Wrestling at home vs. #3 PSU tonight
- By Unlimited424
- Inside Gopher Nation
- 9 Replies
There's a big match tonight as #3 PSU comes to the Sports Pavilion at 7pm for a rumble with our #9 ranked Gophers. The Lions should win, but if we get an upset somewhere, it could be very close!
My predictions follow this article from Gophersports and are just before a Strib article on Coach Eggum. Here's the Gophersports article:
Minnesota Welcomes Penn State to the Pavilion
After spending last weekend at the Southern Scuffle, the Gophers return to dual action on Friday and welcome the defending national champions to the Twin Cities
Gophersports.com
Jan. 5, 2017
Match Notes Penn State
Penn State Match Notes (Minn)
After spending 40 days away from the Pavilion, the Gophers return home on Friday night to host the nation's second-ranked team and the defending national champions from Penn State. The match will be the third Big Ten dual for Minnesota, which currently sits atop the Big Ten standings with a 2-0 mark following a sweep through Michigan in mid-December. Meanwhile, Friday will be the first conference dual for the Nittany Lions this season and the first of two stiff tests this weekend, as the team will travel further west to take on Nebraska on Sunday.
When, Where and How
Friday night's match starts at 7 p.m. Central at the Sports Pavilion. Tickets are available at MyGopherSports.com.
Fans who can't be there in person will be able to stream the action live on BTN Plus, follow live stats on TrackWrestling.com or keep tabs on the latest updates by following Gopher Wrestling on Twitter (@GopherWrestling).
So Far This Season
Minnesota (3-1, 2-0) returns to dual competition after a strong showing at the Southern Scuffle last weekend. Seven Gophers placed in the event, helping the team post its best overall performance in the event since 2014. Ethan Lizak captured the 125-pound title, while both Brett Pfarr and Michael Kroells finished as runners-up at their weights. Prior to the Scuffle, the Gophers muscled through a Michigan road trip to open their Big Ten season in early December. After a 20-17 victory in East Lansing on a Friday, Minnesota rolled into Ann Arbor and upset Michigan, 22-18. Prior to that trip, Minnesota had finished a mid-November homestead home split, defeating No. 20 South Dakota State and falling to No. 1 Oklahoma State.
Noticeably absent from the Southern Scuffle field, minus a couple unattached competitors, was Penn State (4-0, 0-0). The Nittany Lions were the event's five-time defending champions, but opted to sit out this season's tournament. Penn State last wrestled on Dec. 11, the same day Minnesota beat Michigan. That day, the Lions posted their second shutout of the season in a 46-0 drubbing of Binghamton. The other goose egg came in the season opener, a 45-0 win over Army. Penn State also holds dual wins over ranked opponents Stanford (36-6) and Lehigh (30-10). Friday's match will be the Big Ten opener for Penn State.
Marquee Match
There are plenty of potentially great matches on Friday's bout card - as many as seven will pit ranked wrestlers against each other - but none can quite match the star power of the 125-pound contest between No. 3 Nick Suriano and No. 6 Ethan Lizak. Suriano, a true freshman, is 8-0 this season after finishing a 159-0 high school career. Lizak returned to Minnesota's lineup last weekend and dominating the Southern Scuffle field, majoring three top-12 opponents.
Last Time Around
In January 2015, true freshman Ethan Lizak took the mat as an attached competitor for the first time his career, in his home state, against the Nittany Lions. While he lost that night, his team came out victorious. By taking four of the first five - and five of the first seven - matches, the Gophers built an 11-point lead Penn State was unable to overcome. Major decisions from Chris Dardanes and Dylan Ness provided critical bonus points as the Gophers edged the Nittany Lions, 17-16. Along with Lizak, the only other current Gophers who wrestled that evening are Brett Pfarr (who defeated Matt McCutcheon 11-5 when both were at 184) and Michael Kroells, who fell 3-1 to Jimmy Lawson. From Penn State, potential returners from the dual two years ago include McCutcheon, Jimmy Gulibon and Kade Moss.
Rank and File
As many as 17 ranked wrestlers will step on the mat Friday night, providing the possibility of up to seven ranked-versus-ranked matches. Some of the highlights among that collection of bouts includes Lizak versus Suriano, as well as top-10 tilts at 157 pounds between No. 9 Jake Short and No. 1 Jason Nolf and at heavyweight between No. 8 Michael Kroells and No. 5 Nick Nevills. Another intriguing matchup comes at 197, where No. 2 Brett Pfarr takes on No. 11 Matt McCutcheon, a rematch of the 184-pound match from the last time these two teams met head-to-head.
Series History
Minnesota holds a 16-6-1 edge in its series with Penn State. The Nittany Lions built an early 6-4 lead against the Gophers but have not won a dual against the Maroon and Gold since February 1998. Since then, Minnesota has gone 13 straight without defeat - 12 wins and a draw (2010-11).
There No Place Like Home
Friday night will be the Gophers' first match in the Twin Cities since Nov. 29 against top-ranked Oklahoma State. Along with No. 20 South Dakota State, a match Minnesota won in mid-December, the Gophers will host seven teams this season, all ranked in the top-20. Still on the schedule are No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 17 Wisconsin. The Gophers' seven home opponents had a winning percentage of .779 (81-23) last season.
Parting Shot
Minnesota's 13-match unbeaten streak against Penn State includes a shared quirk between the two programs, the last official tie in a dual meet for both schools. That came in the 2010-11 season. Current volunteer assistant coach Zach Sanders staked Minnesota to a 3-0 lead by winning the night's opening match at 125 pounds and a back-and-forth battle assumed, one in which there were four lead changes and ultimately, an 18-18 draw.
My predictions:
125
#6 Ethan Lizak Schnecksville, Pa. / RS Sophomore (17-1) vs. #3 Nick Suriano Paramus, N.J. / Freshman (8-0) (0-3)
133
#16 Mitch McKee St. Michael, MN / Freshman (14-9) vs. George Carpenter (1-4) (5-3)
141
#9 Tommy Thorn St. Michael, MN / RS Sophomore (9-2) vs. #12 Jimmy Gulibon Latrobe, Pa. / Sr. / (6-4) (8-3)
149
Carson Brolsma Maple Grove, MN/ RS Freshman (12-9) vs. #1 Zain Retherford Benton, Pa. / RS Junior (9-0) (8-9)
157
#9 Jake Short Inver Grove Heights, MN / RS Junior (16-6) vs. #11 Jason Nolf Yatesboro, Pa. / RS Sophomore (9-0) (8-13)
165
#14 Nick Wanzek Inver Grove Heights, MN / RS Junior (18-6) vs. #5 Vincenzo Joseph Pittsburgh, Pa. / RS Freshman (7-1) (8-16)
174
Brandon Krone Anoka, MN / RS So. (7-5) or Chris Pfarr: Le Sueur, MN / RS Jr. (13-6) vs. #14 Shakur Rasheed Coram, N.Y. / RS So. /(5-1) (8-20)
184
Bobby Steveson Apple Valley, MN / RS Freshman (9-9) vs. #2 Bo Nickal Allen, Texas / RS Sophomore(8-0) (8-25)
197
#2 Brett Pfarr Le Sueur, MN / RS Senior (16-1) vs. #11 Matt McCutcheon Apollo, Pa. / RS Junior (8-0) (12-25)
285
#8 Michael Kroells Belle Plaine, MN / RS Senior (18-5) vs. #5 Nick Nevills Clovis, Calif. / RS Sophomore (8-0) (15-25)
So, it's looking like we should lose about 25-15. This is probably a worst case scenario, so with changes in only one or two matches, the whole score could flip around considerably!!
Possible upsets:
- 125 Ethan Lizak over Nick Suriano (159-0 in HS, 8-0 in College). This is the most likely upset and it would change the score to 22-18, or 22-19...we still lose.
- Nick Wanzek beats Vincenzo Joseph. Along with a Lizak win, this would change the score to 21-19 Gophers win. Otherwise we would still lose 22-18.
- Every other upset is unlikely, unless Tommy Thorn loses to Jimmy Gullibon, who Thorn has beaten before.
- And, the only other way we might pick up another point is if Mitch McKee gets a pin, which could well happen.
So, we are probably going to lose a close one, unless we get wins from Lizak and Wanzek!!
Come on down to the Sports Pavilion if you can!
Go Gophers!!!
Here's the article on Coach Eggum from the Strib:
Brandon Eggum takes big step forward as Gophers' interim wrestling coach
Brandon Eggum's low-key encouragement is a contrast to J Robinson's colorful zeal, but it's a style that has served him well
By Phil Miller
Star Tribune
January 6, 2017 — 12:54am
Brandon Eggum joined J Robinson’s staff after his Gophers wrestling days ended and was his top assistant for five seasons. Now he’s the one in charge.
Brandon Eggum refuses to make it personal.
It’s been almost 17 years since Cael Sanderson ruined, for the second time, Eggum’s dream of an NCAA championship, foiled his months of tiresome preparation and endless work, and trampled on his legacy as one of the Gophers’ greatest wrestlers.
Eggum gets a rematch on Friday, sort of. And the notion that he has anything personal at stake when the Gophers coach faces Sanderson’s No. 2-ranked Penn State squad, well, it just doesn’t register.
“It really doesn’t have anything to do with me. Wrestling is about the athletes, not the coaches,” Eggum said earnestly. “I have a lot of respect for Cael as a competitor. He was a great wrestler, and he’s accomplished a lot as a coach. But if we were able to get a win on Friday, it would be big for the kids, not me.”
Actually, that might not be entirely true, though Eggum seems sincere in his insistence that pinning a loss on Sanderson’s Nittany Lions would not extract any revenge for their long-ago showdowns on the NCAA championships mat. The 40-year-old Montana native, though, has undertaken a task this year nearly as challenging as pinning Sanderson: stabilizing a program that was rocked by a drug scandal in May, roiled by the firing of longtime coach J Robinson in September, and depleted by the suspension of four wrestlers in October.
Eggum, a Robinson assistant after his wrestling days ended in 2000 and his top aide for five seasons, was hastily handed the reins and given the title of “interim” wrestling coach, one word longer than he wants it to be. And while no single meet will determine whether he permanently inherits the position that has become his professional goal, being competitive against the best programs in the country is a good way to make an impression on Eggum’s boss, athletic director Mark Coyle.
“I feel supported by [Coyle]. We’ve had conversations. He knows what my plans and ideas are,” Eggum said. “I’ve had kids ask me about [his future], and I tell them, from my standpoint, from my conversations, I’m comfortable that I’ll be the guy moving forward. But we tell the wrestlers every day — just worry about what you can control. Focus on reaching your own potential, on doing the best you possibly can, and don’t worry about the score. … I’m trying to live by that, too.”
College transition
Eggum’s low-key encouragement is a contrast to Robinson’s colorful zeal, but it’s a style that has served him well, on the mat and off. It’s an approach that was born out of a small-town upbringing, he said. Eggum was raised in Sidney, Mont., a tiny farm community on the high plains near the North Dakota border.
“It was a blue-collar town, the kind of place where you learn that what you put into something is what you’re going to get out of it. It’s a lot like wrestling that way,” Eggum said.
His father laid concrete, but his mother might have had the hardest job, Eggum said: When the couple divorced, she raised six kids mostly by herself.
“They both had an incredible work ethic,” he said. “They had to.”
So did Eggum, who was enticed to Minnesota by the feeling of family he detected in Robinson’s rising program. He was determined to build a career in financial planning or business, and earned academic All-Big Ten honors for four consecutive years while getting a degree in applied economics. He was determined to win a championship in wrestling, and turned himself into a three-time All-America.
Not a champion, however. Not quite.
The roadblock
As a junior in 1999, Eggum reached the NCAA championship match at 184 pounds, but lost to Sanderson 6-1. Even worse, the Gophers missed winning the team title by only two points. A year later, Eggum and Sanderson met again in the national semifinals — and again, the Gopher senior left disappointed.
Sanderson, who went 159-0 as a varsity collegian at Iowa State and won four consecutive national titles, was indisputably the country’s best collegiate wrestler at the time, but Eggum might have been the second best. Their five collegiate matches almost seem memorable for how unmemorable they were, with few dramatic moments because of how strong their respective defenses were.
“I had a couple of opportunities, but really, he gave you very few openings,” Eggum said. “He made very few mistakes.”
Same goes for coaching; Sanderson took over at Penn State in 2009 and soon led the Nittany Lions to four consecutive national championships. Eggum, meanwhile, turned down opportunities to start that business career he had pictured, choosing to stay on Robinson’s staff. He and his wife, Katrina, had three children. He had tempting offers to become a head coach, but “I started to realize that I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I’m a big believer in community, and this is the community that accepted me and made me and my family part of it.”
The next step
When Robinson’s handling of his team’s alleged use and sale of Xanax cost him his job last fall, Eggum replaced his mentor — “Really, J has always been more of a father figure to me,” Eggum said — with both sadness and determination. He encouraged his wrestlers and reassured recruits, “and we didn’t lose a single one,” he said. He preached responsibility to his team in the wake of the scandal, warning them “that they have to understand the difference between right and wrong — think before you act — and I know they do.”
To develop leadership, he instituted a training system that divided the squad into groups and pitted them against each other in challenges both physical, like obstacle courses or relay races, and involving responsibility, like being on time for 6 a.m. workouts and keeping perfect attendance academically.
“It brought us together,” he said.
Nothing builds bonds like winning, though. The Gophers are 3-1 in dual meets, losing only to top-ranked Oklahoma State, but the grind of a Big Ten schedule, and meets against four more top 10-ranked teams, awaits.
“We’ve come through a lot, but it’s going to be challenging. Our schedule is incredible,” Eggum said. “It’s going to say something about how tough we are.”
My predictions follow this article from Gophersports and are just before a Strib article on Coach Eggum. Here's the Gophersports article:
Minnesota Welcomes Penn State to the Pavilion
After spending last weekend at the Southern Scuffle, the Gophers return to dual action on Friday and welcome the defending national champions to the Twin Cities
Gophersports.com
Jan. 5, 2017
Match Notes Penn State
Penn State Match Notes (Minn)
After spending 40 days away from the Pavilion, the Gophers return home on Friday night to host the nation's second-ranked team and the defending national champions from Penn State. The match will be the third Big Ten dual for Minnesota, which currently sits atop the Big Ten standings with a 2-0 mark following a sweep through Michigan in mid-December. Meanwhile, Friday will be the first conference dual for the Nittany Lions this season and the first of two stiff tests this weekend, as the team will travel further west to take on Nebraska on Sunday.
When, Where and How
Friday night's match starts at 7 p.m. Central at the Sports Pavilion. Tickets are available at MyGopherSports.com.
Fans who can't be there in person will be able to stream the action live on BTN Plus, follow live stats on TrackWrestling.com or keep tabs on the latest updates by following Gopher Wrestling on Twitter (@GopherWrestling).
So Far This Season
Minnesota (3-1, 2-0) returns to dual competition after a strong showing at the Southern Scuffle last weekend. Seven Gophers placed in the event, helping the team post its best overall performance in the event since 2014. Ethan Lizak captured the 125-pound title, while both Brett Pfarr and Michael Kroells finished as runners-up at their weights. Prior to the Scuffle, the Gophers muscled through a Michigan road trip to open their Big Ten season in early December. After a 20-17 victory in East Lansing on a Friday, Minnesota rolled into Ann Arbor and upset Michigan, 22-18. Prior to that trip, Minnesota had finished a mid-November homestead home split, defeating No. 20 South Dakota State and falling to No. 1 Oklahoma State.
Noticeably absent from the Southern Scuffle field, minus a couple unattached competitors, was Penn State (4-0, 0-0). The Nittany Lions were the event's five-time defending champions, but opted to sit out this season's tournament. Penn State last wrestled on Dec. 11, the same day Minnesota beat Michigan. That day, the Lions posted their second shutout of the season in a 46-0 drubbing of Binghamton. The other goose egg came in the season opener, a 45-0 win over Army. Penn State also holds dual wins over ranked opponents Stanford (36-6) and Lehigh (30-10). Friday's match will be the Big Ten opener for Penn State.
Marquee Match
There are plenty of potentially great matches on Friday's bout card - as many as seven will pit ranked wrestlers against each other - but none can quite match the star power of the 125-pound contest between No. 3 Nick Suriano and No. 6 Ethan Lizak. Suriano, a true freshman, is 8-0 this season after finishing a 159-0 high school career. Lizak returned to Minnesota's lineup last weekend and dominating the Southern Scuffle field, majoring three top-12 opponents.
Last Time Around
In January 2015, true freshman Ethan Lizak took the mat as an attached competitor for the first time his career, in his home state, against the Nittany Lions. While he lost that night, his team came out victorious. By taking four of the first five - and five of the first seven - matches, the Gophers built an 11-point lead Penn State was unable to overcome. Major decisions from Chris Dardanes and Dylan Ness provided critical bonus points as the Gophers edged the Nittany Lions, 17-16. Along with Lizak, the only other current Gophers who wrestled that evening are Brett Pfarr (who defeated Matt McCutcheon 11-5 when both were at 184) and Michael Kroells, who fell 3-1 to Jimmy Lawson. From Penn State, potential returners from the dual two years ago include McCutcheon, Jimmy Gulibon and Kade Moss.
Rank and File
As many as 17 ranked wrestlers will step on the mat Friday night, providing the possibility of up to seven ranked-versus-ranked matches. Some of the highlights among that collection of bouts includes Lizak versus Suriano, as well as top-10 tilts at 157 pounds between No. 9 Jake Short and No. 1 Jason Nolf and at heavyweight between No. 8 Michael Kroells and No. 5 Nick Nevills. Another intriguing matchup comes at 197, where No. 2 Brett Pfarr takes on No. 11 Matt McCutcheon, a rematch of the 184-pound match from the last time these two teams met head-to-head.
Series History
Minnesota holds a 16-6-1 edge in its series with Penn State. The Nittany Lions built an early 6-4 lead against the Gophers but have not won a dual against the Maroon and Gold since February 1998. Since then, Minnesota has gone 13 straight without defeat - 12 wins and a draw (2010-11).
There No Place Like Home
Friday night will be the Gophers' first match in the Twin Cities since Nov. 29 against top-ranked Oklahoma State. Along with No. 20 South Dakota State, a match Minnesota won in mid-December, the Gophers will host seven teams this season, all ranked in the top-20. Still on the schedule are No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 17 Wisconsin. The Gophers' seven home opponents had a winning percentage of .779 (81-23) last season.
Parting Shot
Minnesota's 13-match unbeaten streak against Penn State includes a shared quirk between the two programs, the last official tie in a dual meet for both schools. That came in the 2010-11 season. Current volunteer assistant coach Zach Sanders staked Minnesota to a 3-0 lead by winning the night's opening match at 125 pounds and a back-and-forth battle assumed, one in which there were four lead changes and ultimately, an 18-18 draw.
My predictions:
125
#6 Ethan Lizak Schnecksville, Pa. / RS Sophomore (17-1) vs. #3 Nick Suriano Paramus, N.J. / Freshman (8-0) (0-3)
133
#16 Mitch McKee St. Michael, MN / Freshman (14-9) vs. George Carpenter (1-4) (5-3)
141
#9 Tommy Thorn St. Michael, MN / RS Sophomore (9-2) vs. #12 Jimmy Gulibon Latrobe, Pa. / Sr. / (6-4) (8-3)
149
Carson Brolsma Maple Grove, MN/ RS Freshman (12-9) vs. #1 Zain Retherford Benton, Pa. / RS Junior (9-0) (8-9)
157
#9 Jake Short Inver Grove Heights, MN / RS Junior (16-6) vs. #11 Jason Nolf Yatesboro, Pa. / RS Sophomore (9-0) (8-13)
165
#14 Nick Wanzek Inver Grove Heights, MN / RS Junior (18-6) vs. #5 Vincenzo Joseph Pittsburgh, Pa. / RS Freshman (7-1) (8-16)
174
Brandon Krone Anoka, MN / RS So. (7-5) or Chris Pfarr: Le Sueur, MN / RS Jr. (13-6) vs. #14 Shakur Rasheed Coram, N.Y. / RS So. /(5-1) (8-20)
184
Bobby Steveson Apple Valley, MN / RS Freshman (9-9) vs. #2 Bo Nickal Allen, Texas / RS Sophomore(8-0) (8-25)
197
#2 Brett Pfarr Le Sueur, MN / RS Senior (16-1) vs. #11 Matt McCutcheon Apollo, Pa. / RS Junior (8-0) (12-25)
285
#8 Michael Kroells Belle Plaine, MN / RS Senior (18-5) vs. #5 Nick Nevills Clovis, Calif. / RS Sophomore (8-0) (15-25)
So, it's looking like we should lose about 25-15. This is probably a worst case scenario, so with changes in only one or two matches, the whole score could flip around considerably!!
Possible upsets:
- 125 Ethan Lizak over Nick Suriano (159-0 in HS, 8-0 in College). This is the most likely upset and it would change the score to 22-18, or 22-19...we still lose.
- Nick Wanzek beats Vincenzo Joseph. Along with a Lizak win, this would change the score to 21-19 Gophers win. Otherwise we would still lose 22-18.
- Every other upset is unlikely, unless Tommy Thorn loses to Jimmy Gullibon, who Thorn has beaten before.
- And, the only other way we might pick up another point is if Mitch McKee gets a pin, which could well happen.
So, we are probably going to lose a close one, unless we get wins from Lizak and Wanzek!!
Come on down to the Sports Pavilion if you can!
Go Gophers!!!
Here's the article on Coach Eggum from the Strib:
Brandon Eggum takes big step forward as Gophers' interim wrestling coach
Brandon Eggum's low-key encouragement is a contrast to J Robinson's colorful zeal, but it's a style that has served him well
By Phil Miller
Star Tribune
January 6, 2017 — 12:54am
Brandon Eggum joined J Robinson’s staff after his Gophers wrestling days ended and was his top assistant for five seasons. Now he’s the one in charge.
Brandon Eggum refuses to make it personal.
It’s been almost 17 years since Cael Sanderson ruined, for the second time, Eggum’s dream of an NCAA championship, foiled his months of tiresome preparation and endless work, and trampled on his legacy as one of the Gophers’ greatest wrestlers.
Eggum gets a rematch on Friday, sort of. And the notion that he has anything personal at stake when the Gophers coach faces Sanderson’s No. 2-ranked Penn State squad, well, it just doesn’t register.
“It really doesn’t have anything to do with me. Wrestling is about the athletes, not the coaches,” Eggum said earnestly. “I have a lot of respect for Cael as a competitor. He was a great wrestler, and he’s accomplished a lot as a coach. But if we were able to get a win on Friday, it would be big for the kids, not me.”
Actually, that might not be entirely true, though Eggum seems sincere in his insistence that pinning a loss on Sanderson’s Nittany Lions would not extract any revenge for their long-ago showdowns on the NCAA championships mat. The 40-year-old Montana native, though, has undertaken a task this year nearly as challenging as pinning Sanderson: stabilizing a program that was rocked by a drug scandal in May, roiled by the firing of longtime coach J Robinson in September, and depleted by the suspension of four wrestlers in October.
Eggum, a Robinson assistant after his wrestling days ended in 2000 and his top aide for five seasons, was hastily handed the reins and given the title of “interim” wrestling coach, one word longer than he wants it to be. And while no single meet will determine whether he permanently inherits the position that has become his professional goal, being competitive against the best programs in the country is a good way to make an impression on Eggum’s boss, athletic director Mark Coyle.
“I feel supported by [Coyle]. We’ve had conversations. He knows what my plans and ideas are,” Eggum said. “I’ve had kids ask me about [his future], and I tell them, from my standpoint, from my conversations, I’m comfortable that I’ll be the guy moving forward. But we tell the wrestlers every day — just worry about what you can control. Focus on reaching your own potential, on doing the best you possibly can, and don’t worry about the score. … I’m trying to live by that, too.”
College transition
Eggum’s low-key encouragement is a contrast to Robinson’s colorful zeal, but it’s a style that has served him well, on the mat and off. It’s an approach that was born out of a small-town upbringing, he said. Eggum was raised in Sidney, Mont., a tiny farm community on the high plains near the North Dakota border.
“It was a blue-collar town, the kind of place where you learn that what you put into something is what you’re going to get out of it. It’s a lot like wrestling that way,” Eggum said.
His father laid concrete, but his mother might have had the hardest job, Eggum said: When the couple divorced, she raised six kids mostly by herself.
“They both had an incredible work ethic,” he said. “They had to.”
So did Eggum, who was enticed to Minnesota by the feeling of family he detected in Robinson’s rising program. He was determined to build a career in financial planning or business, and earned academic All-Big Ten honors for four consecutive years while getting a degree in applied economics. He was determined to win a championship in wrestling, and turned himself into a three-time All-America.
Not a champion, however. Not quite.
The roadblock
As a junior in 1999, Eggum reached the NCAA championship match at 184 pounds, but lost to Sanderson 6-1. Even worse, the Gophers missed winning the team title by only two points. A year later, Eggum and Sanderson met again in the national semifinals — and again, the Gopher senior left disappointed.
Sanderson, who went 159-0 as a varsity collegian at Iowa State and won four consecutive national titles, was indisputably the country’s best collegiate wrestler at the time, but Eggum might have been the second best. Their five collegiate matches almost seem memorable for how unmemorable they were, with few dramatic moments because of how strong their respective defenses were.
“I had a couple of opportunities, but really, he gave you very few openings,” Eggum said. “He made very few mistakes.”
Same goes for coaching; Sanderson took over at Penn State in 2009 and soon led the Nittany Lions to four consecutive national championships. Eggum, meanwhile, turned down opportunities to start that business career he had pictured, choosing to stay on Robinson’s staff. He and his wife, Katrina, had three children. He had tempting offers to become a head coach, but “I started to realize that I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I’m a big believer in community, and this is the community that accepted me and made me and my family part of it.”
The next step
When Robinson’s handling of his team’s alleged use and sale of Xanax cost him his job last fall, Eggum replaced his mentor — “Really, J has always been more of a father figure to me,” Eggum said — with both sadness and determination. He encouraged his wrestlers and reassured recruits, “and we didn’t lose a single one,” he said. He preached responsibility to his team in the wake of the scandal, warning them “that they have to understand the difference between right and wrong — think before you act — and I know they do.”
To develop leadership, he instituted a training system that divided the squad into groups and pitted them against each other in challenges both physical, like obstacle courses or relay races, and involving responsibility, like being on time for 6 a.m. workouts and keeping perfect attendance academically.
“It brought us together,” he said.
Nothing builds bonds like winning, though. The Gophers are 3-1 in dual meets, losing only to top-ranked Oklahoma State, but the grind of a Big Ten schedule, and meets against four more top 10-ranked teams, awaits.
“We’ve come through a lot, but it’s going to be challenging. Our schedule is incredible,” Eggum said. “It’s going to say something about how tough we are.”
US Army- All American Game
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- Inside Gopher Nation
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Local Sport Mart near the stadium just sold out of Gopher Hats last minute 
