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Gophers take on Spartans, Wolverines this weekend
January 27, 2005
THIS WEEK: The fifth-ranked Golden Gophers (6-4) will open their Big Ten season this weekend at home at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota will host No. 15 Michigan State (5-2) on Friday night at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the Golden Gophers will face seventh-ranked Michigan (9-3) beginning at 1 p.m.
THIRD AT THE NATIONAL DUALS: Seeded sixth in the tournament, the Golden Gophers posted a 4-1 record and finished in third place at the 2005 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals last weekend. Minnesota opened the tournament with a 20-18 victory against Central Michigan and then upset second-ranked Michigan, 21-16, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals against third-ranked Illinois, Minnesota finished one win shy of its second straight upset as it fell by the score of 20- 15. The Golden Gophers rebounded in the consolation semifinals with another tight win over Central Michigan and then rallied for a 24-13 win against fifth-ranked Lehigh in the third-place match.
Against Lehigh, Minnesota's Roger Kish cut the deficit to 13-12 with a 12-4 major decision against Matt Cassidy at 184 pounds. At 197, third-ranked Jon Trenge was disqualified after throwing a punch at Minnesota freshman Matt Koz. Lehigh then forfeited the heavyweight match and the Golden Gophers claimed the victory.
Minnesota claimed a top-three finish at the National Duals for the seventh time in nine appearances. They also improved their overall record in the Duals to 33-8. The Golden Gophers have never lost back-to-back matches in the tournament.
THE SERIES WITH MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans lead the all-time series against Minnesota by a 30-26 margin, but the Golden Gophers have won the last 11 meetings by an average margin of 19.3 points. That margin of victory is just seven in the last two meetings, including a 22-16 Golden Gopher win last year in East Lansing. Michigan State's last victory against Minnesota was a 21-14 win on Feb. 24, 1996, in Minneapolis. Head coach J Robinson owns a 16-3 career record against Michigan State during his tenure at Minnesota.
ABOUT THE SPARTANS: Michigan State enters Friday's match with a 5-2 record, including a 2-0 mark in the Big Ten. With wins over Penn State and Ohio State, Michigan State has already doubled its Big Ten win total from a year ago. The Spartans are led by the Simmons brothers. Nick is ranked third in the nation at 125 pounds, while Andy is ranked third at 141 pounds.
Michigan State returns 16 of 21 letterwinners from last year's team which finished 2-12 overall and 1-7 in the Big Ten. The Spartans finished ninth at the Big Ten Championships.
POTENTIAL SPARTAN-GOPHER MATCHUPS: The highlight of Minnesota's dual vs. Michigan State will likely be the showdown at 125 pounds. Golden Gopher senior Bobbe Lowe is ranked fifth in the nation with a 25-2 record, while the Spartans' Nick Simmons is 20-0 and rated third. The two have not met since the 2002-03 season with Simmons winning all three meetings, including two by fall.
Another matchup between ranked opponents will likely occur at 149 pounds as 11th-ranked C.P. Schlatter meets No. 20 Darren McKnight. McKnight went 2-0 against the Golden Gophers last year, but has not met Schlatter.
At 184 pounds, seventh-ranked Roger Kish will meet No. 18 Joe Williams. Both are redshirt freshmen for their respective teams.
LAST TIME VS. THE SPARTANS: The Golden Gophers won their Big Ten opener against host Michigan State, 22-16, last year. Minnesota got off to a strong start with pins from Bobbe Lowe and Quincy Osborn at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. The pair of falls gave the Gophers an early 12-0 lead. The Spartans responded and pulled to within two points at 18-16 with wins in five of the next seven matches. No. 8 Andy Simmons defeated Minnesota's Danny Williams, 8-1, at 141. The Spartans' Darren McKnight followed with an 8-7 decision against true freshman Jeremy Anderson at 149. No. 16 Matt Nagel won for the seventh time in his last eight matches with a 4-3 decision against Matt McCarty at 157 pounds. Nagel's win padded the Gopher lead to 15-6. MSU drew closer on Arsen Alexsanyan's 4-3 decision against Casey Flaherty at 165 pounds. No. 19 Jon Duncombe pushed the Minnesota lead to 18-9 with a 7-5 decision against No. 16 Anton Hall at 174 pounds, but the Spartans claimed the next two bouts to pull within two at 18-16. After Nate Mesyn got 1-0 decision over Josh McLay at 184 pounds, Jeff Clemens claimed a 13-1 major decision over Mike Schmidt at 197. Schmidt was filling in for an injured Damion Hahn. The match would come down the heavyweights and eighth-ranked Cole Konrad clinched the win for the Gophers with a 13-3 major decision against Spencer Nadolsky. The four team points gave Minnesota a 22-16 victory.
SUNDAY SHOWDOWN: Minnesota's match vs. the Wolverines on Sunday will come just eight days after the two teams met in the quarterfinals of the National Duals in Cleveland, Ohio. The Golden Gophers broke a two-match losing streak against the Wolverines with a 21-16 upset. Sophomore All-American Cole Konrad clinched the victory with a 4-1 decision at heavyweight over third-ranked Greg Wagner. The victory was especially sweet considering the Wolverines beat Minnesota twice last year by a combined score of 61-10.
THE SERIES VS. MICHIGAN: The Wolverines lead the series against Minnesota by a 26-23-2 margin, but the Golden Gophers defeated Michigan last week at the National Duals by a 21-16 margin. Minnesota had won eight in a row in the series before the Wolverines defeated the Golden Gophers twice last season. Michigan has not won a road match at Minnesota since an 18-14 victory on Feb. 18, 1996. Head Coach J Robinson owns an 11-9-1 record against the Wolverines during his career at Minnesota.
ABOUT THE WOLVERINES: Michigan enters this weekend with a 9-3 record and a 1-0 mark in the Big Ten. The Wolverines entered last week's National Duals ranked second in the nation, but finished in seventh-place after losses against Minnesota and Oklahoma. Michigan opened Big Ten play on Jan. 14 with a 31-9 rout of Penn State.
The Wolverines feature seven ranked wrestlers, including second-ranked Ryan Churella at 165 pounds. His brother, Josh, is rated seventh at 141. Heavyweight Greg Wagner is ranked third in the nation, while Ryan Bertin is second at 157.
POTENTIAL WOLVERINE-GOPHER MATCHUPS: The highlight of Sunday's dual against Michigan will likely be the showdown at heavyweight between second-ranked Cole Konrad and third-ranked Greg Wagner. The pair will meet for the fifth time since last season. Wagner won the first two meetings, but Konrad claimed third place at the Big Ten Championships with a 9-2 victory. Last week, Konrad sealed Minnesota's 21-16 win in the quarterfinals of the Duals with a 4-1 decision.
At 133 pounds, third-ranked Mack Reiter will face either No. 17 Mark Moos or Craig Gillison. Last week, Reiter pinned Moos in 4:04. Moos was ranked as high as fourth in the country at 125 pounds, but moved up to 133 pounds a month ago.
FOR OPENERS: The Golden Gophers have won six straight Big Ten openers. The last time Minnesota lost a league opener was a 20-12 setback vs. Iowa on Jan. 23, 1998. Minnesota is 11-7 in conference openers under head coach J Robinson.
BIG TEN DOMINANCE: The Golden Gophers have experienced unprecedented success in the Big Ten in recent years. In addition to three straight league championships and a runner-up finish last season, Minnesota has won 29 of its last 33 Big Ten dual meets and has a 62-9-0 conference mark (.873) since 1996-97. The Golden Gophers' streak of 22 straight league wins was snapped at Iowa by the score of 22-18 on Feb. 14, 2003.
THE CLOSER: Sophomore heavyweight Cole Konrad did what he does best last weekend at the National Duals: clinch a Minnesota victory. The Golden Gophers went 4-1 on the weekend and Konrad clinched three of those wins with victories in the final match of the dual. It's the eighth time that Konrad has had the opportunity to win a dual meet for Minnesota and the eighth time he has delivered. To put that in perspective, since Konrad became a starter at the beginning of last year, he has clinched eight of Minnesota's 18 victories in that span.
Senior Jon Duncombe clinched wins over No. 11 Arizona State and No. 4 Nebraska on Jan. 1, 2004, last season. Freshman Roger Kish clinched a 20-15 win against Northern Iowa with a pin in the final match earlier this season.