buck2305 said:

Unlimited, is Nagao hurt? He hasn’t wrestled in a while! Hopefully it doesn’t ruin the momentum he had. Also, Carlson has wrestled well when he has gotten a chance. Is there a chance he takes over for sparks?

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buck2305 said:

Unlimited, any chance to beat Iowa tomorrow? Will Nagao be back?

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Hi buck, thanks for asking!!

Nagao is still out with a concussion, and yes, there is a chance that Carlson could take over for Sparks. Also, Brayton Lee is still out with an arm injury.
So, with Nagao and Lee out our chances to do well tonight have gone way down!!!
In fact, I have it looking pretty bad for us as a 26-6 loss!!
With those two back in, it could have been 20-12, and then if we got two more wins somewhere, it could have been an 18- 14 win for us.
This may have been unlikely, but now it's likely we have little-to-no shot of a win.

Still, it will be an interesting watch, so come on down or tune in!!

I'll be tweeting individual match results on @Unlimited424 !!


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

Gophers Close Out Home Slate against No. 2 Iowa​

Gophersports.com
02/2/2023
Wrestling


MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 11 University of Minnesota wrestling program (11-2, 4-2 B1G) is set for their home finale on Friday night, as they look to go undefeated at home for the first time since the 2014-15 season against the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes (12-1, 5-1 B1G) inside Maturi Pavilion at 8:00 p.m. CST.

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

Minnesota is coming off the heels of a 24-9 win over No. 17 Illinois, where the Gophers claimed seven of the ten bouts, including three upset victories from Jake Bergeland, Cael Carlson, and Bailee O'Reilly

Tale of the Tape - The Hawkeyes
A recurring national powerhouse under head coach Tom Brands, the Iowa Hawkeyes come into the weekend as the second-ranked team in the country, suffering their first setback of the season last Friday night in a 23-14 loss against No. 1 Penn State.

Iowa houses a total of ten ranked wrestlers in their lineup, being led by three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee and 2022 NCAA finalist Jacob Warner. The Hawkeyes also have some new faces in the lineup this season, with transfer additions Brody Teske and Real Woods, as well as first-year starters Cobe Siebrecht and Patrick Kennedy.

The Series with Iowa
The Iowa Hawkeyes hold the all-time series lead over Minnesota with a record of 28-78-1 in a series that dates back to the 1922-23 season. Iowa has gotten the better of the Gophers in recent history, winning each of the last eight contests against the Maroon & Gold. The Gophers will look to get back in the win column this Friday night, as they look for their first win in the series since 2014, when they walked into Carver-Hawkeye arena and claimed a 19-15 victory.

First Meeting: L, 2-18 (2/21/1923)
Last Meeting: L, 10-22 (1/7/2022)
Longest Win Streak: W6 (1935-36 season-1941-42 season)
Longest Losing Streak: L19 (1/19/1974-1/30/1993)
Current Streak: L8 (1/30/2015-1/7/2022)

Last Meeting

The Gophers traveled to Iowa City last January to compete against the Hawkeyes in their Big Ten opener, ultimately falling to the Hawkeyes by a score of 22-10. Iowa would claim seven of the ten contests, with Gable Steveson, Patrick McKee, and Brayton Lee getting their hand raised for the Maroon & Gold. With the dual kicking off at 165 pounds, Steveson would put Minnesota on the board first with a major decision over Tony Cassioppi. McKee by spoiling the debut of Drake Ayala with a 8-4 decision, before Brayton Lee closed out the dual with a 4-3 win over Kaleb Young, securing the winning takedown in the final 30 seconds of the bout.

Potential Matchups
With 20 ranked wrestlers amongst the two teams, Friday night's dual could see a ranked matchup in all ten of the bouts.

The feature bout of the night comes at 125 pounds, as No. 6 Patrick McKee looks for the statement win of his career against top-ranked Spencer Lee.

2022 All-American Jake Bergeland will look for his second straight top-10 victory, as he is slated to compete against No. 2 Real Woods.

Michael Blockhus will look to break through for the first career win over No. 6 Max Murin at 149 pounds.

Either Andrew Sparks or Cael Carlson will see a great opportunity against a top-10 foe in Patrick Kennedy at 165 pounds.

No. 11 Bailee O'Reilly looks for his 75th career victory at 174 pounds, as he will toe the line against ranked competitor Nelson Brands.

Isaiah Salazar will look to keep his unbeaten conference streak alive and extend his 11-match win streak at 184 pounds.

Up Next:
Minnesota wraps up regular season competition next Saturday afternoon, as they will compete against the Wisconsin Badgers at 1:00 p.m. CST on Big Ten Network. The Gophers will then prepare for postseason action, beginning with the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., on March 4-5.

MN vs IA:

My Predictions:
125 - #6 Patrick McKee loses by major dec. to #1 Spencer Lee (MN 0 - IA 4)
133 - #15 Jake Gliva loses to #17 Brody Teske (0 - 7)
141 - #15 Jake Bergeland loses to #2 Real Woods (0 - 10)
149 - #15 Michael Blockhus loses to #6 Max Murin (0 - 13)
157 - Sebas Swiggum loses to #15 Cobe Siebrecht (0 - 16)
165 - Cael Carlson loses to #7 Patrick Kennedy (0- 19)
174 - #11 Bailee O’Reilly wins over #16 Nelson Brands (3 - 19)
184 - #10 Isaiah Salazar wins over Abe Assad (6 - 19)
197 - #28 Michial Foy loses to #7 Jacob Warner (6 - 22)
285 - #32 Garrett Joles loses by major dec. to #3 Tony Cassioppi (6 - 26)
Final Team Score IA 26 - MN 6)

Girls have three of the best female hockey players in the country. Abbey Murphy got two goals against Ohio State yesterday. Zumwinkel and Heise are the number two and three scoring leaders in the country. Heise had three assists yesterday. Ohio State was number one in the country. The Gophers have beat them twice and tied them the other time, losing in a shoot out. Heise won the Patty Kazmaier award, (the female hockey Heisman) last year.

The 98th annual East-West Shrine Bowl was played in Las Vegas on Thursday night, a game that featured four Minnesota Gophers players - Tanner Morgan, Mohamed Ibrahim, Jordan Howden, and Terrell Smith.

Offense was scarce as the West defeated the East 12-3. It's a bad offensive game when a kicker, Jake Moody of Michigan, takes home MVP honors.

Regardless, here is how the Gophers fared during the actual game and throughout the week of practice.

- Tanner Morgan finished just 3-of-7 passing for 21 yards. He led the East Team on a drive that ended up in the redzone before he threw a high-pass to Central Michigan's tight end that bounced in the air and was intercepted by Florida's Trey Dean. Earlier in the drive, Morgan did have a nice scramble run for 11 yards to keep momentum going for the East squad. Ultimately, not a stellar game performance from Morgan, who did impress many onlookers earlier in the week at practice with his arm strength.

- Jordan Howden flashed a lot during the week's practice sessions and turned in the best performance of the former Gophers on Thursday night. He tallied one tackle on defense, combined on a pass break-up, and also had a tackle on special teams as well.

- Terell Smith might have had the best week of practice at the East-West, with draft expert Bucky Brooks placing him as a Top 5 standout after one day of practice. Smith was flashed during 7-on-7's throughout the week and teams seem to be enamored with his measurements as well - 6-foot, 207-pounds, 33" arms, 10.3 in the 100-meter dash. Smith didn't record any stats during Thursday's contest, but it ultimately didn't matter after making a name for himself throughout the week.

- Mohamed Ibrahim participated in practice during the week, but did not participate in the game. He measured in at 5-foot-7, 203-pounds and flashed enough skill as a pass-catcher out of the backfield to make a real possibility to be a late-round pick.

More on Tionne Gray and his Top 5. The 2024 prospect has had a big January of new offers. He's been to Missouri a few times already. We'll see if Minnesota can get him on campus sometime.

Minnesota signee Dennis Evans makes an appearance and wins the award for, you guessed it, Best Rim Protector

#11 MN has a very tight dual match against #17 IL at home today at 1pm, also on BTN (right after the Men's BB vs NU)!!

It's Senior Day where we will honor 8 graduates, 3 of which have already decided that they will be back for one more year (McKee, Lee, and Joles). Bergeland, O'Reilly and Foy have no more eligibility, but Gliva, Blockhus, Polanco, Krattiger, and Kluever haven't decided yet whether they will return for one more year.

I think I've called the dual fairly as a 17-15 win for MN!! But there are so many swing matches and matches between wrestlers who are closely ranked, it really could go either way!! My predictions are below, followed by some changes that would affect the team score either way!

If you want to see a really good match, you should come on down to Maturi Pavilion tomorrow to cheer our guys on!! The match will be over by 3pm, then you'd still have time to get back to your couch to watch the 2nd half of the SF - Philly game!!

Also, there are TWO HUGE DUALS ON BTN TONIGHT, with #5 OSU at #7 MI at 5pm and #2 IA at #1 PSU at 7:30pm!!! Watching these matches might be a good way to get your weekend started!!!


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

Minnesota Set for Senior Day Clash against No. 17 Illinois​

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Gophersports.com
01/26/2023
Wrestling


MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 11 University of Minnesota wrestling program (10-2, 3-2 B1G) will look to protect an unblemished home record on Saturday afternoon, as they host No. 17 Illinois (5-4, 3-2 B1G) inside Maturi Pavilion at Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CST.

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

The dual will also act as the program's Senior Day, as the Gophers will honor eight graduates - Jake Bergeland, Michael Blockhus, Michial Foy, Jake Gliva, Keaton Kluever, Jared Krattiger, Bailee O'Reilly, and Marcos Polanco.

Some of Saturday's honored athletes may choose to use their remaining eligibility at a later date, while fellow Gopher seniors Patrick McKee, Brayton Lee, and Garrett Joles have already shared their intentions to use their final year of eligibility next season.

The "U" is coming off a successful weekend last week, as they went 2-0 with dual wins over Indiana and Purdue. The Gophers won a total of 14 matches last weekend, with Michael Blockhus, Bailee O'Reilly, Isaiah Salazar, and Michial Foy each winning both of their matches.

Tale of the Tape - The Fighting Illini
After a down year last season, Illinois has gotten themselves right back in the Big Ten mix under second-year head coach Mike Poeta. The Fighting Illini currently hold a 5-4 mark on the year, with three conference wins over Wisconsin, Purdue, and Maryland.

The Illinois lineup houses a total of seven ranked wrestlers, led by two-time NCAA All-American Lucas Byrd at 133 pounds. The Illini have also enjoyed solid seasons from Danny and Zac Braunagel, as well as incoming transfer Edmond Ruth, who comes into the weekend on a 20-match win streak.

The Series with the Illinois
Minnesota holds the all-time series lead over the Illinois Fighting Illini with a record of 35-21-2 in a series that dates back to the 1925-26 season. The Golden Gophers have dominated the series in recent history, winning nine of the last ten contests against the Illini, including each of the last four meetings. The Maroon & Gold did claim the most recent victory against Illinois last season, where they rolled to a 22-12 road victory.

First Meeting: L, 2-18 (1925-26)
Last Meeting: W, 22-12 (2/4/2022)
Longest Win Streak: W11 (Twice; 2/20/1965-2/20/1976 and 2/14/1986-2/6/2004)
Longest Losing Streak: L13 (1925-26 season-2/19/1955)
Current Streak: W4 (2/6/2021)

Last Meeting
In early February of the last season, the Gophers traveled to Champaign to earn a 22-12 victory over Illinois. Minnesota claimed six of the ten matches on the night, including each of the last four bouts to overcome a 12-6 deficit. Patrick McKee kicked off the dual at 125 pounds with a 4-0 decision over Justin Cardani, followed up by a 10-4 decision win by Brayton Lee. In the second half, Bailee O'Reilly turned the momentum towards Minnesota with a 12-4 major decision over D.J. Shannon. Isaiah Salazar and Michial Foy each earned decision wins to put the Gophers out front, before Gable Steveson closed out the dual with a pin over Luke Luffman.

Potential Matchups
Saturday afternoon's matchup with Illinois will see a loaded slate of matches, as the dual could see as many as 17 ranked wrestlers and seven ranked matchups throughout the dual.

The feature bout of the dual could come at 133 pounds, as No. 15 Aaron Nagao would be slated to compete against a two-time NCAA All-American in No. 10 Lucas Byrd.

2022 All-American Jake Bergeland will look to bounce back at 141 pounds against a top-10 test Danny Pucino.

The first swing match of the dual could come at 157 pounds, as Brayton Lee will toe the line against Illinois' Michael Carr, who is up two weight classes after being a former multiple-time NCAA qualifier at 141 pounds.

Either Andrew Sparks or Cael Carlson will look for a ranked win at 165 pounds as they are slated to compete against No. 19 Danny Braunagel.

Another highlighted match of the afternoon will come at 174 pounds, as Bailee O'Reilly will look to halt No. 10 Edmond Ruth's 20-match win streak.

Isaiah Salazar will look for his eleventh win in a row against ranked foe Dylan Connell at 184 pounds.

At 197 pounds, Michial Foy will battle No. 10 Zac Braunagel, as Foy looks for his first top-10 since he defeated South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan last season.

Up Next:
The Gophers will host their home finale next Friday night, as they go to battle with the second-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes at 8:00 p.m. CST live on Big Ten Network.

My Predictions:

MN vs. IL:

125 #7 Patrick McKee wins over Maximo Renteria (MN 3 - IL 0)
133 #15 Aaron Nagao loses to #10 Lucas Byrd (3-3)
141 #15 Jake Bergeland loses to #9 Danny Pucino (3-6)
149 #15 Michael Blockhus wins by major dec. over Jake Harrier (7-6)
157 #17 Brayton Lee wins over #14 Michael Carr (10-6)
165 #28 Andrew Sparks loses to #19 Danny Braunagel (10-9)
174 #15 Bailee O’Reilly loses to #10 Edmond Ruth (10-12)
184 #10 Isaiah Salazar wins by major dec. over #25 Dylan Connell (14-12)
197 #28 Michial Foy loses to #10 Zac Braunagel (14-15)
285 #25 Garrett Joles wins over Matt Wroblewski (17-15)
Final Team Score MN 17 - IL 15

Most Likely Possible Changes:
125 - McKee wins by major dec., Tech fall, or fall (MN + 1 - +3)
133 - Nagao wins 0ver Byrd (MN +3 - IL -3)
141 - Bergeland wins over Pucino (MN +3 - IL -3)
157 - Lee loses to Carr (MN -3 - IL +3)
165 - Sparks wins over Braunagel (MN +3 - IL -3)
174 - O'Reilly wins over Ruth (MN +3 - IL -3)
184 - Salazar wins by tech fall over Connell (MN +1)

Of all these possible changes, the most likely might be McKee, Bergeland, Lee, and Sparks!!

With each team putting a bow on their 2023 recruiting class, we take a look at how each team in the Big Ten fared according to Rivals.com recruiting rankings ⬇️

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Gray is releasing a Top 5 later this week. I would expect Minnesota to be included on that list. He just picked up an offer from the Gophers on Jan. 24th from Winston DeLattiboudere. Gray has seen his recruiting process pick up quite a bit throughout the month of January. He's been to Missouri a ton of times already, so they may very well be the favorite at this point. He did recently visit Arkansas as well. Some schools are recruiting along the OL, others along the DL.

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

Tipoff at 11 am CST on the BTN

NSD 2.0 takes place this week on Wednesday, February 1st.

We answer three questions about what to expect, portal movement, and the class ranking.

There's a new Coach's Corner out today, where HC Eggum discusses last weekend, and the two duals this weekend!

He said that it's been a little tough to be on the road so often lately, and that this may have made it more difficult for some guys (like Pat McKee) to control their weight cuts.

This weekend we have two duals that should be easier wins for us. On Friday night we are at IN for a 5pm dual streamed live on BTN+, then on Sunday we are back home for a 1pm dual with Purdue. This PU dual is Alumni Day, where Alums get in free, and their guests get in for $5. Also, any high school wrestling teams that submit their rosters all get in free, so far there are 8 MN teams attending the dual!!

The whole team and the Alums will be at Blarney's for a social afterwards, so come on down to the PU dual, it should be fun!!!


I'll write some more about the duals shortly, here's the new Coach's Corner from Gophersports.com:


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The percentage of high school athletes that get recruited to play any sport at the division one level is extremely low. The percentage of athletes who get recruited to play two sports at the division one level is practically zero. Bloomington, Minnesota's Daniel Freitag is defying those odds.

We recently spoke with Freitag about his upcoming decision, his relationship with Minnesota, and much more.


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Minnesota held its "Minnesota Blitz" last Wednesday and today with the coaching staff visiting over 75 high schools across the land of 10,000 lakes. We take a look at notable prospects across those high schools.

Will be updating below with more stops as the week goes on.

Today, we take a look at Minnesota's early 2024 defensive back targets.

DISCLAIMER* - Of the five DBs who have been offered so far, it does not appear that there is much going on with them as far as Minnesota is concerned. I would expect some additional targets to emerge moving forward.

Nice Gopher football game film merged with Ray's radio Call

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More on Jordyn Lee, 2024 guard out of South Carolina