Gophers Ring in New Year Against 'Boys
December 30, 2008
The Golden Gopher wrestling program opens its home schedule with a dual against 13th-ranked Oklahoma State on New Year’s Day at the Sports Pavilion.
Oklahoma State won last year’s dual in Stillwater by an 18-14 tally.
The top-ranked Cowboys edged Minnesota in spite of upset wins by Tyler
Safratowich at 157 pounds and by Gabe Dretsch at 174. Oklahoma State
holds a 17-10 edge in the all-time dual meet series.
Gophers to Head to Lone Star Duals Saturday
After kicking off 2009 with a home dual on Thursday, the Gophers will travel to Dallas for the Lone Star Duals on Saturday.
A total of 19 schools will participate in the event which will be held
at South Grand Prairie High School Colesium in the Dallas metro area.
Last Time Out
Minnesota had a solid showing in a 21-18 dual meet loss to No. 3
Nebraska on Dec. 21 in Lincoln. The Gophers got a pin from Mike Thorn
at 141 pounds to start the meet to jump to a 6-0 lead, but the Huskers
won the next six consecutive matches to vault to a 21-6 advantage.
Sophomore Joe Nord snapped the skid for the Gophers when he decisioned
No. 12 Tucker Lane in the heavyweight bout by a 6-2 score. Zach Sanders
notched his team-leading fifth win by technical fall at 125 pounds and
Jayson Ness recorded a major decision victory at 133 to trim the final
deficit to 21-18.
Nord Captures Big Ten's Weekly Award
By virtue of his upset victory over the Huskers’ 12th-ranked Tucker
Lane at heavyweight, Joe Nord was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the
Week on Dec. 23.
Nord, who has split time with fellow sophomore Ben Berhow at
heavyweight this season, improved his season record to 8-2 with the
victory. The Waconia, Minn. native rallied from a 1-0 deficit with a
reversal in the opening moments of the third period. A nearfall later
in the final stanza helped the sophomore to gain the 6-2 victory.
King Pin
Two-time All-American Jayson Ness has lived up to his reputation for
piling up pins again this season. A year after tying former head
assistant coach Marty Morgan’s school record with 20 pins, the
Bloomington, Minn. native has picked up right where he left off a year
ago.
In spite of moving up a weight class from 125 pounds to 133 this
season, Ness has stuck 11 of his 16 opponents thus far this season.
In The Rankings
Both the Gophers and the Cowboys boast mutliple wrestlers in their
respective starting lineups ranked among the nation’s top-20 in a major
poll. The Gophers will run out ranked wrestlers in four of the five
lightest weight classes, while the five of the Cowboys’ six heaviest
starters are ranked.
Potential matches featuring two ranked combantans include the bouts at
125 (#6 Zach Sanders vs. #14 Obenson Blanc), 133 (#5 Jayson Ness vs.
#15 Tyler Shinn), 141 (#7 Mike Thorn vs. #18 Jamal Parks), 157 (#14
Tyler Safratowich vs. #10 Newly McSpadden) and 165 (#15 Scott Glasser
vs. #12 Brandon Mason).
