Cedar Falls, Ia. – The biggest bang of the National Duals was saved for the end Sunday.
Cole Konrad of No. 2 seed Minnesota latched a bodylock, threw top-ranked Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State to his back and pinned the former NCAA champion at Iowa in 5 minutes 26 seconds to finalize Minnesota’s 21-14 upset of top-seeded Oklahoma State at the UNI-Dome.
Konrad’s pin halted Mocco’s 85-match winning streak dating from his 34-0 mark during the 2002-03 season at Iowa, stopped the Cowboys’ 30-meet winning streak and denied them a fourth consecutive Division I championship in the duals tournament.
Minnesota and Oklahoma State are scheduled to meet Feb. 12 at Ford Center in Oklahoma City – the site of the 2006 NCAA Division I championship. That meet might exceed Sunday’s announced crowd of 6,231, which brought the two-day total to 13,880.
Meanwhile, Wartburg claimed its third Division III championship in four years.
Akeem Carter of the Knights said dropping one weight was an easy team-based decision, even if it meant giving up a chance at a third consecutive NCAA Division III 197-pound championship.
Carter scored a 6-3 victory over Brad Tupa at 184 pounds to clinch top-seeded Wartburg’s 29-6 victory over third-seeded Augsburg in the Division III final.
The Knights also won in 2003 and 2004. In all five years the National Duals has included Division III teams, Wartburg (18-0) and Augsburg have met in the finals.
Konrad was named outstanding wrestler of the Division I tournament. Also named the top wrestler of their divisions were Dustin Hinschberger of Wartburg in Division III and former Iowa Central Community College national champion Willie Parks of Dana College in the NAIA event.
Konrad beat Mocco at the NWCA All-Star meet in Stillwater, but that outcome does not count on a season’s record. Sunday’s did, and Mocco took his first loss in 52 matches at Oklahoma State.
“Everyone was saying, ‘You can win once,’ and I just needed to do it for myself and to prove to others that I can beat him, it wasn’t just a fluke, “said Konrad, who lost to Mocco in the NCAA finals last season.
Minnesota is expected to be ranked No. 1 next Sunday when Iowa meets the Golden Gophers in a 2 p.m. clash at Williams Arena. Iowa lost to Michigan, 19-15, and finished sixth in the National Duals.
Going into the National Duals, Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said the key to stopping Oklahoma State was beating one of its four 2005 NCAA champions. Iowa lost, 18-14, to the Cowboys Jan. 7, but Ty Eustice upset top-ranked Zack Esposito, the defending 149-pound champion. On Sunday, Minnesota beat two of them. Konrad pinned Mocco and freshman Dustin Schlatter scored an 8-7 decision over Esposito.
The Division III championship lacked any of the suspense of the Division I meet. Wartburg had a 13-0 lead after four weights, then got a technical fall from heavyweight Blake Gillis and major decisions from Scott Kauffman at 174 and T.J. Miller at 197. Carter’s win at 184 gave the Knights an insurmountable 20-6 lead.
Wartburg gained the finals with a 34-6 semifinals win over Luther. It was Wartburg’s 99th consecutive victory over an Iowa Conference opponent. Michigan heavyweight Greg Wagner’s 4-3 victory over Matt Fields locked up a 19-15 victory for fifth place for the Wolverines. Consecutive wins by Paul Bradley at 184 and Dan Erekson at 197 helped the Hawkeyes cut Michigan’s lead to 16-15 going into the finale.
Iowa wrestled without third-ranked Mark Perry at 174, who watched the Michigan match on the team bench in street clothes. Zalesky said Perry has a stinger situation with his neck and shoulder.
“It’s one of those things where we don’t want to push it right now, “Zalesky said. “He really can’t do a lot without getting hurt.”
Zalesky said it was a good learning experience.
“We needed that kind of competition, “Zalesky said. “Even though we got beat, I thought we fought hard.”
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