Our #5 ranked Gopher wrestlers are down in Fort Lauderdale, FL this weekend for the annual South Beach Duals. This event is on the rise and with the decent quality schools involved, it will be a good test for us. Each attending team will have four dual matches over two days and the action starts tomorrow for us at 10am CT with #14 Lehigh and then at 12pm against Old Dominion University (ODU). On Sunday we get Duke at 12pm and #24 Cornell at 2pm. All of the wrestling will be streamed live on www.trackwrestling.com (for a onetime charge of $19.95).
Of these matches, Lehigh and Cornell will be the toughest, but it looks like we should be able to get four more team wins!! As we have 4 matches over two days time, there are several weights where we have brought along extra wrestlers so they can get some varsity experience. With the nice weather in FL, and the likelihood that we may win all four duals, this should be a fun trip for all of our guys!
MN has jumped up to a lofty #5 team ranking from somewhere around #15, all based on the return of Gable Steveson a week ago. #5 could be a little high, but at least it shows what some (Flo) wrestling experts think is possible for us!
There are two other big tournaments going on with The Midlands on tomorrow and Monday, and the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1st and 2nd. Both events will be streamed live on Flowrestling.com. An interesting side note for us is that a bunch of our non-starters will be competing at the Midlands. This includes Jakob Bergeland, Baylor Fernandes, Kasper McIntosh, Jake Allar, Hunter Ritter, and Dylan Anderson. The group will be joined by Gophers assistant coach Trevor Brandvold.
I think this a wonderful opportunity for these guys to get very fired-up to compete at such a high-level tournament, and it will give them a chance to see what elite level tournament wrestling is like! And some of these guys are talented enough (Fernandes, Allar, Anderson) that they could be starters next year. Bravo to our coaches for getting this arranged!!!
I will be tweeting on lots of the individual matches from all these tournaments on @Unlimited424 . BTW, I've been on Twitter for a little over a year, and for those of you who are not on it, even if you are not social media focused, or techies, it's a really wonderful medium (just ask Twitter studs @tundragopher , @fencejumpers , @Littlefinger , or @dubwa ) !!!
Here's the article on this weekend's action from Gophersports.com:
South Beach Duals Await Minnesota Wrestling
Gophersports.com
Wrestling
12/27/2019
WATCH (TRACKWRESTLING)
The Minnesota wrestling program is set to travel down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the third straight year as they once again take part in the South Beach Duals.
Over the course of two days, December 29 and 30, the Gophers will battle Lehigh, Old Dominion, Duke and Cornell. The action kicks off on the 29th at 11am CT between the Gophers and Lehigh before continuing that afternoon against Old Dominion. The event closes out on the penultimate day of the year at 1pm against Duke before closing out at 3pm against the Cornell Big Red.
The event will be streamed on TrackWrestling.com with all action taking place at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.
Former Gophers 149/157-pound starter Steve Bleise is now the volunteer assistant coach on the Old Dominion staff. After transferring to Minnesota midway through his career Bleise racked up 41 victories in his two seasons as a Maroon and Gold starter before moving to work with the Monarchs after graduation.
Gophers Probable Starters:
125: No.19 Pat McKee (10-4) OR Jake Gliva (5-4)
133: Brent Jones (6-7)
141: No.2 Mitch McKee (16-1) OR Ben Brancale (7-4)
149: No.5 Brayton Lee (13-1)
157: Carson Brolsma (8-6) OR Ryan Thomas (4-1)
165: Bailee O'Reilly (12-5)
174: No.7 Devin Skatzka (17-3)
184: No.18 Owen Webster (12-4) OR Caden Steffen (10-4)
197: Garrett Joles (7-6)
HWT: No.2 Gable Steveson (1-0) OR Chase O'Connor (2-3)
Midlands Men
The Gophers will also have a handful of competitors in Chicago at the 57th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championship hosted by Northwestern.
Among those competing include Jakob Bergeland, Baylor Fernandes, Kasper McIntosh, Jake Allar, Hunter Ritter, and Dylan Anderson. The group will be joined by Gophers assistant coach Trevor Brandvold.
Ranked Streak
With a handful of ranked victories so far on the season, 149-pound Brayton Lee is tied for the team lead with four ranked victories. Even more impressive is the fact that Lee has defeated four consecutive ranked opponents dating back to the quarterfinal round of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6 when he defeated then-No.8 Brock Zacherl of Clarion.
Consistent At the Top of the Lineup
Through four duals this season the Gophers have employed the same eight wrestlers in the lowest eight weight classes in every competition.
The only weights the Gophers have cycled through student-athletes are at 197-pounds and heavyweight where Minnesota has started three different athletes at each weight.
Next Up
Once the Gophers usher in the New Year the team will kick off conference competition on January 10 when they welcome the Wisconsin Badgers to Maturi Pavilion. Action continues with a road trip to face Michigan State and Michigan the following weekend before returning home for the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 26.
Of these matches, Lehigh and Cornell will be the toughest, but it looks like we should be able to get four more team wins!! As we have 4 matches over two days time, there are several weights where we have brought along extra wrestlers so they can get some varsity experience. With the nice weather in FL, and the likelihood that we may win all four duals, this should be a fun trip for all of our guys!
MN has jumped up to a lofty #5 team ranking from somewhere around #15, all based on the return of Gable Steveson a week ago. #5 could be a little high, but at least it shows what some (Flo) wrestling experts think is possible for us!
There are two other big tournaments going on with The Midlands on tomorrow and Monday, and the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1st and 2nd. Both events will be streamed live on Flowrestling.com. An interesting side note for us is that a bunch of our non-starters will be competing at the Midlands. This includes Jakob Bergeland, Baylor Fernandes, Kasper McIntosh, Jake Allar, Hunter Ritter, and Dylan Anderson. The group will be joined by Gophers assistant coach Trevor Brandvold.
I think this a wonderful opportunity for these guys to get very fired-up to compete at such a high-level tournament, and it will give them a chance to see what elite level tournament wrestling is like! And some of these guys are talented enough (Fernandes, Allar, Anderson) that they could be starters next year. Bravo to our coaches for getting this arranged!!!
I will be tweeting on lots of the individual matches from all these tournaments on @Unlimited424 . BTW, I've been on Twitter for a little over a year, and for those of you who are not on it, even if you are not social media focused, or techies, it's a really wonderful medium (just ask Twitter studs @tundragopher , @fencejumpers , @Littlefinger , or @dubwa ) !!!
Here's the article on this weekend's action from Gophersports.com:
South Beach Duals Await Minnesota Wrestling
Gophersports.com
Wrestling
12/27/2019
WATCH (TRACKWRESTLING)
The Minnesota wrestling program is set to travel down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the third straight year as they once again take part in the South Beach Duals.
Over the course of two days, December 29 and 30, the Gophers will battle Lehigh, Old Dominion, Duke and Cornell. The action kicks off on the 29th at 11am CT between the Gophers and Lehigh before continuing that afternoon against Old Dominion. The event closes out on the penultimate day of the year at 1pm against Duke before closing out at 3pm against the Cornell Big Red.
The event will be streamed on TrackWrestling.com with all action taking place at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.
Former Gophers 149/157-pound starter Steve Bleise is now the volunteer assistant coach on the Old Dominion staff. After transferring to Minnesota midway through his career Bleise racked up 41 victories in his two seasons as a Maroon and Gold starter before moving to work with the Monarchs after graduation.
Gophers Probable Starters:
125: No.19 Pat McKee (10-4) OR Jake Gliva (5-4)
133: Brent Jones (6-7)
141: No.2 Mitch McKee (16-1) OR Ben Brancale (7-4)
149: No.5 Brayton Lee (13-1)
157: Carson Brolsma (8-6) OR Ryan Thomas (4-1)
165: Bailee O'Reilly (12-5)
174: No.7 Devin Skatzka (17-3)
184: No.18 Owen Webster (12-4) OR Caden Steffen (10-4)
197: Garrett Joles (7-6)
HWT: No.2 Gable Steveson (1-0) OR Chase O'Connor (2-3)
Midlands Men
The Gophers will also have a handful of competitors in Chicago at the 57th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championship hosted by Northwestern.
Among those competing include Jakob Bergeland, Baylor Fernandes, Kasper McIntosh, Jake Allar, Hunter Ritter, and Dylan Anderson. The group will be joined by Gophers assistant coach Trevor Brandvold.
Ranked Streak
With a handful of ranked victories so far on the season, 149-pound Brayton Lee is tied for the team lead with four ranked victories. Even more impressive is the fact that Lee has defeated four consecutive ranked opponents dating back to the quarterfinal round of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6 when he defeated then-No.8 Brock Zacherl of Clarion.
Consistent At the Top of the Lineup
Through four duals this season the Gophers have employed the same eight wrestlers in the lowest eight weight classes in every competition.
The only weights the Gophers have cycled through student-athletes are at 197-pounds and heavyweight where Minnesota has started three different athletes at each weight.
Next Up
Once the Gophers usher in the New Year the team will kick off conference competition on January 10 when they welcome the Wisconsin Badgers to Maturi Pavilion. Action continues with a road trip to face Michigan State and Michigan the following weekend before returning home for the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 26.
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