Gophers Move Up to No. 5, Ness Gains Top Spot at 125 Pounds
January 15, 2008
Despite finishing with their lowest place (fourth) at the NWCA National Duals since 2004, the defending national champion Golden Gopher wrestling
team (8-3, 0-0 Big Ten) moved up to No. 5 in the latest USA
Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. Minnesota had held the No.
1 spot before its loss to then-No. 2 Iowa State on Dec. 2, and was
ranked sixth entering last weekend’s National Duals.
In the individual rankings, sophomore Jayson Ness (Bloomington, Minn.)
gained the No. 1 spot at 125 pounds with a stellar 4-0 weekend
performance. Ness topped previously top-ranked Paul Donahue of Nebraska
by a 6-4 overtime decision on Sunday and is now officially 3-0 lifetime
against Donahue (not including an exhibition loss at the 2007 NWCA
All-Star Classic). The No. 1 ranking is the first of Ness’ career, as
he had previously been ranked as third this season.
Ness also picked up another pin during the National Duals and now has
16 for the season. He is just four shy of the Gophers’ single-season
mark, set by current Gopher head assistant coach (and fellow
Bloomington-Kennedy high school graduate) Marty Morgan.
Gopher senior Mack Reiter also won four matches during the weekend and
moved up from No. 5 to No. 2 at 133 pounds. Other Gophers ranked in the
top-20 of their respective weight classes include Manuel Rivera (No. 4
at 141 pounds), Dustin Schlatter (No. 1 at 149 pounds), C.P. Schlatter
(No. 7 at 157 pounds), Gabriel Dretsch (No. 11 at 174 pounds) and Roger
Kish (No. 5 at 184 pounds).
The Gophers return home to face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
(0-3) this Sunday at the Sports Pavilion, the team’s first home
competition since Dec. 6. Minnesota is 23-5 all-time against South
Dakota State but has not competed in a dual meet against the
Jackrabbits since 1978. The meet will begin at 2:00 p.m.
After their battle with SDSU, the Gophers will open Big Ten dual meet
competition Jan. 25 at Michigan State, and will travel to Michigan Jan.
26 for a dual meet against the fourth-ranked Wolverines. Minnesota’s
first home Big Ten dual meet will come against top-ranked Iowa on Feb.
1 at Williams Arena.