We have a big weekend of D1 Wrestling coming up with our home opener vs. Bucknell on Friday at 7pm and the Daktronics Open on Sunday!! The Bucknell dual will be streamed on B1G+ and the Daktronics Open is on FloWrestling.com.
Almost all of our non-starters will be going to the Daktronics Open.
I have us completely dominating 39-0 in the BU deal, here's how the match looks to me:
My Predictions:
125 - #14 Cooper Flynn wins by Forfeit (MN 6 - BU 0)
133 - #8 Tyler Wells wins over #15 Kurt Phipps (9-0)
141 - #5 Vance VomBaur wins over #24 Dylan Chappell (12-0)
149 - #23 Drew Roberts wins by major dec. over Braden Bower (16-0)
157 - #7 Tommy Askey wins by major dec. over Cade Wirnsberger (20-0)
165 - #10 Andrew Sparks wins over #23 Noah Mulvaney (23-0)
174 - #16 Clayton Whiting wins over #27 Myles Takats (26-0)
184 - #11 Max McEnelly wins by tech fall over Logan Deacetis (31-0)
197 - #8 Isaiah Salazar wins by major dec. over Dillon Bechtold (35-0)
285 - #23 Bennett Tabor wins by major dec. over Logan Shephard (39-0)
Final Score MN 39 BU 0
Things could be a little closer at 133, 165 and 174, but not so likely.
We might even win my a few more points!!
This win should be a very good start to an exciting season for us!!
Here's the article on this weekend's events from Gophersports.com:
Wrestling Weekend Features Home Opener, Trip to Daktronics Open
Gophersports.com
11/14/2024
Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS -- After opening the season with seven titles across two open tournaments last weekend, No. 8 Minnesota opens the dual season with its home opener against Bucknell. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Friday night at Maturi Pavilion. B1G+ will have the livestream and TrackWrestling.com will have live stats.
Promotions: Stop by the marketing table and grab the 2024-25 wrestling poster. In addition, fans can purchase the "Ticket + Beverage Package." For only $24.50, fans receive one match ticket AND a coupon redeemable for any beverage inside Maturi Pavilion (excluding canned cocktails).
Two days after Friday's dual, members of the team will travel to Brookings, S.D., for the Daktronics Open. The action starts at 10 a.m. with FloWrestling providing streaming coverage. Expected to compete are wrestlers at the following weights: 125 - Blake Beissel, Quincy Hulverson and Brandon Morvari; 133 - Jager Eisch; 141 - Dawson Johnson and Rhett Koenig; 149 - Theo Cha and Jack Nelson; 157 - Charlie Millard and Tim Stapleton; 165 - Blaine Brenner; 174 - Silas Dailey, Hunter Lyden, Ethan Riddle and Jed Wester; 197 - Gabe Nagel and Gavin Nelson; 285 - Bennett Tabor.
The Golden Gophers are looking to win their season opener for the third straight year after topping Binghamton, 19-15, to open 2022-23 and posting a 37-3 win at Bucknell last year. Minnesota has won five straight home openers since the 2019-20 season.
Minnesota has won six straight duals dating back to last season. During the current streak, Minnesota has outscored opponents 181-48 and hasn't allowed more than 12 points in any dual.
The Golden Gophers enter the weekend ranked eighth in Intermat's dual team rankings, while the NWCA Coaches Poll has the Gophers 12th. Intermat's tournament rankings put Minnesota in a tie for 11th.
Ten Gopher wrestlers are ranked in at least two of the major polls with eight appearing in all four: Intermat, Win, Flo and OpenMat. Returning All-Americans Isaiah Salazar and Vance VomBaur, plus 157-pound transfer Tommy Askey, are ranked in the top 10 of all four publications.
Minnesota is coming off of a 2023-24 campaign that saw it finish with an 11-2 dual record, including a 6-2 record in Big Ten action. The Golden Gophers placed seventh as a team at the Big Ten Championships and then finished 22nd at the NCAA Championships.
Minnesota returns seven starters for the 2024-25 season, headlined by Salazar and VomBaur. Other returning national qualifiers include fifth-year senior Andrew Sparks, redshirt juniors Blaine Brenner, Drew Roberts and Bennett Tabor, and sophomore Tyler Wells. In addition, the team welcomes in three transfers in Askey (Appalachian State), Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) and Clayton Whiting (Missouri).
FACING BUCKNELL
Minnesota is 1-0 all-time against Bucknell, prevailing last season in Lewisburg, 37-3.
The Bison enter the matchup with a 2-1 record on the year, defeating Kent State in the opener, losing at Maryland and then defeating Morgan State.
Minnesota freshman Wyatt Duchateau and Bucknell sophomore Noah Mulvaney were high school teammates at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wis.
RANKED MATCHUPS
There are four potential ranked matchups on tap Friday night, starting at 133 pounds with No. 8 Tyler Wells possibly facing No. 15 Kurt Phipps. The two faced each other twice last year with Wells winning in the regular season and Phipps prevailing in the NCAA Championships.
At 141 pounds, No. 5 Vance VomBaur is slated to face No. 24 Dylan Chappell. They have not faced one another as Chappell wrestled at 149 pounds last year. In the dual a year ago, Chappell was defeated by Drew Roberts, 2-1.
No. 10 Andrew Sparks could face No. 23 Noah Mulvaney at 165 pounds. This matchup has not happened before as Mulvaney topped Blaine Brenner, 11-5, last season in the dual as Sparks was up a weight at 174.
The final potential ranked matchup comes at 174 pounds with No. 16 Clayton Whiting scheduled to face No. 27 Myles Takats. They have not faced one another before.
LAST MEETING WITH THE BISON
Minnesota and Bucknell met for the first time ever last season as the Gophers posted a 37-3 win at Bucknell on Nov. 16 in the season opener.
The Golden Gophers secured five bonus point-victories, including a pair of pins, two major decisions and one tech fall.
The victory marked the most points and the largest margin of victory for Minnesota in a season opener since shutting out Portland State, 54-0, to start the 2008-09 campaign.
Competing in his first collegiate dual, Tyler Wells sure didn't look like a newcomer as he upset No. 17 Kurt Phipps at 133 pounds in an 11-5 decision. Wells had three takedowns in the win, one in each period. In each of the last two, he countered attacks from Phipps and turned them into takedowns of his own.
Vance VomBaur earned a tech fall win, dispatching Braden Bower, 17-3, at 141 pounds. The match appeared as though it was going to be relatively low scoring as VomBaur had a takedown in the first period and an escape in the second, but he piled up 13 points thanks to four takedowns in the final period.
The lone ranked matchup of the night proved to be the closest as No. 18 Drew Roberts squeaked by 33rd-ranked Dylan Chappell, 2-1, at 149 pounds. Chappell looked like he had a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period, but Minnesota challenged the call and no points were awarded. Roberts started the second period on bottom and escaped to lead 1-0 after five minutes. Chappell started on bottom to start the third period, but Roberts rode him long enough to secure the riding point. Chappell escaped with 10 seconds left in the bout but Roberts held him off for the win.
Bucknell got its lone victory at 165 pounds as No. 31 Noah Mulvaney topped Blaine Brenner, 11-5.
Isaiah Salazar put up the highest score on the night with an 18-3, tech fall win over Mikey Bartush. An ankle pick gave Bartush an early 3-0 lead, but Salazar quickly escaped. After a takedown of his own, Salazar added a pair of four-point near falls to take a commanding 12-3 lead into the second period and never looked back.
In the finale, Bennett Tabor picked up his first career pin by outlasting Dorian Crosby in overtime. After a scoreless first period, Tabor rode Crosby nearly the entire second frame, including a pair of mat returns, but a stalling call gave Crosby a point and then he got an escape to lead Tabor 2-0 heading to the final period. Tabor, however, used an escape plus his riding time to force overtime at 2-2. He needed only 21 seconds into overtime to take down Crosby and get the pin.
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