Sorry, this thread is posted so late, I was moving over the last week.
We did pretty well at the Soldier Salute last weekend, winning three championships!!
Isaiah Salazar and Max McEnelly were co-titlists at 184 and Bennett Tabor won at Hwt!
Vance VomBaur also looked good as he beat two ranked opponents to take third.
Our next action is on Monday Jan. 15th at Iowa at 7pm, also on BTN!
Here's the article on the Soldier Salute from Gophersports.com:
Golden Gophers Back in Action This Weekend at Soldier Salute
Gophersports.com
12/28/2023
Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS -- No. 12 Minnesota competes in its final team tournament of the season this weekend as it travels to the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa. The two-day event, Dec. 29-30, features four sessions at XSTREAM Arena.
Session I begins at 10 a.m. Friday, while Session II starts at 3:30 p.m. Day two on Saturday begins with Session III at 11 a.m. with the final Session IV set to start at 5 p.m. B1G+ will be streaming the event, while SmoothComp will have live results.
The Golden Gophers are sending a 19-man contingent to the event along with another three who are competing unattached. A full list can be found on Page 1 of the Match Notes linked above.
Minnesota is ranked 12th in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll, making the the Golden Gophers one of eight ranked teams in the 16-team field. Also scheduled to compete are No. 2 Missouri, No. 3 Iowa, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 15 South Dakota State, No. 16 Navy and No. 17 Oregon State. North Carolina, Northern Iowa and Virginia are also receiving votes from the NWCA, while Bellarmine, Columbia, the U.S. Naval Academy, VMI and Wyoming round out the field. Additional wrestlers from across the country will also take part in the competition as it is open to all high school seniors to post-college individuals.
Depending on which wrestlers compete, there could be at least 95 wrestlers in action that are in the latest Intermat rankings. Iowa State has wrestlers ranked at all 10 weight classes, while Minnesota, Missouri and Oregon State are next with nine ranked wrestlers. Iowa, Nebraska, Northern Iowa and South Dakota State all have eight, while no one else in the field has more than six.
Minnesota has enjoyed success this season at open tournaments, claiming 13 titles across four different events. Those titles have been won by 11 different Gophers at eight different weight classes, including a team-high three titles for freshman Max McEnelly, who captured first place at 184 pounds at the Bison Open, Daktronics Open and Cougar Clash. The only weights Minnesota has won yet this season are 125 and 141 pounds. More info on the Gophers' performances at the open tournaments can be found on Pages 2-3 of the notes with full results on Page 8.
Eight Gophers Reach the Semis After Day One of Soldier Salute
Gophersports.com
12/29/2023
Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 12 Minnesota wrestling team has sent eight wrestlers into the semifinals after action concluded Friday on the opening day of the second annual Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa.
Minnesota has two of the four semifinalists at 125 pounds in sixth-year senior Patrick McKee and freshman Brandon Morvari. McKee will next face No. 14 Drake Ayala in the semifinals, while Morvari will get No. 7 Jore Volk of Wyoming.
Ranked 20th in the latest Intermat rankings, McKee cruised through his first two matches. He first scored a 23-13 major decision over South Dakota State's Brady Roark, then pinned Iowa's Ethan Perryman at 1:20. The pin was the third of the season for McKee and the 24th of his career, tying him with Owen Elzen (1997-2002) for 22nd on the Gophers' all-time list.
Morvari, meanwhile, went 3-0 Friday, including an opening 16-5 major decision over Iowa State's Blake Gioimo. Morvari then scored decisions over Columbia's Nick Babin (7-4 SV1) and Iowa's Joey Cruz (4-3).
Like at 125 pounds, the Gophers also hold half the participants in the 184-pound semifinals.
No. 10 Isaiah Salazar dominated his two matches by a combined 32-3 score. First up was a 15-2 major decision over Columbia's Jack McGill, and he followed that with a 17-1 tech fall over Tyce Raddon of Wyoming. Salazar will meet Zyon Hall of Navy in the semis.
On the other side of the 184-pound bracket, freshman Max McEnelly remained undefeated on the season, pushing his record to 13-0. He opened with his first pin as a Gopher, stopping Bellarmine's Evan Grazzian at 2:23. McEnelly then took on his first ranked opponent of his career, but he emerged with a 12-8 decision over No. 29 Aaron Ayzerov of Columbia. McEnelly gets John Gunderson of Northern Iowa Saturday in the semifinals.
Redshirt sophomore Vance VomBaur reached the 141-pound semifinals after a pair of strong performances. Ranked 29th, he first defeated VMI's Freddy Junko by tech fall, 18-2, then scored a 4-2 decision over No. 7 Clay Carlson of South Dakota State in the quarterfinals. VomBaur advances to face fifth-ranked Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina in the semifinals.
The win over Carlson marked the highest-ranked win of the season for a Gopher wrestler, topping the previous best by Michael Blockhus against SDSU's Cael Swensen, who was ranked 11th at the time of the Gophers' dual with the Jackrabbits on Nov. 26.
Fellow redshirt sophomore Blaine Brenner reached the semifinals at 165 pounds. He posted a 7-0 shutout of Wyoming's Brett McIntosh and then a 9-5 decision over Northern Iowa's Jack Thomsen. Brenner will face Iowa's No. 7 Mikey Caliendo in Saturday's semifinals.
A pair of bonus-point victories propelled sixth-year senior Garrett Joles to reach the semifinals at 197 pounds. The No. 17 wrestler in the weight class, Joles picked up his second fall in as many matches when he pinned VMI's Josh Evans at 2:41. Joles then scored a 15-2 major decision over South Dakota State's Thomas Dineen in the quarterfinals. The semifinals will match Joles up with Iowa's Zach Glazier, who is ranked two spots behind Joles at No. 19.
The eighth Gopher to reach the semis was redshirt sophomore heavyweight Bennett Tabor. An 8-3 decision over Iowa's Easton Fleshman got the day started for Tabor, while he shut out Bellarmine's Thadd Huff, 5-0, in the quarters. The two wins earn Tabor a semifinal matchup with South Dakota State's Bowen McConville in a rematch of the Bison Open championship that Tabor won, 4-0, on Nov. 11.
Sixth-year senior Jake Gliva made his season debut Friday at 133 pounds. He scored a pair of major decisions to start his day before a 4-0 loss to No. 10 Brody Teske of Iowa in the quarterfinals sent Gliva to the consolation bracket. He stayed alive, though, with a 4-2 decision over Bellarmine's Trayce Eckman.
Also still alive in the consolation brackets are redshirt freshman Devin Wasley at 174 pounds and true freshman Gavin Nelson at 197. Wasley was pinned in his opening match, but he then came back with a pair of consolation-bracket wins. Nelson, meanwhile, lost to No. 22 Joey Novak in the second round but rattled off three straight wins, all by major decision, to advance through the consolations.
Redshirt senior Sebas Swiggum (1-2 at 157 pounds), redshirt juniors Theo Cha (1-2 at 149 pounds), Ben Lunn (1-2 at 141) and Tim Stapleton (1-2 at 165), redshirt sophomore Gabe Nagel (1-0 at 197, but medically forfeited), and redshirt freshman Quincy Hulverson (0-2 at 125) and freshmen Rhett Koening (1-2 at 141) and Kyler Wong (1-2 at 157) all saw their tournament runs end on Friday.
Session III of the Soldier Salute starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, while the final session begins at 5 p.m. All matches are streaming on B1G+, and SmoothComp has live results.
Three Gopher Champions Crowned at Soldier Salute, Team Takes Second
Gophersports.com
12/30/2023
Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota wrestling team will return to Minneapolis with three champions from the second annual Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa.
Gopher senior Isaiah Salazar and freshman Max McEnelly shared the title at 184 pounds, while redshirt sophomore Bennett Tabor took home the heavyweight crown as action wrapped up Saturday at Xtream Arena.
As a team, the Golden Gophers finished in second place with 148.5 points. Iowa was the team champion with a score of 251.5, while Columbia took third with 102.5 points.
The finals matchup between Salazar and McEnelly at 184 pounds was declared a no-contest, resulting in the Minnesota duo being named co-champions. Each finished with a 3-0 record on the weekend.
Salazar reached the championship after a dominant performance Saturday morning in the semis, earning a 15-0 tech fall win over Navy's Zyan Hall. All three of Salazar's wins on the weekend came by bonus point, including tech falls in the quarters and semis.
McEnelly was tested in the semis, but he pulled out a win over unattached wrestler John Gunderson to remain undefeated on the season at 14-0. With McEnelly trailing 9-8 in the closing seconds, a scramble ensued and time expired. But after the referees conferred, a takedown was awarded to McEnelly to give him the 11-9 victory.
It's the first tournament title of the season for Salazar, while McEnelly claimed his fourth, previously winning at the Bison Open, Daktronics Open and Cougar Clash.
Tabor picked up a pair of victories Saturday to claim his second title of the season, also winning at the Bison Open.
In the semis, Tabor posted his biggest win of the tournament with an 11-3 major decision over South Dakota State's Bowen McConville. Coincidentally, it was McConville whom Tabor beat for the Bison Open title to open the season.
The finals saw Tabor face off with another Jackrabbit in Luke Rasmussen. The pair met when Minnesota hosted SDSU in a dual on Nov. 26, and Tabor prevailed 9-7. Saturday's result was the same then as it was back in Minneapolis, this time by a score of 7-2. Tabor got one point for stalling and then used a takedown to lead 4-0 after one. Starting down, he used a reversal to make it a 6-0 lead and fended off Rasmussen's attempted comeback to secure the win.
Minnesota got third-place finishes from sixth-year senior Patrick McKee at 125 pounds and redshirt sophomore Vance VomBaur at 141.
In the semifinals, McKee, ranked 20th in the latest InterMat rankings, led 5-2 with riding time over No. 14 Drake Ayala of Iowa, but Ayala recorded a takedown with less than 30 seconds to go and then rode McKee the rest of the way to eliminate the riding time point and take a 5-4 victory. McKee dropped down to the consolation but earned a 9-4 decision over South Dakota State's Brady Roark.
In the third-place match, McKee pinned Columbia's Nick Babin at 5:29. The pin was the fourth of the season for McKee and the 25th of his career, tying him for 20th in Gophers history with Evan Johnson (1974-77) and Larry Zilverberg (1974-77).
VomBaur, ranked 29th in the country, fell in the 141-pound semifinals to fifth-ranked Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina, 7-4. VomBaur bounced back though with a 5-2 decision over Wyoming's Stockton O'Brien. In the third-place match, VomBaur scored a 4-2 upset of No. 18 Josh Koderhandt of Navy. A first-period takedown proved to be the difference for VomBaur, who improved to 2-2 this season against ranked opponents.
Redshirt sophomore No. 30 Blaine Brenner and sixth-year senior No. 17 Garrett Joles lost their third-place matches at 165 and 197 pounds, respectively.
Brenner's day saw him lose to No. 7 Mikey Caliendo of Iowa in the semifinals by tech fall, come back with a 5-3 decision over Northern Iowa's RJ Weston and then fall to Connor Euton of Iowa State, 16-13 in the third-place match.
Joles faced three ranked opponents on the day, losing to No 19 Zach Glazier, the eventual 197-pound champion, in the semifinals 5-4, defeating No. 28 Jack Wehmeyer of Columbia 4-3 in the consolation finals and then falling in sudden death to No. 22 Joey Novak of Wyoming, 4-1, in the third-place bout.
Fellow sixth-year senior Jake Gliva capped off his first weekend of competition by winning fifth place at 133 pounds. Advancing first on medical forfeit, Gliva lost to Iowa's Cullan Schriever, 8-1, but came back for a 5-2 decision over Navy's Garrett Totten to cap a 5-2 weekend.
Freshman Gavin Nelson finished in sixth place at 197 pounds after being forced to injury default in the fifth-place match, while freshman Brandon Morvari medically forfeited the fifth-place match at 125 pounds and redshirt freshman Devin Wasley did the same in the seventh-place bout at 174 pounds.
With tournament action now concluded for the season, No. 12 Minnesota turns its attention to the Big Ten slate. First up, a trip back to Iowa to face the No. 3 Hawkeyes on Jan. 15. Match time is set for 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Soldier Salute Results
1st Place
184: Max McEnelly (3-0) and Isaiah Salazar (3-0), co-champs
285: Bennett Tabor (4-0)
3rd Place
125: Patrick McKee (4-1)
141: Vance VomBaur (4-1)
4th Place
165: Blaine Brenner (3-2)
197: Garrett Joles (3-2)
5th Place
133: Jake Gliva (5-2)
6th Place
125: Brandon Morvari (4-1)
197: Gavin Nelson (5-3)
8th Place
174: Devin Wasley (2-2)
DNP
125: Quincy Hulverson (0-4)
141: Ben Lunn (3-2), Rhett Koenig (1-3)
149: Theo Cha (1-4)
157: Sebas Swiggum (2-3), Kyler Wong (2-3)
165: Tim Stapleton (1-2)
197: Gabe Nagel (1-0)
