Minnesota has become quite familiar with the airports, highways and venues of Indiana this winter, with three trips over a six-week span late this season. The Gophers swept their duals earlier this year at Indiana and Purdue, and now return to the Indiana campus for the 2017 Big Ten Championships this weekend.
The opening day of the Big Ten Championships will start live from the floor of the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., at 9 a.m. Central Saturday morning, with action resuming for an evening session that night at 5 p.m. Second day action fires up at 11 a.m. Central on Sunday, followed by medal round matches at 2 p.m. All mats will be streamed live on BTN Plus, with the championship bouts airing on the Big Ten Network. Others options to keep tabs on the action include live stats via TrackWrestling.com or following Gopher Wrestling on Twitter (@GopherWrestling).
So Far This Season
Minnesota (7-5, 5-4) finished Brandon Eggum’s first season as head coach with a record of .500 or better for the 25th consecutive year.
The Gophers took on the nation’s toughest home schedule this season, with all seven dual opponents hosted at the Sports Pavilion finishing the regular season ranked in the top 18 by InterMat. The Maroon and Gold knocked off South Dakota State and Wisconsin at home, while dropping matches to Penn State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Ohio State and Nebraska, all of which finished the regular season in the top seven.
Meanwhile, the Gophers ran up a perfect 5-0 record away from the Twin Cities, starting with a weekend sweep of Michigan State and Michigan in December, followed by wins at Indiana and Purdue in January and a season-ending victory at Iowa State two weeks ago. It was the first undefeated road campaign for Minnesota since 2012-13.
In addition to its dual schedule, Minnesota’s top lineup wrestled in three tournaments, starting with the Daktronics Open to begin the season. The Dak doesn’t keep a team score, but Minnesota picked up an individual title in the event from Ethan Lizak at 125 pounds, as well as placing four other regular starters: Mitch McKee (second), Jake Short (second), Nick Wanzek (third at 174) and Michael Kroells (second). To kick off December, Minnesota wrestled at the Cliff Keen Invitational, where two Gophers won individual titles – Short at 157 and Brett Pfarr at 197 – and placed three more: McKee (fourth), Wanzek (eighth at 174) and Kroells (third). Minnesota rang in the new year in Chattanooga at the Southern Scuffle, where Lizak won another 125 title as one of seven Gopher placewinners, a group including: McKee (sixth), Tommy Thorn (seventh), Short (fifth), Wanzek (fourth), Pfarr (second) and Kroells (second). In both Vegas and Tennessee, the Gophers finished fourth as a team.
Who To Watch This Weekend
There are a couple Gophers to keep an eye on this weekend. The obvious name is Brett Pfarr, the top seed at 197 pounds. Pfarr owns victories over each of the next four seeds this season, including a pair of wins over second-seeded Kollin Moore. Pfarr’s only loss so far this season is a narrow 6-4 decision against defending national champion and Olympic bronze medalist, J’Den Cox.
The other top-three seed in the Minnesota lineup, 141-pounder Tommy Thorn, has a navigable path to the championship, with a 5-2 record against the rest of the field (two losses by an average of 2.5 points) and a win in his most recent meeting aginst the top seed, Anthony Ashnault, during a dual last season.
Last Time Around
had its streak of 19 consecutive top-five finishes in the conference tournament snapped last year by taking ninth. Four Gophers earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in that event. Brett Pfarr and Michael Kroells both advanced after third-place finishes, Tommy Thorn moved on after taking fourth, and Nick Wanzek nabbed the league’s last automatic spot at 174 by finishing ninth. Despite reaching the podium at 149, Jake Short had to wait for an at-large selection to confirm his spot in the national tournament. All five of those Gophers return to this year’s field, with Short up at 157 and Wanzek down to 165. A sixth returner, Chris Pfarr dropped down to 174 this year. Ethan Lizak, who wrestled in the tournament as a true freshman, returns this year after a redshirt season. The three remaining Gophers will be making their Big Ten tournament debuts: Mitch McKee, Carson Brolsma and Bobby Steveson.
Parting Shot
Minnesota will look to return to the top five at the Big Ten Championships again this year after seeing its 19-year streak of placing among the conference’s five best teams snapped last season. The Gophers are one of just two Big Ten teams to have finished in the top-five at 19 of the past 20 conference tournaments.
Match Notes B1G Championships
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