Will post updates throughout today's game here. Feel free to chime in.

More on Jackson Kollock, former Washington commit, and his return visit to Minnesota later this month

Golden Gopher Men's Basketball Fans,

As proud supporters of our Golden Gophers Men’s Basketball team, I wanted to reach out and share an exciting opportunity that could make a significant impact on our student-athletes and program. The Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) initiative has opened up new avenues for athletes to benefit from their talents, and we have a chance to contribute to their success and the future of the program.

Dinkytown Athletes launched a special NIL fundraising campaign with a goal to raise funds that will directly support our student-athletes in their academic and athletic pursuits. To sweeten the deal, Dinkytown Athletes has secured a generous matching donation opportunity, but here's the catch – we need to hit our target by March 17th to unlock this additional support. Your contribution, no matter the size, will not only help our athletes thrive but will also be matched, DOUBLING THE IMPACT OF YOUR SUPPORT!

Let's rally together and show the strength of our Golden Gopher community! Visit the fundraising page https://basepath.co/collective_checkout/dinkytown... to make your contribution today and help us reach our goal. Every dollar counts, and with your help, we can make a lasting difference for our student-athletes. Thank you for being a vital part of the Golden Gopher family, and let's make this campaign a roaring success!

Remember, you must make your contribution by March 17th for it the qualify for the match! https://basepath.co/collective_checkout/dinkytown...

If you’ve already given THANK YOU! You are already making a difference in the success of our program now and in the future!

Go Gophers!

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We got in depth on the program. These guys do a great job, so please give it a listen and a like while you are there.

I even rocked Gopher apparel for the occasion.

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The B1G Championship's Pre-Seeds were announced on Monday and the brackets will be released tomorrow afternoon!!

The tournament starts on Saturday morning at College Park, MD and finishes up on Sunday afternoon. There are four session televised on BTN and all individual matches will be streamed live on BigTenPlus.com!!

I've posted a good interview with Patrick McKee (below) from Intermat!

And we got some more good recruiting news today when Blake Beissel (from Hastings, MN) signed his NLI with MN!!! Beissel was a 2x Mn State Champ, he's ranked #165 on MatScouts, and he has a career record of 184-8!!

Welcome Blake Beissel!!!

I also posted an article below on MN 2024 signee Jed Wester, who won his 2nd State title!! Wester's career record was 223-33!


Here are the articles on the B1G Tournament, our signees, and the Pat McKee interview from Gophersports.com and Intermat:

Big Ten Championship Pre-Seeds Announced with Salazar No. 1 at 184​

Gophersports.com
3/4/2024
Wrestling

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota senior Isaiah Salazar earned the top seed at 184 pounds as the Big Ten conference released pre-seeds Monday night for this week's 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in College Park, Md.

Led by Salazar, Minnesota heads into the championships with seven wrestlers seeded within the conference allocations determined by the NCAA last week, including four Gophers who slot in within the top five in their weight class.

The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference's coaches, rank 14 starters in all 10 weight classes. Official final brackets for the tournament are set to be finalized and released later this week.

After a perfect 11-0 dual season where he posted a 7-0 mark in conference action for the second year in a row, Salazar claimed the top seed at 184 pounds. The only undefeated wrestler against the field at the weight class, Salazar finished fourth a year ago at Big Tens and eighth as a sophomore. Since the current weight classes were established in 1999, the only other Gophers to be the top seed at 184 pounds were Kevin Steinhaus in 2012 and current head coach Brandon Eggum in 2000.

Looking to build off last season's runner-up finish at 149 pounds, sixth-year senior Michael Blockhus grabbed the No. 2 seed in the 157-pound field. Currently ranked fourth in the country by Intermat, Blockhus was 15-1 in the regular season, 12-1 in duals, 8-0 in the Big Ten and 6-0 against ranked opponents. Dylan Ness in 2015 was the last 157-pounder for Minnesota to be ranked second or higher, while current head assistant coach Luke Becker was the No. 1 seed in 2002 and the second seed his other three years of competition.

Making his fifth career appearance at the Big Ten Championships, sixth-year senior Patrick McKee earned the fourth seed at 125 pounds. He finished sixth last season, but posted a top-three finish in 2022. McKee was 12-5 during the regular season, 8-4 in duals and 4-3 in Big Ten action.

After bumping to heavyweight a year ago, sixth-year senior Garrett Joles is back to 197 pounds as he claimed the No. 5 seed. Jokes is making his third career appearance at Big Tens after an 18-6 regular season and 6-2 record in the Big Ten.

Two Gophers will make their postseason debuts as the No. 8 seed in their respective weight classes, as both true freshman Tyler Wells (133) and redshirt sophomore Bennett Tabor (285) hit the mats this weekend. Wells was 12-4 in the regular season and 5-2 in the Big Ten, while Tabor posted records of 19-5 overall and 5-3 in the league.

Redshirt sophomore Drew Roberts (17-6 overall, 4-4 B1G) and senior Andrew Sparks (8-5, 3-3) will take the nine-seeds at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively, while redshirt sophomore Vance VomBaur (14-6, 4-4) tied for the No. 9 seed at 141 pounds. VomBaur's place will be finalized at the official seeding meeting Friday. Sparks will be competing for the third time at Big Tens, though his previous two trips came at 165. Roberts and VomBaur will be making their Big Ten Championship debuts.

Redshirt sophomore Blaine Brenner rounds out the squad as the No. 10 seed at 165 pounds. He is one of five Gophers making their championship debuts after a regular season saw him go 17-9 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

Minnesota starts its postseason journey this weekend at the 2024 Big Ten Championships in College Park, Md. The two-day, four-session event will take place at XFINITY Center starting Saturday, March 9. Linear and streaming coverage will be provided by Big Ten Network and B1G+, respectively.


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Blake Beissel Signs with Gopher Wrestling​

Gophersports.com
3/7/2024
Wrestling

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota wrestling's 2024 signing class grew to eight members Thursday with the addition of Blake Beissel, who has signed a letter of acceptance with the Golden Gophers.

Beissel attends Hastings High School in Hastings, Minn., where he won two individual state championships. Beissel's most recent title came in 2023 as a junior when he helped Hastings to the Class AAA team championship and took home the 113-pound title himself with a 52-1 record. In his sophomore season, he was 49-2 en route to the championship at 106 pounds.

This past year as a senior, Beissel wrapped up a 51-2 campaign with a third-place finish at 121 pounds. Beissel, who also placed fifth as a freshman at 106, ended his prep career with a record of 184-8.

"It's been a dream of Blake's to wrestle for the University of Minnesota," Gophers head coach Brandon Eggum said. "His work ethic and love for wrestling will be a great addition to our program. We're excited to welcome him and his family."

Beissel is ranked ninth in the state of Minnesota by The Guillotine in its most recent pound-for-pound rankings, while MatScouts has him ranked No. 165 nationally on its 2024 Big Board.

On the national scene, Beissel qualified for the 2023 Freestyle Junior Nationals at 120 pounds after winning the state freestyle championship and reaching the semifinals of the Northern Plains Regional. In 2022, he won the Northern Plains Regional for freestyle at 113 pounds and was the runner-up at the same event for Greco-Roman.

Beissel joins a group of six signees that was announced in November, as well as Dawson Johnson, who signed a letter of acceptance like Beissel last month.

Wester Wins State Title​

Gophersports.com
3/2/2024
Wrestling

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota wrestling signee Jed Wester ended his Minnesota prep career Saturday night with his second straight state title.

Wrestling at 172 pounds in Class AAA this season after taking home the 160-pound crown a year ago, Wester cruised through the bracket and won every match by bonus points. He posted tech fall wins in the opening round (19-4, 3:3) and quarterfinals (25-10, 5:08) and reached the finals after a major decision (12-4) in the semis. In the finals, Wester recorded his third tech fall of the tournament as he ended the match at the 4:16 mark when he pulled ahead 19-3.

All told, in four matches Wester outscored his opponents, 75-21, and only one of those matches went the fully allotted time. With a 42-1 record as a senior, he ends his prep career with a mark of 223-33.

Minnesota's other signee from the state, Jack Nelson, finished as runner up at 139 pounds in Class AA Saturday.



In the Golden Gophers' seven-person signing class this year, five took home state titles and the other two were finalists.

The University of Minnesota football team will start spring football practice on Thursday, March 21.

The Gophers will have two open practices – one for members of Dinkytown Athletes and one for the general public – this spring. Minnesota will once again hold a public fan event around training camp in the fall prior to the 2024 season. The details of this family-friendly event in the fall will be announced later.

The practice for Dinkytown Athletes members is at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 23 and will be at Huntington Bank Stadium. Dinkytown Athletes will communicate directly with its membership about registering to attend practice. Dinkytown Athletes is the Official NIL Collective of Gopher Athletics, and fans can learn more about membership and Dinkytown Athletes by visiting DinkytownAthletes.com.

The open practice for the general public will be at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 11 at Athletes Village.

Times and locations of both practices are subject to change.

Both practices, which are sponsored by Dinkytown Athletes, will feature a diaper drive. Minnesota first hosted a diaper drive in 2017 and Gopher fans have donated more than 127,000 diapers in the last seven years. All fans attending the practices are encouraged to bring disposable diapers. The diapers will be donated to the Diaper Bank of Minnesota, which provides diapers to families in need through partner agencies in the Twin Cities.

Minnesota also announced that it will not have a public spring game this year. The Gophers last held a traditional Saturday spring game open to the public in 2017. The 2018 game was moved to Thursday, while the 2019, 2022 and 2023 games were moved indoors. The 2020 game was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2021 game was played under Covid-19 guidelines and with a reduced crowd.

Emerging TE out of New Jersey is set to visit to Minnesota on March 28th after picking up an offer earlier this month.

Get Iowa 1st round on Thursday. Actually works out best by dropping to 10 seed. I think better chance to go on run with Purdue on the other side.

June 7

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Login to view embedded media - Florida defensive end Wilnerson Telemaque sets Minnesota official visit

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June 14

Login to view embedded media - Trio of prospects in process planning spring vsiits to Minnesota
- FutureCasted to Minnesota on January 26

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Three-star DE Charlie Woleben sets official visit with Gophers

Login to view embedded media - Oklahoma DE Josiah Hamond sets official visit to Minnesota

Login to view embedded media - 2025 CB Zachry Harden sets pair of upcoming Minnesota visits

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Login to view embedded media - S Byron Baldwin to make official visit to Minnesota in June

Login to view embedded media - Maryland safety Julien Horton sets up official visit to Minnesota

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Felt really good about this one for the Gophers. Tough loss on the trail.

Woleben has already made two previous trips to Minnesota. He'll return later this month for a spring visit and has now set up a summer official with the Gophers as well. Quotes and more above

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Same high schools as current Minnesota LB Maverick Baranowski. Norris is seeing his recruitment hit a bit of an uptick recently with offers from Texas A&M, Miami, and Missouri. He also has a summer officials scheduled with NC State and Purdue.

During his junior season, Norris tallied 63 tackles, 36 solo tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks.

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