Great article on Gopher Wrestling's Tommy Thorn
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#7 ranked RS Freshman Tommy Thorn has been a model wrestler for the Gophers and he has an excellent chance to be an All-American this year!! Here's an article on Tommy from GopherSports.com:
The Third Thorn
The youngest in a family of All-American wrestlers looks to make his own mark with the Gophers.
In his first year starting for the Gophers, Tommy Thorn has earned a top-10 national ranking
GopherSports.com
By Joey Erickson, Gopher Athletics communications
Feb. 2, 2016
Having a former All-American for a father can put a lot of pressure on a wrestler. Having two former All-Americans for older brothers can put a lot of pressure on a wrestler. Replacing a former All-American in the Gopher lineup can put a lot of pressure on a wrestler.
It could be said that Tommy Thorn was under a lot of pressure.
Thorn, a redshirt freshman from St. Michael, Minn., is the youngest in a family of gifted wrestlers. His father became an All-American in 1983 at Iowa State and his brothers, Mike and David, were both two-time All-Americans for the Gophers.
Having his family so heavily involved with wrestling led Thorn to get involved in the sport fairly young.
“I started wrestling in first or second grade,” Thorn said. “I started liking it a lot when I was in fourth or fifth grade when I started becoming competitive, started going to some national tournaments. I made a lot of friends and have just gone since then.”
Though he was too young to ever wrestle on a team with them, Thorn’s brothers made a big impact on his wrestling career.
“A huge influence. To say otherwise would be a lie,” Thorn said. “I watched them growing up my whole life and tried to emulate some of the things [they did]. The intensity they bring. They love winning. I love winning. Watching them win throughout the years and become Gophers and have success, it makes me want to do the same.”
Thorn had a very successful high school career, becoming a four-time state champion while wrestling for St. Michael-Albertville. He was All-State all four years, named the 2014 Mr. Minnesota in wrestling, and won the 2014 Junior Nationals Freestyle Championship at the prestigious Fargo tournament.
When it came time to make a decision about where to go to college, Thorn chose to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and become a Gopher.
“It was hard for me to go anywhere else,” Thorn said. “I’d been around the program since I was really young. … It just seemed like the right fit.”
He continued to have success in his freshman season at the U. As a redshirt, he compiled a 32-5 record in open tournaments, winning three titles and placing top three in six of the seven events in which he competed.
At the beginning of the 2015-16 season, a spot opened up in the Minnesota starting lineup to replace former All-American Nick Dardanes at 141 pounds. Thorn emerged as the leading candidate and won the spot.
Stepping in to replace such a decorated wrestler can be intimidating, but Thorn was eager to meet the challenge.
“I wrestled with Nick and Chris a ton last year,” Thorn said. “Obviously I knew they were super tough, [they were] hammers. They were great. They were really consistent throughout the year. To replace that in the lineup, it’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s exciting to be able to be given that opportunity.”
Thorn took the opportunity and ran with it. He went undefeated and captured the title at the Daktronics Open to begin the season. He followed that up with three straight wins at the Gopher Duals, his career dual debut. The following weekend he picked up his first win over a ranked opponent, beating No. 10 Randy Cruz (Lehigh) at the Northeast Duals.
Thorn has continued his impressive performance as the season has progressed. He placed at both the Cliff Keen Invitational (third) and the Southern Scuffle (fifth), while boasting one of the team’s best winning percentages in dual competition, including three more wins against ranked opponents. All this success has earned Thorn a ranking of his own. He currently sits at No. 7 in the country.
Becoming a starter for the Gophers was a goal for Thorn, but it was only one of many.
“My goal was to start all four years and become an All-American and NCAA champion,” Thorn said.
Talk of Thorn becoming an All-American will naturally bring up a discussion of the success that his brothers had with the program, and that’s ok with him. He doesn’t see that as any pressure put on him.
“I don’t think of it as pressure,” Thorn said. “I have my own goals and I want to do my own things. I want to have success as bad as anyone else. It’s not because of them and it’s not because of anyone else. I just want to win. That’s my own goal.”
If Thorn were to attain All-America honors, he and his family would make Gopher history. Ten sets of brothers, including Mike and David Thorn, have attained All-America status at Minnesota. However, should Tommy reach that level, the Thorns would be the first trio of brothers to all become All-Americans in program history.
While he still has three more seasons to rise to the All-America level and put a new record in the books, Thorn sees no reason why he can’t reach that mark this year.
“I’ve wrestled most of the tough guys in the nation already and I don’t see any reason why I can’t wrestle with them,” Thorn said. “Come NCAAs, I’m going to be ready to start taking some people out. It’s going to be my turn to start winning some big matches for myself and for the team to score some point in NCAAs. It’ll be super exciting. That’s what I’ve trained my whole life for.”
The Third Thorn
The youngest in a family of All-American wrestlers looks to make his own mark with the Gophers.
In his first year starting for the Gophers, Tommy Thorn has earned a top-10 national ranking
GopherSports.com
By Joey Erickson, Gopher Athletics communications
Feb. 2, 2016
Having a former All-American for a father can put a lot of pressure on a wrestler. Having two former All-Americans for older brothers can put a lot of pressure on a wrestler. Replacing a former All-American in the Gopher lineup can put a lot of pressure on a wrestler.
It could be said that Tommy Thorn was under a lot of pressure.
Thorn, a redshirt freshman from St. Michael, Minn., is the youngest in a family of gifted wrestlers. His father became an All-American in 1983 at Iowa State and his brothers, Mike and David, were both two-time All-Americans for the Gophers.
Having his family so heavily involved with wrestling led Thorn to get involved in the sport fairly young.
“I started wrestling in first or second grade,” Thorn said. “I started liking it a lot when I was in fourth or fifth grade when I started becoming competitive, started going to some national tournaments. I made a lot of friends and have just gone since then.”
Though he was too young to ever wrestle on a team with them, Thorn’s brothers made a big impact on his wrestling career.
“A huge influence. To say otherwise would be a lie,” Thorn said. “I watched them growing up my whole life and tried to emulate some of the things [they did]. The intensity they bring. They love winning. I love winning. Watching them win throughout the years and become Gophers and have success, it makes me want to do the same.”
Thorn had a very successful high school career, becoming a four-time state champion while wrestling for St. Michael-Albertville. He was All-State all four years, named the 2014 Mr. Minnesota in wrestling, and won the 2014 Junior Nationals Freestyle Championship at the prestigious Fargo tournament.
When it came time to make a decision about where to go to college, Thorn chose to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and become a Gopher.
“It was hard for me to go anywhere else,” Thorn said. “I’d been around the program since I was really young. … It just seemed like the right fit.”
He continued to have success in his freshman season at the U. As a redshirt, he compiled a 32-5 record in open tournaments, winning three titles and placing top three in six of the seven events in which he competed.
At the beginning of the 2015-16 season, a spot opened up in the Minnesota starting lineup to replace former All-American Nick Dardanes at 141 pounds. Thorn emerged as the leading candidate and won the spot.
Stepping in to replace such a decorated wrestler can be intimidating, but Thorn was eager to meet the challenge.
“I wrestled with Nick and Chris a ton last year,” Thorn said. “Obviously I knew they were super tough, [they were] hammers. They were great. They were really consistent throughout the year. To replace that in the lineup, it’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s exciting to be able to be given that opportunity.”
Thorn took the opportunity and ran with it. He went undefeated and captured the title at the Daktronics Open to begin the season. He followed that up with three straight wins at the Gopher Duals, his career dual debut. The following weekend he picked up his first win over a ranked opponent, beating No. 10 Randy Cruz (Lehigh) at the Northeast Duals.
Thorn has continued his impressive performance as the season has progressed. He placed at both the Cliff Keen Invitational (third) and the Southern Scuffle (fifth), while boasting one of the team’s best winning percentages in dual competition, including three more wins against ranked opponents. All this success has earned Thorn a ranking of his own. He currently sits at No. 7 in the country.
Becoming a starter for the Gophers was a goal for Thorn, but it was only one of many.
“My goal was to start all four years and become an All-American and NCAA champion,” Thorn said.
Talk of Thorn becoming an All-American will naturally bring up a discussion of the success that his brothers had with the program, and that’s ok with him. He doesn’t see that as any pressure put on him.
“I don’t think of it as pressure,” Thorn said. “I have my own goals and I want to do my own things. I want to have success as bad as anyone else. It’s not because of them and it’s not because of anyone else. I just want to win. That’s my own goal.”
If Thorn were to attain All-America honors, he and his family would make Gopher history. Ten sets of brothers, including Mike and David Thorn, have attained All-America status at Minnesota. However, should Tommy reach that level, the Thorns would be the first trio of brothers to all become All-Americans in program history.
While he still has three more seasons to rise to the All-America level and put a new record in the books, Thorn sees no reason why he can’t reach that mark this year.
“I’ve wrestled most of the tough guys in the nation already and I don’t see any reason why I can’t wrestle with them,” Thorn said. “Come NCAAs, I’m going to be ready to start taking some people out. It’s going to be my turn to start winning some big matches for myself and for the team to score some point in NCAAs. It’ll be super exciting. That’s what I’ve trained my whole life for.”
