Minnesota has got a commitment from MIDDLE BLOCKER Phoebe Awoleye from Loyola Marymount. She was coached by one of our current assistants there. Phoebe started her career at University of Georgia. She is 6'2 and has 2 years of eligibility left for the Gophers. Her block average was not a lot behind Carter Booth but at 6'2 compared to 6'7 of Booth, that is still a lot of difference in height that can alter shots. That said, we filled a position of need and the Gophers will benefit from Awoleye's services. She is originally from Marietta, Georgia(about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta)

Unreal how highly ranked these 2 are by Rivals. Based on that they should be real impact players? Any have any insight on these 2? Where are they great at to get such a high rankings, Evans is #11 in the entire country?

The next featured player in our Newcomer Profile series is Donielle "Nuke" Hayes, a threatening wide out who could end up being a sleeper in Minnesota's 2024 class.


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Was an all-conference high school quarterback at Cleveland Heights High, Ohio, with a 5.2 2-star rating from Rivals, in the class of 2008. He was listed at 6'5", 230 lb.

As a senior he rushed for 1.016 yards and 10 TDs, and passed for 1,523 yards and 21 scores, on 103/198, with 8 interceptions.

He committed to Cincinnati where he was converted to receiver. I'm guessing had 55 been a Cincinnati fan he would have screamed "Travis can pass!" and, had the Bearcat coaches acceded to 55's self-proclaimed brilliance, they may have screwed up the development of the best tight end in the history of the game.

@55Highway, you were correct on Streveler though.

Post your pregame, in-game, and postgame thoughts here

Minnesota coming off a COVID break that saw Tuesday's game against Illinois get cancelled. Iowa is coming off an 87-73 loss to Purdue on Thursday, but won three-straight before that against Rutgers, Northwestern, and Illinois.

How is there not any chatter that Whalen is on the hot seat. To be this bad with that many years into can’t happen.

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Well Gopher Wrestling fans, we have our last dual match tomorrow at WI at 1pm (on BTN)!!!

We need to come out fighting, being very aggressive, so we stomp all over these smelly skunks!!! We did this against IL, so we can do it again tomorrow!!

I have the dual as a 19-12 win for us. This seems like a comfortable win for us, BUT DON"T BE FOOLED!!!

If Either Pat McKee or Brayton Lee loses, the score will only be a 16-15 win for us, and if they both lose (which they've done to both of their opponents before), then we lose 18-13!!! So, this dual could be very tight!!!

As usual, I'll be tweeting out individual match results on @Unlimited424 !!!

There's also some other good B1G Wrestling on BTN tonight, with NE at OSU at 6pm and MI at IA at 8pm!! So get your beer, wine, or drinks ready, along with your popcorn, as there will be a lot or GREAT B1G WRESTLING THIS WEEKEND!!!


Here's the article on tomorrow's dual from Gophersports.com:

Minnesota Slated for Border Battle Regular Season Finale​

Gophersports.com
02/9/2023
Wrestling


MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 9 University of Minnesota wrestling program (11-3, 4-3 B1G) is set to hit the road for their regular season finale this weekend, as they are slated for a battle with No. 19 Wisconsin (7-7, 1-6 B1G) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CST.

The dual will be broadcasted live on Big Ten Network with Shane Sparks and Tim Johnson on the call. Fans can also follow along to match-by-match updates on Twitter at @GopherWrestling.

The Gophers are looking to close out the season in the win column, as they are coming off a 18-13 loss in their home finale last weekend to second-ranked Iowa. The Gophers claimed four of the ten bouts on the night, with Bailee O'Reilly, Isaiah Salazar, Michial Foy, and Garrett Joles all earning victories.

Tale of the Tape - The Badgers
Wisconsin sits at an even .500 record during head coach Chris Bono's fifth year at the helm this season, proving to be a down year after the Badgers' 12-2 mark a season ago. The Badgers have struggled in conference competition thus far, going 1-6 against Big Ten opponents.

The Badgers still do have plenty of firepower up and down the lineup, however, housing a total of five former NCAA All-Americans in Eric Barnett, Taylor LaMont, Austin Gomez, Dean Hamiti, and Trent Hillger.

The Series with Wisconsin
The Minnesota Golden Gophers hold the all-time series lead over Wisconsin with a record of 63-36-1 in a series that dates back to the 1921-22 season. The Gophers have been in command of the series as of late, with wins in nine of the previous ten matchups. However, Wisconsin did snap Minnesota's nine-dual win streak last season with a win inside Maturi Pavilion. Now, the Gophers will look to get back in the win column during Saturday's showdown with the Badgers.

First Meeting: W, 29-19 (2/21/1922)
Last Meeting: L, 15-21 (1/16/2022)
Longest Win Streak: W11 (2/5/1955-2/11/1967)
Longest Losing Streak: L7 (1/26/1974-1/12/1980)
Current Streak: L1

Last Meeting
The Gophers played host to Wisconsin on Championship Weekend last January inside Maturi Pavilion, but it was the Badgers who spoiled the party with a 21-15 victory to snap Minnesota's nine-dual win streak in the series. The Badgers took five of the first six bouts to jump to a commanding 18-3 lead, with a Jake Bergeland decision being the Gophers' lone win. Bailee O'Reilly and Isaiah Salazar looked to bring Minnesota back with a pair of major decisions, but Wisconsin would clinch the dual at 197 pounds before Gable Steveson closed out the day with his own major decision win over Trent Hillger.

Potential Matchups
This weekend's probable lineups with the Badgers features a total of 17 ranked wrestlers according to the InterMat polls, with the potential for up to seven ranked matchups in Saturday's dual.

The feature bout of the dual comes at 125 pounds, where we will get the seventh installment of the classic rivalry between No. 6 Patrick McKee and No. 7 Eric Barnett, with McKee leading the series with a 4-2 record over Barnett.

Aaron Nagao looks to return to the lineup at 133 pounds following a three-week hiatus, where he could be slated to compete against 2021 NCAA All-American Taylor LaMont.

Michael Blockhus looks for another tough test at 149 pounds, where he could see the nation's second-ranked 149-pounder Austin Gomez.

A potential swing match looms at 157 pounds, where Brayton Lee and Garrett Model will compete in a rubber match after splitting their previous two matches against each other.

Isaiah Salazar looks to leave the regular season with an unblemished conference record, as he looks to defeat Wisconsin's Tyler Dow and go 8-0 in Big Ten duals this season.

Michial Foy will look to build off of last weekend's statement win, as he gets yet another top-20 opponent in Braxton Amos.

Up Next
Following Saturday's regular season finale, Minnesota will look ahead to postseason wrestling at the Big Ten Championships on March 4-5 in Ann Arbor, Mich., as ten Gophers will look to punch their tickets to Tulsa for the NCAA Championships on March 17-19.


MN vs. WI

My Predictions:

125 - #6 Patrick McKee wins over #7 Eric Barnett (MN 3 - WI 0)
133 - #14 Aaron Nagao wins over #30 Taylor LaMont (6-0)
141 - #14 Jake Bergeland wins over #28 Joe Zargo (9-0)
149 - #15 Michael Blockhus loses to #2 Austin Gomez (9-3)
157 - #17 Brayton Lee wins over #18 Garrett Model (12-3)
165 - Cael Carlson loses to #6 Dean Hamiti (12-6)
174 - #10 Bailee O’Reilly wins over Josh Otto (15-6)
184 - #9 Isaiah Salazar wins by major dec. over Tyler Dow (19-6)
197 - #23 Michial Foy loses to #20 Braxton Amos (19-9)
285 - Garrett Joles loses to #11 Trent Hillger (19-12)
Final Team Score MN 19 - WI 12)

- How many commits will the Gophers take?
- Important dates to know
- Top targets
- Targets we feel good about

Courtesy of @JaredHalus

Thank goodness there is no hoops between the schools on Saturday. Minnesota vs. Wisconsin kicks off with a wrestling dual on Saturday at 2 PM EST. Then, after a Big Ten hoops contest on BTN, Minnesota men's hockey plays Wisconsin followed by women's hockey between the Gophers and Badgers. Nothing better than cheering the Gophers on to victory 3 TIMES IN ONE DAY against the Badgers!! Stay tuned!!!!

DB Jordan Howden
RB Mohamed Ibrahim
OL John Michael Schmitz
DB Terell Smith

A lot of Minnesota love in this feature article from @Clint Cosgrove

One of our non-starters Drew Roberts had A BIG WEEKEND a few days ago winning the Edinboro Open!!!

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Unseeded Roberts went 5-0 taking the title over #3 seed Tyler Kasak of PSU (grayshirt and world team member), #2 seed Manzona Bryant of Lehigh (ranked #24 on Flo). and #5 seed Connor Pierce of PSU!!

Way to Go Drew!!!

Next year when Michael Blockhus may not be back, Roberts is a likely starter at 149!

We will be very strong in our middle weights next year, and really all across our lineup, which might look like this:

23-24
125 - Pat McKee / Troy Spratley
133 - Aaron Nagao
141 - Vance VomBaur / Tagen Jamison
149 - Drew Roberts / Jamison
157 - Brayton Lee
165 - Cael Carlson / Andrew Sparks / Hunter Lyden
174 - Sparks / Jared Krattiger
184 - Isaiah Salazar
197 - Gabe Nagel
285 - Garrett Joles


2024/25
125 - Spratley
133 - Nagao
141 - VomBaur
149 - Jamison
157 - Roberts
165 - Lyden / Charley Millard redshirt
174 - Sparks
184 - Max McEnelly
197 - Gavin Nelson
285 - Bennett Tabor / ???

Our 23-24 lineup is very good, but that 24-25 lineup could be great!!
We still need a Hwt., c'mon Koy Hopke!!!


I'm also posting an interview with Coach Eggum and Mike Grimm from before the IA match:


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Next up in our Minnesota newcomer profiles is three-star offensive lineman Greg Johnson, an in-state prospect who dreamed of playing for the Gophers growing up and has now turned it into a reality.


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Continuing our Newcomer Profile series with a look at Jerome Williams, who I also named my leader of the class in our signee superlatives:


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Post your pregame, in-game, and postgame thoughts here

Man, I can’t wait. 55 has never been wrong and is not afraid to go out on a limb. I’m glad Fleck was patient with him, he should be ready to shine. With him and our DC. Fleck is in the best shape EVER.

Right now, Simon is establishing he is the man in meetings and getting his skilled players hyped. He has the juice now.

Free Dylan Wright! Get that man paid. Spann-Ford….get that man paid.