Gophers Wrestling 2023-24 Season

Wrestlestat (which predicted a loss for us to Rutgers last weekend) predicts a 28-6 win over Maryland and 25-9 over Northwestern
 


Wrestlestat (which predicted a loss for us to Rutgers last weekend) predicts a 28-6 win over Maryland and 25-9 over Northwestern
seems wrestlestat knew the #5 ranked wrestler at 197 wasn't going for maryland tonight

gophers win 4 of the 6 toss up matches with the biggest W from VomBaur

really nice to see Sparks getting a W
 

seems wrestlestat knew the #5 ranked wrestler at 197 wasn't going for maryland tonight

gophers win 4 of the 6 toss up matches with the biggest W from VomBaur

really nice to see Sparks getting a W
Would've liked to see Wells get another win, he was close. But a 30-6 win is going to upset very few people, and none of our true favorites were upset tonight. Good victory overall
 

Would've liked to see Wells get another win, he was close. But a 30-6 win is going to upset very few people, and none of our true favorites were upset tonight. Good victory overall
only disappointment was Blockhus not getting any bonus points. Match was over after 184 so Maryland threw in the towel. Instead of #5 Smith at 197 they put in a 184 guy. Instead of #25 Nevills at HWT, they put in a guy winless on the year. Credit VomBaur and Sparks for their close wins that put the match out of reach.
 


I was there. It was a dominating win. Not as exciting as last week against Rutgers. I think Joles was underrated.
 

Blockhus
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McKee and Roberts
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Sunday, the Gophers face a Northwestern team reeling from four straight Big Ten losses while the Gophers are rolling.


Salazar
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Joles
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Wells
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Probably not gonna matter, but McKee just gave away points at the end there.
 



Wells moved to 133 and won a landslide by technical fall.

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And now VomBaur is routing his opponent.

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And that's another technical fall! 13-0 Gophers!

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And now another technical fall for the Gophers.


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21-0 at intermission. McKee only somewhat shaky wrestler so far. Really impressive second period from Blockhus. If Brenner wins at 165 it might be a sweep
 






I hope McKee can get his strength and conditioning back in time for B1G tourney and Nationals other than that everyone gets a gold star.
 

Gophers made three pins last night!


It was an entertaining wrestling meet with unexpected turns of fate. Gophers were the favorites.

The coaches on both sides were animated and engaged. Coach Eggum looked like he was getting free reviews by threatening to throw the brick and arguments, it delayed the matches.

Gophers opened with gambling by not playing top-ranked McKee against an easier opponent. (They didn't mention anything about weigh in.) Out came the freshman Marvari who barely lost. No worries, Gophers had a cushion to absorb it and he gained experience.

But then shocker Wells and VomBauer lost. What? I was shocked. Gophers suddenly in deep dodoo down 0-3.

But Gophers held.

"The man" Michael Blockhus turned the tide with a pin.



Terrific wins then. Gophers wrestlers came through. Gophers win.




 

at 125 probably would have been an easy 3 for McKee, but Eggum had morvari wrestle for the gophers
fun match to watch. Morvari was down 2, then went up 1 then tie at the end of regulation - lost SV2 7-6

matches for Blockhus and Salazar also in this video
 


Gophers trounced Purdue 36-6. Five Gophers scored technical fouls.
love autocorrect. got a good laugh at that one.

mckee keeping it close with #1 Ramos has me hoping he'll be an AA again

matches like these surprise me. about 70 d1 wrestling programs. each get 9.9 scholarships. and yet you can get a match like this, real dominance by the gophers
 

love autocorrect. got a good laugh at that one.

mckee keeping it close with #1 Ramos has me hoping he'll be an AA again

matches like these surprise me. about 70 d1 wrestling programs. each get 9.9 scholarships. and yet you can get a match like this, real dominance by the gophers

The McKeee weekend is interesting. They skipped playing him against an unranked opponent Friday. That was smart. It gave the freshman playing time, and he almost won. Then McKee came close to winning Sunday against the #1.

Happy to see VomBaur storm back with a technical FALL. LOL
 

Happy to see VomBaur storm back with a technical FALL. LOL
amazing second period since he was up only 3-1 after 1

still remember VV beating #6 Carlson SDSU last season and thinking maybe the gophers have a very good one.
 



Friday 8 pm, at Minnesota.



"Despite five straight wins, including last weekend over Illinois and Purdue, the Golden Gophers dropped one spot to No. 12 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll. Minnesota is also 14th in the WIN Tournament Power Index and tied with Wisconsin for 16th in the Intermat TPI.

Ten Gopher wrestlers are ranked in at least three of the major polls (Intermat, WIN, Flo, OpenMat, Coaches), while five are in at least four of the polls. Michael Blockhus (149 pounds), Patrick McKee (125) and Isaiah Salazar (184) lead the way by appearing in all five. Blockhus and Salazar are both in the top-5 of all five polls with Blockhus ranking second according to WIN, third by the Coaches and OpenMat and fourth by InterMat and Flo. Salazar is ranked fourth by WIN and OpenMat and fifth by the Coaches, Intermat and Flo. Full rankings for Minnesota can be found on Page 7 of the notes...


BLOCKHUS AT HIS BEST
Minnesota sixth-year senior Michael Blockhus has been nearly unbeatable this season after moving up a weight class to 157 pounds.

Currently ranked fourth in the country by Intermat, Blockhus is 14-1 on the season, 11-1 in duals, 7-0 in the Big Ten and 6-0 against ranked opponents. His lone loss came to George Mason's DJ McGee, who was unranked at the time on Nov. 18 but is now No. 25, according to Intermat.

Blockhus has three tech falls, two pins and a pair of major decisions this season. He has won his last nine matches, including a pair of tech falls, a pin and a major decision. Six of the nine matches have come against ranked opponents, ranging from 2nd to 33rd, and Blockhus has won them all.

A pair of top-three victories earned Blockhus Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors on Jan. 30. Ranked 11th at the time, Blockhus upset then-No. 2 Jared Franek of Iowa in a 5-4 decision on Monday, Jan. 15. Franek led 4-1 through two periods and was up 4-2 with 20 seconds to go when Blockhus took him down and got the win. That Friday against Nebraska, Blockhus, who had moved up to 10th in the Intermat rankings, added a victory over No. 3 Peyton Robb, 12-6. Blockhus was the first Gopher to be named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week since Michial Foy earned the honor on Dec. 1, 2022.

SENSATIONAL SALAZAR
Minnesota senior Isaiah Salazar has been one of the team's most reliable performers this season, sporting a 17-1 record and going undefeated in duals (10-0), Big Ten action (6-0) and against ranked opponents (3-0) at 184 pounds.

Ranked 10th or better all season, Salazar has seven wins by tech fall and four by major decision. He started the year 6-0 before dropping an 11-5 decision to Missouri's Colton Hawks at the Cougar Clash in early December. Salazar hasn't loss since, winning his last 11 matches.

Six of the 11 wins during the streak have been by bonus point with four tech falls and two majors. In addition, three have come over ranked opponents, including a 4-1 decision over then-No. 3 Lenny Pinto of Nebraska on Jan. 19. During the streak, Salazar has outscored opponents, 123-12, and has not allowed more than three points in any match...."


 




Roberts getting absolutely manhandled after getting upset last week. Wisconsin gets on the board.
 



Gophers defeat Wisconsin 28-12.




"No. 12 Minnesota (11-2, 6-2 B1G) finished out the regular season with an emphatic, 28-12, Border Battle victory over Wisconsin (9-5, 3-4) Friday night in front of a season-best crowd of 3,155.

The Golden Gophers won 7 of 10 matches, including five by bonus points... also the team's sixth straight victory, its longest streak since opening last season with seven consecutive wins. The 6-2 record in league action is the team's best since going 7-2 in the 2020-21 campaign.

The fireworks started right away at 125 pounds as No. 11 Patrick McKee met No. 3 Eric Barnett for the 10th time in their careers... McKee shot in late in the second period, got the takedown and secured the pin at the 4:47 mark, sending Maturi Pavilion into a frenzy....

Minnesota is now finished with the regular season and will prepare for the Big Ten Championships, which take place March 9-10 in College Park, Md.

125 #11 Patrick McKee pinned #3 Eric Barnett (UW), 4:47 | MINN 6, UW 0

133 #19 Tyler Wells dec. Nicolar Rivera (UW), 4-1 SV1 | MINN 8, UW 0*

141 #26 Vance VomBaur MD Zan Fugitt (UW), 17-5 | MINN 12, UW 0

149 #19 Joseph Zargo (UW) MD #16 Drew Roberts, 13-5 | MINN 12, UW 4

157 #4 Michael Blockhus MD Luke Mechler (UW), 11-2 | MINN 16, UW 4

165 #5 Dean Hamiti (UW) TF #32 Blaine Brenner, 20-3 6:59 | MINN 16, UW 9

174 #12 Max Maylor (UW) dec. #31 Andrew Sparks, 4-1 | MINN 16, UW 12

184 #5 Isaiah Salazar dec. #16 Shane Liegel (UW), 4-1 | MINN 19, UW 12

197 #20 Garrett Joles TF Josh Otto (UW), 18-3 | MINN 24, UW 12

285 #30 Bennett Tabor MD Gannon Rosenfeld, 11-1 | MINN 28, UW 12"
 




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