The B1G Championship's Pre-Seeds were announced on Monday and the brackets will be released tomorrow afternoon!!
The tournament starts on Saturday morning at College Park, MD and finishes up on Sunday afternoon. There are four session televised on BTN and all individual matches will be streamed live on BigTenPlus.com!!
I've posted a good interview with Patrick McKee (below) from Intermat!
And we got some more good recruiting news today when Blake Beissel (from Hastings, MN) signed his NLI with MN!!! Beissel was a 2x Mn State Champ, he's ranked #165 on MatScouts, and he has a career record of 184-8!!
Welcome Blake Beissel!!!
I also posted an article below on MN 2024 signee Jed Wester, who won his 2nd State title!! Wester's career record was 223-33!
Here are the articles on the B1G Tournament, our signees, and the Pat McKee interview from Gophersports.com and Intermat:
Big Ten Championship Pre-Seeds Announced with Salazar No. 1 at 184
Gophersports.com
3/4/2024
Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota senior Isaiah Salazar earned the top seed at 184 pounds as the Big Ten conference released pre-seeds Monday night for this week's 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in College Park, Md.
Led by Salazar, Minnesota heads into the championships with seven wrestlers seeded within the conference allocations determined by the NCAA last week, including four Gophers who slot in within the top five in their weight class.
The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference's coaches, rank 14 starters in all 10 weight classes. Official final brackets for the tournament are set to be finalized and released later this week.
After a perfect 11-0 dual season where he posted a 7-0 mark in conference action for the second year in a row, Salazar claimed the top seed at 184 pounds. The only undefeated wrestler against the field at the weight class, Salazar finished fourth a year ago at Big Tens and eighth as a sophomore. Since the current weight classes were established in 1999, the only other Gophers to be the top seed at 184 pounds were Kevin Steinhaus in 2012 and current head coach Brandon Eggum in 2000.
Looking to build off last season's runner-up finish at 149 pounds, sixth-year senior Michael Blockhus grabbed the No. 2 seed in the 157-pound field. Currently ranked fourth in the country by Intermat, Blockhus was 15-1 in the regular season, 12-1 in duals, 8-0 in the Big Ten and 6-0 against ranked opponents. Dylan Ness in 2015 was the last 157-pounder for Minnesota to be ranked second or higher, while current head assistant coach Luke Becker was the No. 1 seed in 2002 and the second seed his other three years of competition.
Making his fifth career appearance at the Big Ten Championships, sixth-year senior Patrick McKee earned the fourth seed at 125 pounds. He finished sixth last season, but posted a top-three finish in 2022. McKee was 12-5 during the regular season, 8-4 in duals and 4-3 in Big Ten action.
After bumping to heavyweight a year ago, sixth-year senior Garrett Joles is back to 197 pounds as he claimed the No. 5 seed. Jokes is making his third career appearance at Big Tens after an 18-6 regular season and 6-2 record in the Big Ten.
Two Gophers will make their postseason debuts as the No. 8 seed in their respective weight classes, as both true freshman Tyler Wells (133) and redshirt sophomore Bennett Tabor (285) hit the mats this weekend. Wells was 12-4 in the regular season and 5-2 in the Big Ten, while Tabor posted records of 19-5 overall and 5-3 in the league.
Redshirt sophomore Drew Roberts (17-6 overall, 4-4 B1G) and senior Andrew Sparks (8-5, 3-3) will take the nine-seeds at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively, while redshirt sophomore Vance VomBaur (14-6, 4-4) tied for the No. 9 seed at 141 pounds. VomBaur's place will be finalized at the official seeding meeting Friday. Sparks will be competing for the third time at Big Tens, though his previous two trips came at 165. Roberts and VomBaur will be making their Big Ten Championship debuts.
Redshirt sophomore Blaine Brenner rounds out the squad as the No. 10 seed at 165 pounds. He is one of five Gophers making their championship debuts after a regular season saw him go 17-9 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
Minnesota starts its postseason journey this weekend at the 2024 Big Ten Championships in College Park, Md. The two-day, four-session event will take place at XFINITY Center starting Saturday, March 9. Linear and streaming coverage will be provided by Big Ten Network and B1G+, respectively.
Blake Beissel Signs with Gopher Wrestling
Gophersports.com
3/7/2024
Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota wrestling's 2024 signing class grew to eight members Thursday with the addition of Blake Beissel, who has signed a letter of acceptance with the Golden Gophers.
Beissel attends Hastings High School in Hastings, Minn., where he won two individual state championships. Beissel's most recent title came in 2023 as a junior when he helped Hastings to the Class AAA team championship and took home the 113-pound title himself with a 52-1 record. In his sophomore season, he was 49-2 en route to the championship at 106 pounds.
This past year as a senior, Beissel wrapped up a 51-2 campaign with a third-place finish at 121 pounds. Beissel, who also placed fifth as a freshman at 106, ended his prep career with a record of 184-8.
"It's been a dream of Blake's to wrestle for the University of Minnesota," Gophers head coach Brandon Eggum said. "His work ethic and love for wrestling will be a great addition to our program. We're excited to welcome him and his family."
Beissel is ranked ninth in the state of Minnesota by The Guillotine in its most recent pound-for-pound rankings, while MatScouts has him ranked No. 165 nationally on its 2024 Big Board.
On the national scene, Beissel qualified for the 2023 Freestyle Junior Nationals at 120 pounds after winning the state freestyle championship and reaching the semifinals of the Northern Plains Regional. In 2022, he won the Northern Plains Regional for freestyle at 113 pounds and was the runner-up at the same event for Greco-Roman.
Beissel joins a group of six signees that was announced in November, as well as Dawson Johnson, who signed a letter of acceptance like Beissel last month.
Wester Wins State Title
Gophersports.com
3/2/2024
Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota wrestling signee Jed Wester ended his Minnesota prep career Saturday night with his second straight state title.
Wrestling at 172 pounds in Class AAA this season after taking home the 160-pound crown a year ago, Wester cruised through the bracket and won every match by bonus points. He posted tech fall wins in the opening round (19-4, 3:3) and quarterfinals (25-10, 5:08) and reached the finals after a major decision (12-4) in the semis. In the finals, Wester recorded his third tech fall of the tournament as he ended the match at the 4:16 mark when he pulled ahead 19-3.
All told, in four matches Wester outscored his opponents, 75-21, and only one of those matches went the fully allotted time. With a 42-1 record as a senior, he ends his prep career with a mark of 223-33.
Minnesota's other signee from the state, Jack Nelson, finished as runner up at 139 pounds in Class AA Saturday.
In the Golden Gophers' seven-person signing class this year, five took home state titles and the other two were finalists.
