Our dual meet season starts on Friday Nov. 9th with an 8pm match at Air Force in Colorado Springs, CO. The match will be streamed live on Trackwrestling.com (most of the time they charge, this one is free!).
This should be an easy win for us; our line-up with my predictions are below. The wrestlers who are not going to CO will be at The Bison Open on Sat. Nov. 10th. There will be no live stream of this event, however live match scoring is on Trackwrestling.com.
Last weekend's action at The Daktronics Open has led to some interesting developments in our line-up:
- First at 165#s, Carson Brolsma beat Jake Allar, so he is now the starter. I'm not sure what this means long term, if Brolsma usually wins this match-up, or if it's pretty even/back-and-forth. If you remember, Allar was a fairly highly ranked 2016 recruit (something like 25th overall), who committed to Iowa State because of the turbulence in our program. Then, when ISU fired Coach Kevin Jackson and our program had stabilized, Allar was granted his release and he transferred back to MN. Last year he took a redshirt, but was injured in his first match (torn ACL) so he never really got a redshirt year. Allar is an elite wrestler, and I expected him to be a multiple year All American for us in the future. Meanwhile, Brolsma is a very hard worker, maybe one of the most diligent workers on the team, and he has consistently continued to improve. As Brolsma is a senior, he could start all year, then Allar could start the next the next three years. I wish that Allar could get a medical waiver for his extremely short RS year. Allar will be at the Bison Open on Sat. We'll have to see how this all plays out.
- At 197 Dylan Anderson continues to look very good, as he won The Dak last weekend. Dylan weighed in at 186, so it's amazing that he can be so effective at 197, being so small. Anderson also must not be able to beat out Owen Webster at 184#s. And Bobby Steveson, who was injured most of last year (his leg got badly torqued/twisted) has had weight management issues so far. Bobby is wrestling his first matches of the year at the Bison, so after that we'll have to see if he is back in as the starter.
- At HWT, a huge development may be happening lately regarding Gable Steveson. Everyone had been thinking that Gable would automatically go right into our line-up, and that at worst case, he would be a very high AA, or likely even a Natty champ. Now, lately when we lost out on elite recruit #5 overall 170# Carson Kharchla (OSU), and we may lose out on #15 overall 182# Carter Starocci (MN, PSU, VA Tech are likely his Top 3, but strong pull to VAT, as Starocci's father was a college roommate of VAT HC Tony Robie). So, Gable put on his Instagram last weekend that he was redshirting, but it's not clear if he meant the whole year, or just thus far/until he wrestles a dual match. Now, this weekend Gable is not going to CO, instead he is going to the Bison!!
The reason that Gable may now be redshirting is that we didn't get enough elite recruits in our 2019 class, so why not hold him back a year so we have another chance for a team Natty in 4 years?? . Our 2018 class is truly very, very good and, if we are fortunate, we may get as many as 4 Natty Champs out of it. Along with some other AA's, this might be enough to win the team Natty!!
Also, secondarily, almost every ranked HWT is a senior, so GS could wait to go varsity until next year, which would vastly increase the likelihood that he never loses a match and wins 4 Natty titles. I think the final decision has not been made yet, but this is how it looks so far.
I think I'm in favor of this GS redshirt, and if they're going to do it, I wish they'd redshirt Mitch McKee and Owen Webster too. But, they are both projected in the line-up on Friday.
What do you think about this???
Here's the article on this weekend's action from Gophersports.com:
Gophers Travel to Air Force to Open Dual Season Schedule
Gophersports.com
Wrestling
11/7/2018
Match Notes Air Force (PDF)
The Gophers will wrestle their first dual of the season this Friday as they take on Air Force in USAF Academy, Co. The dual is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. CT.
Gopher wrestling fans will be able to stream all of the action on Trackwrestling.com and follow along with live updates on the Minnesota twitter wrestling page.
Minnesota vs. Air Force
The Gophers hold an unblemished record against Air Force, wrestling to an 8-0 record in duals against the Falcons. Minnesota claimed their first victory in this matchup in a 25-9 dual win in 1976 and have been dominant ever since. The Gophers are 3-0 against Air Force in Colorado and are traveling to USAF Academy for the first time since 2014 where they gained a 28-15 win over the Falcons.
The two squads last met a season ago at Maturi Pavilion with the Gophers winning eight out of ten matches and securing a 29-6 win in their first dual of the season. Minnesota won five straight matches during the meet with Hunter Marko and Nick Wanzek picking up bonus point victories for the Maroon & Gold. Current Gophers traveling to Air Force that picked up wins a season ago include Ethan Lizak, Mitch McKee, Marko Hunter, Owen Webster and Rylee Streifel.
Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Air Force (Intermat rankings)
125 # 5 Sean Russell wins by dec. over Sidney Flores (MN 3 - AFA 0)
133 #6 Ethan Lizak wins by TF over John Twomey (8-0)
141 #9 Mitch McKee or Hunter Marko win by MD over Garrett O'Shea/Lenny Petersen (12-0)
149 #18 Tommy Thorn wins by MD over Alec Opsal (16-0)
157 #13 Steve Bleise wins by MD over Alex Mossing (20-0)
165 Carson Brolsma wins by dec. over Tanner Johnson or Harlan Steffensmeir (23-0)
174 #20 Devin Skatzka wins by dec. over Randy Meneweather (26-0)
184 Owen Webster wins by dec. over Tyler Wiederholt (29-0)
197 Dylan Anderson wins by dec. over Anthony McLaughlin or Casey Jumps (32-0)
285 Rylee Streifel or Chase O'Connor wins by dec. over Matt Wagner/Kayne Hutchison (35-0)
Final Score MN 35 - AFA 0
Dominant at the Dak
Minnesota won seven out of ten weight classes at the Daktronics Open in their first weekend of competition last Sunday. The Gopher additionally placed 19 in top-three places at the tournament. Sean Russell and Gable Steveson won their first titles for the Maroon & Gold at the Dak, taking home championships at 125-pounds and 285 respectively. Lizak, McKee, Steve Bleise, Carson Brolsma and Dylan Anderson all came away from the tournament as champions.
A Century of Wins
Sean Russell not only claimed the Daktronics title at 125-pounds last week, but the senior transfer gained his 100th collegiate victory in the finals match in Brookings. Russell, a native of Lawrenceville, Ga., arrived in Minneapolis with a career record of 97-24 from Edinboro University where he claimed three Eastern Wrestling League championships and was a three-time NCAA qualifier and 2017 NCAA All-American. Russell is 3-0 for the Gophers and will wrestle his next match for Minnesota against Air Force.
Match of the Week
Following his performance at the Daktronics Open, Dylan Anderson was recognized by the team Wednesday with Match of the Week honors. Anderson gained a late takedown in the 197-pound title match and wrestled smart to finish his opening weekend with a 4-0 record including two pins and a tech fall.
Falcons take Flight
The Air Force Academy wrestling team opened their season a week ago wrestling at Cowboy Open, hosted by the University of Wyoming. Air Force crowned one champion in Sidney Flores at 125-pounds. Flores wrestled to a 3-0 record, winning the championship match with a 9-5 decision. Air Force gained a pair of second place finishes in Alec Opsal (141), and John Twomey (133), and a trio of third-place finishers in Alex Mossing (157), Randy Meneweather (174) and Casey Jumps (197). All six have been indicated in Air Force's probable lineup to face the Gophers.
Looking Ahead
The Gopher will have a split squad in action this weekend. While the team heads to Colorado to face Air Force, 13 wrestlers will head to Fargo to compete in the Bison Open on Saturday. The Bison Open contingent of wrestlers will include Jake Allar, Ben Brancale, Brent Jones, Bailee O'Reilly, Bobby Steveson and the team's eight unattached freshman wrestlers of Jake Gliva, Garrett Joles, Brayton Lee, Kasper McIntosh, Patrick McKee, Caden Steffen, Gable Steveson, and Ryan Thomas.
After the weekend the Gophers will return to Minneapolis to open their home schedule against Oklahoma State University on Sunday, Nov. 18.
This should be an easy win for us; our line-up with my predictions are below. The wrestlers who are not going to CO will be at The Bison Open on Sat. Nov. 10th. There will be no live stream of this event, however live match scoring is on Trackwrestling.com.
Last weekend's action at The Daktronics Open has led to some interesting developments in our line-up:
- First at 165#s, Carson Brolsma beat Jake Allar, so he is now the starter. I'm not sure what this means long term, if Brolsma usually wins this match-up, or if it's pretty even/back-and-forth. If you remember, Allar was a fairly highly ranked 2016 recruit (something like 25th overall), who committed to Iowa State because of the turbulence in our program. Then, when ISU fired Coach Kevin Jackson and our program had stabilized, Allar was granted his release and he transferred back to MN. Last year he took a redshirt, but was injured in his first match (torn ACL) so he never really got a redshirt year. Allar is an elite wrestler, and I expected him to be a multiple year All American for us in the future. Meanwhile, Brolsma is a very hard worker, maybe one of the most diligent workers on the team, and he has consistently continued to improve. As Brolsma is a senior, he could start all year, then Allar could start the next the next three years. I wish that Allar could get a medical waiver for his extremely short RS year. Allar will be at the Bison Open on Sat. We'll have to see how this all plays out.
- At 197 Dylan Anderson continues to look very good, as he won The Dak last weekend. Dylan weighed in at 186, so it's amazing that he can be so effective at 197, being so small. Anderson also must not be able to beat out Owen Webster at 184#s. And Bobby Steveson, who was injured most of last year (his leg got badly torqued/twisted) has had weight management issues so far. Bobby is wrestling his first matches of the year at the Bison, so after that we'll have to see if he is back in as the starter.
- At HWT, a huge development may be happening lately regarding Gable Steveson. Everyone had been thinking that Gable would automatically go right into our line-up, and that at worst case, he would be a very high AA, or likely even a Natty champ. Now, lately when we lost out on elite recruit #5 overall 170# Carson Kharchla (OSU), and we may lose out on #15 overall 182# Carter Starocci (MN, PSU, VA Tech are likely his Top 3, but strong pull to VAT, as Starocci's father was a college roommate of VAT HC Tony Robie). So, Gable put on his Instagram last weekend that he was redshirting, but it's not clear if he meant the whole year, or just thus far/until he wrestles a dual match. Now, this weekend Gable is not going to CO, instead he is going to the Bison!!
The reason that Gable may now be redshirting is that we didn't get enough elite recruits in our 2019 class, so why not hold him back a year so we have another chance for a team Natty in 4 years?? . Our 2018 class is truly very, very good and, if we are fortunate, we may get as many as 4 Natty Champs out of it. Along with some other AA's, this might be enough to win the team Natty!!
Also, secondarily, almost every ranked HWT is a senior, so GS could wait to go varsity until next year, which would vastly increase the likelihood that he never loses a match and wins 4 Natty titles. I think the final decision has not been made yet, but this is how it looks so far.
I think I'm in favor of this GS redshirt, and if they're going to do it, I wish they'd redshirt Mitch McKee and Owen Webster too. But, they are both projected in the line-up on Friday.
What do you think about this???
Here's the article on this weekend's action from Gophersports.com:
Gophers Travel to Air Force to Open Dual Season Schedule
Gophersports.com
Wrestling
11/7/2018
Match Notes Air Force (PDF)
The Gophers will wrestle their first dual of the season this Friday as they take on Air Force in USAF Academy, Co. The dual is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. CT.
Gopher wrestling fans will be able to stream all of the action on Trackwrestling.com and follow along with live updates on the Minnesota twitter wrestling page.
Minnesota vs. Air Force
The Gophers hold an unblemished record against Air Force, wrestling to an 8-0 record in duals against the Falcons. Minnesota claimed their first victory in this matchup in a 25-9 dual win in 1976 and have been dominant ever since. The Gophers are 3-0 against Air Force in Colorado and are traveling to USAF Academy for the first time since 2014 where they gained a 28-15 win over the Falcons.
The two squads last met a season ago at Maturi Pavilion with the Gophers winning eight out of ten matches and securing a 29-6 win in their first dual of the season. Minnesota won five straight matches during the meet with Hunter Marko and Nick Wanzek picking up bonus point victories for the Maroon & Gold. Current Gophers traveling to Air Force that picked up wins a season ago include Ethan Lizak, Mitch McKee, Marko Hunter, Owen Webster and Rylee Streifel.
Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Air Force (Intermat rankings)
125 # 5 Sean Russell wins by dec. over Sidney Flores (MN 3 - AFA 0)
133 #6 Ethan Lizak wins by TF over John Twomey (8-0)
141 #9 Mitch McKee or Hunter Marko win by MD over Garrett O'Shea/Lenny Petersen (12-0)
149 #18 Tommy Thorn wins by MD over Alec Opsal (16-0)
157 #13 Steve Bleise wins by MD over Alex Mossing (20-0)
165 Carson Brolsma wins by dec. over Tanner Johnson or Harlan Steffensmeir (23-0)
174 #20 Devin Skatzka wins by dec. over Randy Meneweather (26-0)
184 Owen Webster wins by dec. over Tyler Wiederholt (29-0)
197 Dylan Anderson wins by dec. over Anthony McLaughlin or Casey Jumps (32-0)
285 Rylee Streifel or Chase O'Connor wins by dec. over Matt Wagner/Kayne Hutchison (35-0)
Final Score MN 35 - AFA 0
Dominant at the Dak
Minnesota won seven out of ten weight classes at the Daktronics Open in their first weekend of competition last Sunday. The Gopher additionally placed 19 in top-three places at the tournament. Sean Russell and Gable Steveson won their first titles for the Maroon & Gold at the Dak, taking home championships at 125-pounds and 285 respectively. Lizak, McKee, Steve Bleise, Carson Brolsma and Dylan Anderson all came away from the tournament as champions.
A Century of Wins
Sean Russell not only claimed the Daktronics title at 125-pounds last week, but the senior transfer gained his 100th collegiate victory in the finals match in Brookings. Russell, a native of Lawrenceville, Ga., arrived in Minneapolis with a career record of 97-24 from Edinboro University where he claimed three Eastern Wrestling League championships and was a three-time NCAA qualifier and 2017 NCAA All-American. Russell is 3-0 for the Gophers and will wrestle his next match for Minnesota against Air Force.
Match of the Week
Following his performance at the Daktronics Open, Dylan Anderson was recognized by the team Wednesday with Match of the Week honors. Anderson gained a late takedown in the 197-pound title match and wrestled smart to finish his opening weekend with a 4-0 record including two pins and a tech fall.
Falcons take Flight
The Air Force Academy wrestling team opened their season a week ago wrestling at Cowboy Open, hosted by the University of Wyoming. Air Force crowned one champion in Sidney Flores at 125-pounds. Flores wrestled to a 3-0 record, winning the championship match with a 9-5 decision. Air Force gained a pair of second place finishes in Alec Opsal (141), and John Twomey (133), and a trio of third-place finishers in Alex Mossing (157), Randy Meneweather (174) and Casey Jumps (197). All six have been indicated in Air Force's probable lineup to face the Gophers.
Looking Ahead
The Gopher will have a split squad in action this weekend. While the team heads to Colorado to face Air Force, 13 wrestlers will head to Fargo to compete in the Bison Open on Saturday. The Bison Open contingent of wrestlers will include Jake Allar, Ben Brancale, Brent Jones, Bailee O'Reilly, Bobby Steveson and the team's eight unattached freshman wrestlers of Jake Gliva, Garrett Joles, Brayton Lee, Kasper McIntosh, Patrick McKee, Caden Steffen, Gable Steveson, and Ryan Thomas.
After the weekend the Gophers will return to Minneapolis to open their home schedule against Oklahoma State University on Sunday, Nov. 18.
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