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Minnesota Wrestling Surging After Return Of Gable Steveson

Olympic champion Gable Steveson’s return to the Minnesota roster has turbocharged the Gophers, who are 38-2 in dual matches this season.
Aside from Gable Steveson announcing his return to college wrestling, Minnesota hasn’t been in the headlines all that much this season.
But let’s look at the numbers. The Gophers have won four dual meets this season, losing just two times in those 40 bouts and posting back-to-back shutouts — against North Dakota State and Campbell — for the first time since 1997 when head coach Brandon Eggum was one of the Gophers’ stars. Put those four wins on last year’s closing six-match streak and that’s 10 in a row for Minnesota.
And with each of its 10 wrestlers ranked among the top 25, including seven in the top 10 and a team ranking of #4, Minnesota is ever-so-subtly saying, ‘Hey, why not us?’ as far as discussions and projections for postseason conference and NCAA hardware.
The Gophers won eight titles in the recent Cougar Clash at Southern Illinois without Isaiah Salazar at 197 and Steveson at 285 and came close to going 10-for-10 overall. “The thing that I love about this team, just in general, and especially even last weekend, they just kind of have a killer mindset,” Eggum said. “You see them go out and they’re picking up good wins. They’ve been really consistent, and they’re scoring a lot of bonus points.”
The Gophers have bookends in #6 Cooper Flynn, a transfer from Virginia Tech at 125, … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13207048-minnesota-wrestling-surging-after-return-of-gable-steveson

December 19, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | , | Leave a comment

Seventh-Ranked Gophers Trounce No. 17 South Dakota State, 30-3

MINNEAPOLIS – No. 7 Minnesota (4-0) won nine of the 10 matches, including six ranked bouts, as it trounced No. 17 South Dakota State (1-2) by a score of 30-3 Sunday afternoon at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings, S.D.
After the last two duals were decided by a combined nine points, Minnesota left little doubt Sunday as it won the first six matches and ended up holding the Jackrabbits to their lowest point total in the series since 1974 (31-2). 
Minnesota now leads the all-time series with South Dakota State, 29-5, including 13 straight wins. The 13-match win streak ties for Minnesota’s second-longest active streak, along with 13 straight wins over Michigan State. The only streak longer is 19 in a row against North Dakota State. The 29 wins are the Gophers’ second most against all non-Big Ten schools, behind only the 33 wins they have against Northern Iowa. In Brookings, the Gophers are 10-1 all-time and have won the past seven meetings there. Minnesota has also won 10 straight duals dating back to last season. During the current streak, Minnesota has outscored opponents 329-54 and hasn’t allowed more than 12 points in any contest.
The tone was set in the first match of the day at 125 pounds as No. 14 Cooper Flynn upset No. 4 Tanner Jordan, 7-2. Both of Flynn’s takedowns came in the opening period, giving him a 6-1 lead. After no scoring in the second, Jordan gained a point on Flynn’s second stall warning, but riding time improved Flynn to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in duals.
At 133 pounds, No. 8 Tyler Wells and No. 28 Derrick Cardinal met for the third time in the last two seasons. After splitting the two matchups a year ago, Wells took lead in the series with a 10-2 major decision Sunday. After a scoreless first period, Cardinal escaped to lead 1-0 but Wells got a takedown in the final seconds to lead 3-1. The final period was all Wells as he added an escape and two more takedowns to secure his second major decision of the year.
The first non-ranked matchup came at 141 pounds with No. 5 Vance VomBaur topping … more at … https://gophersports.com/news/2024/12/1/wrestling-gophers-trounce-south-dakota-state-30-3?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

December 3, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment