It's a big weekend as our Gopher wrestlers are ready to take part in the best D1 College Wrestling Conference Tournament in the country!! Starting tomorrow at 9am CT - all matches are on BTNPlus, with the Medal Round and the Finals airing on BTN on Sunday at 2pm CT.
While the B1G Pre-seeds were released last Monday, the actual brackets were just released this afternoon. The B1G waits to release the brackets as they need to get past the first weigh-ins, which happened earlier today, then they finish plotting out the matches.
Obviously we have some extremely tough teams in PSU, IA, tOSU, NE and others to compete against. But I think we are peaking at the right time and I'm expecting us to be very competitive. We may well outperform our expectations!!
Here are the brackets, followed by an article from Gophersports.com, and my predictions:
http://iuhoosiers.com/services/down...s.com/documents/2017/3/3/2017B1G_Brackets.pdf
Minnesota Ready for B1G Test
The Gophers visit the Hoosier State for the third time in the past six weeks to compete in the premier conference tournament in college wrestling
Gophersports.com
March 3, 2017
Match Notes B1G Championships
Minnesota has become quite familiar with the airports, highways and venues of Indiana this winter, with three trips over a six-week span late this season. The Gophers swept their duals earlier this year at Indiana and Purdue, and now return to the Indiana campus for the 2017 Big Ten Championships this weekend.
When, Where and How
The opening day of the Big Ten Championships will start live from the floor of the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., at 9 a.m. Central Saturday morning, with action resuming for an evening session that night at 5 p.m. Second day action fires up at 11 a.m. Central on Sunday, followed by medal round matches at 2 p.m. All mats will be streamed live on BTN Plus, with the championship bouts airing on the Big Ten Network. Others options to keep tabs on the action include live stats via TrackWrestling.com or following Gopher Wrestling on Twitter ( @GopherWrestling).
So Far This Season
Minnesota (7-5, 5-4) finished Brandon Eggum’s first season as head coach with a record of .500 or better for the 25th consecutive year.
The Gophers took on the nation’s toughest home schedule this season, with all seven dual opponents hosted at the Sports Pavilion finishing the regular season ranked in the top 18 by InterMat. The Maroon and Gold knocked off South Dakota State and Wisconsin at home, while dropping matches to Penn State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Ohio State and Nebraska, all of which finished the regular season in the top seven.
Meanwhile, the Gophers ran up a perfect 5-0 record away from the Twin Cities, starting with a weekend sweep of Michigan State and Michigan in December, followed by wins at Indiana and Purdue in January and a season-ending victory at Iowa State two weeks ago. It was the first undefeated road campaign for Minnesota since 2012-13.
In addition to its dual schedule, Minnesota’s top lineup wrestled in three tournaments, starting with the Daktronics Open to begin the season. The Dak doesn’t keep a team score, but Minnesota picked up an individual title in the event from Ethan Lizak at 125 pounds, as well as placing four other regular starters: Mitch McKee (second), Jake Short (second), Nick Wanzek (third at 174) and Michael Kroells (second). To kick off December, Minnesota wrestled at the Cliff Keen Invitational, where two Gophers won individual titles - Short at 157 and Brett Pfarr at 197 - and placed three more: McKee (fourth), Wanzek (eighth at 174) and Kroells (third). Minnesota rang in the new year in Chattanooga at the Southern Scuffle, where Lizak won another 125 title as one of seven Gopher placewinners, a group including: McKee (sixth), Tommy Thorn (seventh), Short (fifth), Wanzek (fourth), Pfarr (second) and Kroells (second). In both Vegas and Tennessee, the Gophers finished fourth as a team.
Who To Watch This Weekend
There are a couple Gophers to keep an eye on this weekend. The obvious name is Brett Pfarr, the top seed at 197 pounds. Pfarr owns victories over each of the next four seeds this season, including a pair of wins over second-seeded Kollin Moore. Pfarr’s only loss so far this season is a narrow 6-4 decision against defending national champion and Olympic bronze medalist, J’Den Cox.
The other top-three seed in the Minnesota lineup, 141-pounder Tommy Thorn, has a navigable path to the championship, with a 5-2 record against the rest of the field (two losses by an average of 2.5 points) and a win in his most recent meeting against the top seed, Anthony Ashnault, during a dual last season.
Last Time Around
had its streak of 19 consecutive top-five finishes in the conference tournament snapped last year by taking ninth. Four Gophers earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in that event. Brett Pfarr and Michael Kroells both advanced after third-place finishes, Tommy Thorn moved on after taking fourth, and Nick Wanzek nabbed the league’s last automatic spot at 174 by finishing ninth. Despite reaching the podium at 149, Jake Short had to wait for an at-large selection to confirm his spot in the national tournament. All five of those Gophers return to this year’s field, with Short up at 157 and Wanzek down to 165. A sixth returner, Chris Pfarr dropped down to 174 this year. Ethan Lizak, who wrestled in the tournament as a true freshman, returns this year after a redshirt season. The three remaining Gophers will be making their Big Ten tournament debuts: Mitch McKee, Carson Brolsma and Bobby Steveson.
Parting Shot
Minnesota will look to return to the top five at the Big Ten Championships again this year after seeing its 19-year streak of placing among the conference’s five best teams snapped last season. The Gophers are one of just two Big Ten teams to have finished in the top-five at 19 of the past 20 conference tournaments.
Stay Connected
GopherSports.com is your home for all Gopher Wrestling news. Whether you’re looking for a dual recap, match previews, features on the wrestlers you’re seeing on the mat each week or team stats, we will have it all for you right here. Be sure to follow Gopher Wrestling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.
My predictions (with expected results):
125 - Ethan Lizak is seeded 4th, so he is headed for a semifinal rematch with Thomas Gilman. It's possible that he could win there, but not likely. If he gets through the wrestlebacks, he'll likely get Tim Lambert in the 3rd Place match...and he probably has a 40% chance to win, unless he gets a very good start.
4th Place
133 - Mitch McKee is seeded 7th and he should get to the QFs, where he will meet #2 Montoya of NE. Mitch has a moderate chance to win here, but likely goes into the wrestlebacks. After that, if he has a good chance to get into the 5th Place match and a slim chance to get into the 3rd Place match. Other than the top 4 seeds, the only wrestler that Mitch will likely lose to is #5 Stevan Micic...so we could do well here!!
6th Place
141 - #3 seeded Tommy Thorn has a HUGE OPPORTUNITY to outperform his seed and with a very good tournament, he has the best chance of any Gophers (not named Brett Pfarr) to win!!! Tommy beat #1 seed Anthony Ashenault (RU) last year, but lost to #2 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU) and #4 seed (Colton McCrystal) NE this year. I'm sure Tommy can see his opportunity when he looks at the brackets, so it should be very telling to see if he can do it!!!
2nd Place
149 - RS Freshman Carson Brolsma has taken over for Brandon Kingsley here. Kingsley was given a few matches just before year end to show what he could do, but I'm not sure he won any of those. So, the Coaches have put Brolsma back in the lineup to help get him some experience for the future. CB has a tough first match against #3 Micah Jordan of tOSU, then if he wants to qualify for Nationals, he will probably have to win 2 matches. He's looked better than expected at times this year, so he could do it!
Did Not Place (DNP)
157 - #4 Jake Short has a chance to outperform his seed, but he will have to up his level to do it as there are some very tough wrestlers seeded above him. And, he needs to be careful as there are also some tough ones below him that he could lose to.
4th Place
165 - #6 Nick Wanzek has a good possibility of taking 5th place, if he can beat #5 Joey Gunther (IA), who he lost to in the dual meet. Doing better than 5th will be nearly impossible as the #1-#4 seeds are very, very tough!!
5th Place
174 - #10 Chris Pfarr has continued to improve this year, and he got his first win against a ranked wrestler when he dominated #10 Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) two weeks ago. Chris is in unbelievable shape and he is solid, so he could move up 2-3 places if he wrestles his very best. I don't have the NCAA allocations in front of me, but CP will need to finish in #7-#9 place for an automatic qualification. He could still get an at large bid, but this may not happen...so he better take his fate in his own hands!!
10th Place (CP, please prove me wrong!!)
184 - #10 Bobby Steveson is in a similar position to Chris Pfarr, but I think his chances to outperform his seed might be better...even though this is the toughest weight in D1 wrestling!! As I look at the wrestlers seeded above BS, the #6-#9 seeds are all beatable. Bobby has been competitive this year, but he hasn't had a signature win. This would be the time for him to kick it into high gear so he can qualify automatically!!
8th - 10th Place
197 - #1 Brett Pfarr should win this with some ease and I think the chances that he doesn't win are very small - maybe 5%.
1st Place
285 - #4 Michael Kroells is probably seeded correctly, unless he could beat #3 Nick Nevills (PSU) who beat MK in the dual meet this year. I'm going to go with the upset in this one!!
3rd Place.
In the team race, I think we are projected to finish 6th. I think we will move up to 5th, behind;
1. PSU
2. tOSU
3. IA
4. NE
5. MN
and ahead of:
6. IL
7. MI
8. WI
It will be an exciting weekend of very high level D1 College Wrestling!! So, tune in on BTNPlus and BTN, and chime in with your thoughts and comments on this thread!
Yes, IT WILL BE A RUMBLE!!!
Go Gopher Wrestling!!!
While the B1G Pre-seeds were released last Monday, the actual brackets were just released this afternoon. The B1G waits to release the brackets as they need to get past the first weigh-ins, which happened earlier today, then they finish plotting out the matches.
Obviously we have some extremely tough teams in PSU, IA, tOSU, NE and others to compete against. But I think we are peaking at the right time and I'm expecting us to be very competitive. We may well outperform our expectations!!
Here are the brackets, followed by an article from Gophersports.com, and my predictions:
http://iuhoosiers.com/services/down...s.com/documents/2017/3/3/2017B1G_Brackets.pdf
Minnesota Ready for B1G Test
The Gophers visit the Hoosier State for the third time in the past six weeks to compete in the premier conference tournament in college wrestling
Gophersports.com
March 3, 2017
Match Notes B1G Championships
Minnesota has become quite familiar with the airports, highways and venues of Indiana this winter, with three trips over a six-week span late this season. The Gophers swept their duals earlier this year at Indiana and Purdue, and now return to the Indiana campus for the 2017 Big Ten Championships this weekend.
When, Where and How
The opening day of the Big Ten Championships will start live from the floor of the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., at 9 a.m. Central Saturday morning, with action resuming for an evening session that night at 5 p.m. Second day action fires up at 11 a.m. Central on Sunday, followed by medal round matches at 2 p.m. All mats will be streamed live on BTN Plus, with the championship bouts airing on the Big Ten Network. Others options to keep tabs on the action include live stats via TrackWrestling.com or following Gopher Wrestling on Twitter ( @GopherWrestling).
So Far This Season
Minnesota (7-5, 5-4) finished Brandon Eggum’s first season as head coach with a record of .500 or better for the 25th consecutive year.
The Gophers took on the nation’s toughest home schedule this season, with all seven dual opponents hosted at the Sports Pavilion finishing the regular season ranked in the top 18 by InterMat. The Maroon and Gold knocked off South Dakota State and Wisconsin at home, while dropping matches to Penn State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Ohio State and Nebraska, all of which finished the regular season in the top seven.
Meanwhile, the Gophers ran up a perfect 5-0 record away from the Twin Cities, starting with a weekend sweep of Michigan State and Michigan in December, followed by wins at Indiana and Purdue in January and a season-ending victory at Iowa State two weeks ago. It was the first undefeated road campaign for Minnesota since 2012-13.
In addition to its dual schedule, Minnesota’s top lineup wrestled in three tournaments, starting with the Daktronics Open to begin the season. The Dak doesn’t keep a team score, but Minnesota picked up an individual title in the event from Ethan Lizak at 125 pounds, as well as placing four other regular starters: Mitch McKee (second), Jake Short (second), Nick Wanzek (third at 174) and Michael Kroells (second). To kick off December, Minnesota wrestled at the Cliff Keen Invitational, where two Gophers won individual titles - Short at 157 and Brett Pfarr at 197 - and placed three more: McKee (fourth), Wanzek (eighth at 174) and Kroells (third). Minnesota rang in the new year in Chattanooga at the Southern Scuffle, where Lizak won another 125 title as one of seven Gopher placewinners, a group including: McKee (sixth), Tommy Thorn (seventh), Short (fifth), Wanzek (fourth), Pfarr (second) and Kroells (second). In both Vegas and Tennessee, the Gophers finished fourth as a team.
Who To Watch This Weekend
There are a couple Gophers to keep an eye on this weekend. The obvious name is Brett Pfarr, the top seed at 197 pounds. Pfarr owns victories over each of the next four seeds this season, including a pair of wins over second-seeded Kollin Moore. Pfarr’s only loss so far this season is a narrow 6-4 decision against defending national champion and Olympic bronze medalist, J’Den Cox.
The other top-three seed in the Minnesota lineup, 141-pounder Tommy Thorn, has a navigable path to the championship, with a 5-2 record against the rest of the field (two losses by an average of 2.5 points) and a win in his most recent meeting against the top seed, Anthony Ashnault, during a dual last season.
Last Time Around
had its streak of 19 consecutive top-five finishes in the conference tournament snapped last year by taking ninth. Four Gophers earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in that event. Brett Pfarr and Michael Kroells both advanced after third-place finishes, Tommy Thorn moved on after taking fourth, and Nick Wanzek nabbed the league’s last automatic spot at 174 by finishing ninth. Despite reaching the podium at 149, Jake Short had to wait for an at-large selection to confirm his spot in the national tournament. All five of those Gophers return to this year’s field, with Short up at 157 and Wanzek down to 165. A sixth returner, Chris Pfarr dropped down to 174 this year. Ethan Lizak, who wrestled in the tournament as a true freshman, returns this year after a redshirt season. The three remaining Gophers will be making their Big Ten tournament debuts: Mitch McKee, Carson Brolsma and Bobby Steveson.
Parting Shot
Minnesota will look to return to the top five at the Big Ten Championships again this year after seeing its 19-year streak of placing among the conference’s five best teams snapped last season. The Gophers are one of just two Big Ten teams to have finished in the top-five at 19 of the past 20 conference tournaments.
Stay Connected
GopherSports.com is your home for all Gopher Wrestling news. Whether you’re looking for a dual recap, match previews, features on the wrestlers you’re seeing on the mat each week or team stats, we will have it all for you right here. Be sure to follow Gopher Wrestling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.
My predictions (with expected results):
125 - Ethan Lizak is seeded 4th, so he is headed for a semifinal rematch with Thomas Gilman. It's possible that he could win there, but not likely. If he gets through the wrestlebacks, he'll likely get Tim Lambert in the 3rd Place match...and he probably has a 40% chance to win, unless he gets a very good start.
4th Place
133 - Mitch McKee is seeded 7th and he should get to the QFs, where he will meet #2 Montoya of NE. Mitch has a moderate chance to win here, but likely goes into the wrestlebacks. After that, if he has a good chance to get into the 5th Place match and a slim chance to get into the 3rd Place match. Other than the top 4 seeds, the only wrestler that Mitch will likely lose to is #5 Stevan Micic...so we could do well here!!
6th Place
141 - #3 seeded Tommy Thorn has a HUGE OPPORTUNITY to outperform his seed and with a very good tournament, he has the best chance of any Gophers (not named Brett Pfarr) to win!!! Tommy beat #1 seed Anthony Ashenault (RU) last year, but lost to #2 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU) and #4 seed (Colton McCrystal) NE this year. I'm sure Tommy can see his opportunity when he looks at the brackets, so it should be very telling to see if he can do it!!!
2nd Place
149 - RS Freshman Carson Brolsma has taken over for Brandon Kingsley here. Kingsley was given a few matches just before year end to show what he could do, but I'm not sure he won any of those. So, the Coaches have put Brolsma back in the lineup to help get him some experience for the future. CB has a tough first match against #3 Micah Jordan of tOSU, then if he wants to qualify for Nationals, he will probably have to win 2 matches. He's looked better than expected at times this year, so he could do it!
Did Not Place (DNP)
157 - #4 Jake Short has a chance to outperform his seed, but he will have to up his level to do it as there are some very tough wrestlers seeded above him. And, he needs to be careful as there are also some tough ones below him that he could lose to.
4th Place
165 - #6 Nick Wanzek has a good possibility of taking 5th place, if he can beat #5 Joey Gunther (IA), who he lost to in the dual meet. Doing better than 5th will be nearly impossible as the #1-#4 seeds are very, very tough!!
5th Place
174 - #10 Chris Pfarr has continued to improve this year, and he got his first win against a ranked wrestler when he dominated #10 Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) two weeks ago. Chris is in unbelievable shape and he is solid, so he could move up 2-3 places if he wrestles his very best. I don't have the NCAA allocations in front of me, but CP will need to finish in #7-#9 place for an automatic qualification. He could still get an at large bid, but this may not happen...so he better take his fate in his own hands!!
10th Place (CP, please prove me wrong!!)
184 - #10 Bobby Steveson is in a similar position to Chris Pfarr, but I think his chances to outperform his seed might be better...even though this is the toughest weight in D1 wrestling!! As I look at the wrestlers seeded above BS, the #6-#9 seeds are all beatable. Bobby has been competitive this year, but he hasn't had a signature win. This would be the time for him to kick it into high gear so he can qualify automatically!!
8th - 10th Place
197 - #1 Brett Pfarr should win this with some ease and I think the chances that he doesn't win are very small - maybe 5%.
1st Place
285 - #4 Michael Kroells is probably seeded correctly, unless he could beat #3 Nick Nevills (PSU) who beat MK in the dual meet this year. I'm going to go with the upset in this one!!
3rd Place.
In the team race, I think we are projected to finish 6th. I think we will move up to 5th, behind;
1. PSU
2. tOSU
3. IA
4. NE
5. MN
and ahead of:
6. IL
7. MI
8. WI
It will be an exciting weekend of very high level D1 College Wrestling!! So, tune in on BTNPlus and BTN, and chime in with your thoughts and comments on this thread!
Yes, IT WILL BE A RUMBLE!!!
Go Gopher Wrestling!!!
