Played a huge part in the bowl win for certain.

Fleck addressed in post game interview.

Looks like Nubin is not playing.

Summarizing what Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck and players said postgame...

P.J. Fleck:

- One of the greatest bowl experiences he's had in his life
- Gives credit to Dino Babers and Syracuse
- Proud of his players, especially the senior class
- Told seniors this is not goodbye, it's just bye for now
- Mentions Coleman Bryson being one of the young players to step up today
- Really proud of Tanner and his support of Athan throughout his ups and downs
- Ironic that Tanner came in to finish the game today
- Says this senior class is a really, really special group. Hates to see them go.

- Says they've practiced the fake-pitch on the big kickoff return for about four weeks, credits Coach Wenger for that call
- Calls Athan's injury minor, not major. If it was during the season, he would guess a few weeks. Nothing long term.
- Calls Mo the ultimate overachiever. There is nothing he can't do. Never seen a player better within 12-yards. One of the greatest football players he's been around.
- Knows if Mo chooses to coach, he will be a great coach.

- Wasn't going to risk Nubin's hand playing today
- Excited about the younger players on this team - mentions Bryson, Green, Brockington, Jackson
- Have some other guys that are ready to step up as well
- Going to enjoy this and start building towards the 2023 season

Mohamed Ibrahim:

- Took things week-by-week, didn't really think about breaking Darrell Thompson's record until recently
- Says he made the right decision to come back this year
- In November, he didn't know what he was going to do
- Said he understood he could become a better football player if he came back

Tanner Morgan:

- Has a lot of gratefulness with players, coaches
- Known this coaching staff for eight years
- Was special that Mo came back in for the final snap
- Thinks Mo's number should be retired and nobody should wear 24 again

- Thankful for the care he received after his second injury this season
- Embraced the role of helping coach Athan and is thankful he got to step on the field again
- Honor to wear the #2 jersey

Coleman Bryson:

- Looked up at the screen when he scored the TD and couldn't believe it.
- Said he got beat on that exact route three or four times during the season.

Mariano Sori-Marin:

- Few communication errors on that last Syracuse drive before halftime
- Able to go in at halftime and get adjustments from Rossi and cleaned things up in the second half

Minnesota women's basketball is going to get some size!!! Sophie Hart is going to transfer home from North Carolina State. She is a 6-5 post player that got caught up in a player log jam where she was at in North Carolina State. Plus, the next year Alyssa Wirth is a HS post also in that 6-4, 6-5 range as a ranked player nationally that will join the Gopher program. I think Hart and Wirth will be with the Gophers together for at least one year.

Hart was a HS phenom but her college stats are minimal. I am sure that Lindsay knows that height, in and of itself, does not ensure dominant play. It helps as both are shotblocker types for defense. If they are aggressive in post defense and rebounding, that helps immensely. Hopefully, that allows Rose Micheaux to move to her more natural power forward position. Mallory Heyer as well. Plus Nia Holloway will be back so hopefully there will be some depth at the 2 post positions.

We will be deep at wing and I dont know if you have read, but Minnesota HS women's basketball has some nationally ranked players coming down the pike in future years. There is a girl in Minnesota with the last name of Crump that is a fast riser in the 2025 class who may be a top 10 player nationally by the time she graduates. Of course, there will be major competition for her services in the meantime.

We have Braun and Amaya Battle coming back in the future. We have a girl coming in that everyone is excited about in Dominika Paurova, a 6-1 wing.. She has international experience with the Czech team and is super versatile prospect with a nice shot. Then, a prospect from Canada with lots of athleticism and a big upside in Ajok Madol a 6-2 wing. I have seen just small snippets of her and she has a lot of length for a wing in ladies ball and can run. She has had big games but i think she is more of a developmental player with a huge ceiling, at his point.

Kennedy Klick is one of the best in Minnesota HS hoops and is a combo guard at 6 foot. A lefty, she will come in next year competing for playing time. She has decent stats but her game has been to set up teammates as much as her own scoring. I have seen nice snippets of her as a ballplayer as well and passionate about staying instate.

Next year's last recruit is McKynnlie Dalan, who is another 6-2 power forward from the state of Washington. She is from a small school and whose game is similar to Mallory Heyer. Lindsay Whalen describes her as tough and it will be interesting to see the transition to the college game. Her mother played college basketball for Shimmy Gray-Miller, Minnesota's associate head coach, at Washington so there is a family connection to our staff.

We have a walk-on locally coming in next year named Brynn Senden at guard and she may be more valuable than anyone would think. Lots of talent coming in to women's hoops

Has 117 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 6 carries in first half, as UNC leads Ducks 21-14.

Assuming worst case scenerio with AK's injury, do the Gophers stay patient with their current QB's or consider a rent a QB? I know its too early but worthy of a discussion.

Kramer or Knuth and hope we get AK back at some time during the season?

Recap of today's win as Minnesota puts a nice bow on their 2022 season

Gophers get a B+ for their 2023 class

Ahead of tomorrow's matchup, The Gopher Report takes a look at how each team's starters stacked up as high school recruits.

Continuing our 2024 recruiting primer series with a look at the current running back prospects on the board.

Has 117 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 6 carries in first half, as UNC leads Ducks 21-14.

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Happy Holidays Gopher Wrestling fans, I hope you are enjoying the year-end festivities!!!


As we are halfway through our 2022 23 wrestling season, I thought it would be a good time to discuss how we think we are doing so far.

In terms of our early tournament and dual meet record, I think we have really excelled!! We won almost all of the titles at the Bison Open and one at the Daktronics Open (we only sent a handful of non-starters).

And we are a perfect 7-0 in dual meets, the first time we did this since 2014-15!
The biggest of these was our 18-12 win over #5 OKSU, something we had not done since 2014!!! So on both of these levels, have excelled so far!

The next way to look at how we are doing is to see how well our starters are doing relative to where they could be. Here are my thoughts on this:

125 - #4 Pat McKee is doing very well, and he's not taken any of the bad losses that he's been taking during the season the last two years.
133 - #21 Aaron Nagao is doing exceedingly well and he's matching up to the high expectations we have for him!!
141 - #6 Jake Bergeland is doing ok, but he was ranked #3 and has taken a couple losses to lower ranked wrestlers. He's not at his peak yet.
149 - #14 Michael Blockhus is almost at his peak and is looking very confident!!
157 - #11 Brayton Lee was ranked as high as #1 or #2, but he's taken losses to lower ranked wrestlers. This is a year when he really has a good chance to be a Natty Champ, but so far he's just not at the top of his game. It's possible that he's still overcoming the mental effects of the bad elbow injury he had at the end of last year. Brayton is great on his feet, but he has lacked the confidence to be able to finish his shots so far. I'm hoping that he's able to turn it on in the 2nd half, raising his level a couple of steps so he can compete AT THE VERY TOP!!!
165 - #20 Andrew Sparks looks like he's almost back from that awful, twisted knee injury he had almost two years ago. He is winning some tough matches against elite wrestlers, but he still needs to be more confident and aggressive. Sparks is not the super elite Freshman that he was two years ago, but maybe he can get back close to that!!
174 - #15 Bailee O'Reilly is doing well coming back from his year-end leg injury, and he is nearing his peak form.
184 - #13 Isaiah Salazar is really gaining confidence and he's almost now what we knew he could be...a real stud!!!
197 - #29 Michial Foy is back where he should be at 197, and he's winning some big matches for us!! He may continue to improve in the 2nd half.
285 - #29 Garrett Joles is also where he should be at Hwt., and we need him there! He is strong and agile, and he will win some important matches for us in the 2nd half!

MN was ranked as high as #7 in Tournament Rankings before Lee and Bergeland took their bad losses. Now we are in the mid-teens, but we should rise a ways from there. I've not heard anything more lately about a Gable return. I know it was a small chance, but maybe we'll hear more about this in January. Either way, I still think we are a team on the rise and we may be able to exceed expectations by year-end!

The Midlands Wrestling Tournament at Hoffman Estates, IL starts tomorrow and finishes on Friday night, streamed live on BigTen+. And then we are at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, TN on Sunday Jan. 1 and Monday Jan. 2, streamed live on FloWrestling.com. I think almost our whole squad will be at the Scuffle, except for Jager Eisch, who will be at the Midlands.

So besides all the great college football (Pinstripe Bowl tomorrow and Natty Semifinals on Sat.), we also have some Fabulous D1 Wrestling to watch over the next week!!! Tune in to all of this and enjoy!!!

Happy New Year!!
Go Gopher Wrestling!!
#GopherTough!!!

He was not the coach of the Badger 2022 football season, he coached another team. Awkward as Hell for everyone.

Maroon = Committed
Orange = Warm
Yellow = Medium
Blue = Cold


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We haven’t talked about it but who takes the snaps against Syracuse. Tanner is playing in some post season games. I bet he gets a bunch of reps. And I’m ok with it. A great going away present to position him for his shot at the NFL or whatever. And his final hooray after a great career. He was a foundational QB who ushered in Flecks culture. You can’t just throw him away like y’all try to do with 55. 😓

Jenna Wenaas went in to the transfer portal. She is going to national champion University of Texas. It is sad but it makes sense. She loved Hugh McCutcheon and staff here at Minnesota but was kind of out of her comfort zone as opposite hitter, Landfair and Wucherer are the pins on the left side and they arent going to be beaten out... Wenaas feels most confident on the left side and she is also going home to Texas so it is understandable what she is doing though I wish she stayed.

THE SHOCKER IS THAT CARTER BOOTH, a record setting middle blocker for the Gophers, is in the transfer portal. I wish she had stayed 4 years as she has All American written all over her. I wonder if the loss of Hugh and the assistant coaches(the Houks specifically) were too tough for Carter to handle. We will miss her for sure.

I wish the best for all and I know we could get good players from the portal.. Hate losing Wenaas and especially Booth but that is the price you pay when a new coaching staff comes aboard, regardless how good of a reputation they have.