Friday night’s dual between Minnesota and Maryland at the Sports Pavilion will be marked by a series of firsts. It will be the first dual of the new calendar year for the Gophers, the first time Minnesota has appeared on the Big Ten Network this season, and the first time in series history that the Gophers and the Terrapins have wrestled in Minneapolis.
For each of their three previous meetings with the Terps, the Gophers traveled east. Back in 1966, the two teams tangled in Maryland, followed by a 1992 match at the Virginia Duals and then their inaugural meeting as Big Ten foes last season in College Park. Minnesota is 2-1 in those duals, dropping the 1966 contest and winning the last two, including a 34-12 win last season in which the Gophers won seven of the meet’s first eight matches, including six bonus point wins. Returning starters Jake Short (decision at 149 pounds), Nick Wanzek (tech fall at 165) and Brett Pfarr (major decision at 184) contributed individual victories to the team’s win last February.
The Gophers enter Friday’s dual with a 4-5 record on the season. Minnesota has posted victories over No. 22 Virginia, Grand Canyon, South Dakota State and Air Force this season. In its most recent dual, Minnesota dropped its Big Ten opener to Indiana, 19-18, on the third tiebreaking criteria. Minnesota will look to avoid its first 0-2 start to a Big Ten season since 2004-05 on Friday night.
While Minnesota looks for its first conference victory of the season, Maryland is looking for its first conference victory as a member of the Big Ten. The Terrapins wrapped up their first season in the league 0-9 last year and are off to an 0-2 start this winter. Overall, the Terps are 3-5 this year, with victories over Davidson, Hofstra and, most recently, Drexel.
Both Minnesota and Maryland will wrestle young lineups on Friday, with at least six underclassmen starting for each team. Because of that youth, every match on the bout card will be the first-ever collegiate meeting between the two opponents.
The Gophers will send four ranked competitors to the mat on Friday, but the two matches to watch may be those featuring Maryland’s ranked wrestlers. At 133, No. 15 Geoffrey Alexander takes on Sam Brancale and, at 157, No. 18 Lou Mascola faces off with Brandon Kingsley. Both Brancale and Kingsley were ranked briefly earlier this season, making these contests the closest to ranked-versus-ranked matches on the evening’s card.
Heading into the weekend, both Minnesota and Maryland are returning to dual action after competing in prestigious, in-season tournaments over the holidays.
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The Gophers traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., where they took sixth at the Southern Scuffle. Four Minnesota wrestlers placed in that event, led by Brett Pfarr’s runner-up finish at 197 pounds. Michael Kroells took third at 285, Tommy Thorn placed fifth at 141 and Sam Brancale finished eighth at 133. Four other Gophers fell just one match shy of placing in the tournament — Steve Polakowski and Ethan Lizak (competing unattached) at 125, Brandon Kingsley at 157 and Nick Wanzek at 174.
Meanwhile, Maryland visited Evanston, Ill., to compete in the Midlands Championships. The Terps took 21st in the tournament, with heavyweight Dawson Peck leading the team with his sixth-place performance. No other Maryland wrestler placed in the event.
Friday’s dual will begin at 8 p.m. Central and will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and on the BTN2Go app. For fans who aren’t able to watch, Gopher Wrestling on Twitter will be providing live, mat-side updates throughout the dual.
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