranked Hawkeyes 23-13
12/9/2004 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 9, 2004
Cedar Falls, Iowa -
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The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team fell to the University of Iowa 23-13 tonight. The 16th-ranked Panthers could not contain the ninth-ranked Hawkeyes. UNI falls to 0-2 while Iowa's record improves to 2-1.
"We had an opportunity to get some bonus points when we needed and they got some bonus points we weren't suppose to give them," head coach Brad Penrith said. "That kind of hurts; we won four they won six. Theoretically, they were favored in eight of the matches. Overall we did okay. There is a lot of room for improvement and we have our hands full Sunday with Minnesota."
Iowa opened up to a 12-0 lead after the first three matches. Ninth-ranked Alex Tsirtsis defeated UNI's C.J. Ettelson 17-7 at 141, giving the Hawkeyes four points for the major decision. In the 149 weight class, Ty Eustice took a close match from Jeff Harrison, 5-3. No one scored in the first period, but Eustice escaped and forced a takedown in the second. Harrison was on defense for most of the match, scoring on escapes alone.
Junior Chris Bitetto suited up for the first time tonight after sustaining a knee injury in practice last week. He had no easy opponent to tackle at 157, either. Iowa's Joe Johnston, who is ranked seventh in the nation, scored 10 points against Bitetto in the first period. Johnston eventually racked up five points for the Hawkeyes, defeating Bitetto in 5:25 by technical fall.
The next two matches would fall in the Panthers' favor. Nick Baima provided a spark at 165 for UNI. He held Oleg Polyatskiy scoreless and won 3-0. Fourth-ranked Eric Hauan was able to shrink the Iowa lead to six, defeating Luke Lofthouse 6-5. He improves to 13-1 on the season.
Freshman Alex Dolly faced his first ranked opponent of his collegiate career in #2 Paul Bradley at 184. Dolly held on in the first period to a four-point deficit but was unable to recover. Bradley took a major decision from Dolly, winning 16-6.
Sean Stender responded for UNI with another major decision against Dane Pape. Stender recorded five takedowns and riding time in the match. His record improves to 13-3. With heavyweights Michael Shedek and Matt Fields in the wings, UNI was back within six. Fields scored a takedown in the first, and eventually Shedek fell in his first match of the year 10-1 to the sixth-ranked Hawkeye.
At 125, Chris Helgeson pulled out a 3-1 win against freshman Charlie Falck. The match was scorless until 54 seconds remained in the third period when Helgeson scored on an escape and then a quick takedown.
In the final match at 133, Iowa's Mario Galanakis was too much for junior college transfer Patrick Sharp to handle. Sharp fell 10-4 but never stopped wrestling. He scored in every period, including an escape with two second remaining in the match.
The Panthers do not take much time off as they travel to Rochester, Minn. Sunday to battle the seventh-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers at 2:00 p.m. Listen live on www.unipanthers.com.
141 - #9 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) maj. Dec. #19 C.J. Ettelson (UNI), 17-7
149 - #7 Ty Eustice (Iowa) Dec. #`14 Jeff Harrison (UNI) 5-3
157 - #7 Joe Johnston (Iowa) Tech Fall, Chris Bitetto (UNI) 5:25
165 - #12 Nick Baima (UNI) Dec. Oleg Polyatskiy (Iowa) 3-0
174 - #4 Eric Hauan (UNI) dec. Luke Lofthouse (Iowa) 6-5
184 - #2 Paul Bradley (Iowa) Maj. Dec. Alex Dolly (UNI) 16-6
197 - #4 Sean Stender (UNI) Maj. Dec. Dane Pape (Iowa) 13-5
HWT - #6 Matt Fields (Iowa) Maj. Dec. Michael Shedek (UNI) 10-1
125 - Chris Helgeson (UNI) dec. Charlie Falck (Iowa) 3-1
133 - Mario Galanakis (Iowa) Dec. Patrick Sharp (UNI) 10-4
Attendance: 2,909
Official: Mike Allen
