University of Minnesota Wrestling Schedule

2013-2014 SCHEDULE Overall 0-0 Conf. 0-0 Home 0-0 Away 0-0 Neutral 0-0

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
11/09/13	Bison Open	Fargo, N.D.	All Day
11/16/13	Harold Nichols Open	Ames, Iowa	All Day
11/22/13	vs. Purdue *	Sports Pavilion	35-3
11/24/13	vs. Wyoming	Sports Pavilion	41-5
11/30/13	at Oregon State	Corvallis, Ore.	28-12
12/08/13	at Oklahoma State	Stillwater, Okla.	16-15
Southern Scuffle
01/01/14	Southern Scuffle	Chattanooga, Tenn.	All Day
01/02/14	Southern Scuffle	Chattanooga, Tenn.	All Day
01/10/14	at Northwestern *	Evanston, Ill.	7:00 p.m. CT
01/12/14	vs. Wisconsin *	Sports Pavilion	1:00 p.m. CT
01/17/14	at Michigan State *	Lansing, Mich.	6:00 p.m. CT
01/19/14	at Michigan *	Ann Arbor, Mich.	1:00 p.m. CT
01/25/14	at Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	1:00 p.m. CT
02/02/14	vs. Indiana *	Sports Pavilion	12:00 p.m. CT
02/09/14	vs. Penn State *	Sports Pavilion	1:00 p.m. CT
NWCA National Duals
02/16/14	NWCA National Duals	Columbus, Ohio	All Day
02/17/14	NWCA National Duals	Columbus, Ohio	ALL DAY
02/23/14	at Iowa State	Ames, Iowa	2:00 p.m. CT
Big Ten Championships
03/08/14	Big Ten Championships *	Madison, Wisc.	All Day
03/09/14	Big Ten Championships *	Madison, Wisc.	All Day
NCAA Championships
03/20/14	NCAA Championships	Oklahoma City, Okla.	All Day
03/21/14	NCAA Championships	Oklahoma City, Okla.	All Day
03/22/14	NCAA Championships	Oklahoma City, Okla.	All Day

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AGON Wrestling Championships To Debut On Sunday

The debut event from +AGON Wrestling Championships will be happening this Sunday. The new promotion from United Wrestling Group, LLC hope to create a sustainable professional wrestling organization that features rules from folkstyle and freestyle wrestling.

The event will stream via live PPV at +Flowrestling at the price of $20. More information can be found at: http://www.flowrestling.org/coverage/251097-AGON-Askren-v-Wright

Fightcard

• +Ben Askren vs Quentin Wright
• Jordan Oliver vs Lance Palmer
• +Stephen Abas vs Nick Simmons
• Jay Borschel vs +Aaron Simpson

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27th Summer Universiade Begins

The 2013 University Games are being held in Kazan, Russia beginning today through July 17.

Among the 27 sports, there are several martial arts competitions:

• Belt Wrestling  http://kazan2013.ru/en/sports/10020
• Boxing  http://kazan2013.ru/en/sports/10014
• Judo  http://kazan2013.ru/en/sports/10009
• Sambo  http://kazan2013.ru/en/sports/10019
• Wrestling  http://kazan2013.ru/en/sports/10005

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Big Ten Wrestling Tournament Concludes Today

The 2013 Big Ten Wrestling Championships conclude today at the University of Illinois. Finals will be broadcast live on The Big Ten Network (+Big Ten Network) beginning at 1:30 PM.

Follow Big Ten Wrestling on Twitter at @BTNWrestling

NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals This Weekend

2013 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals

Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN

Friday, February 22

6 PM: #1 +Oklahoma State Athletics vs #8 Illinois

6 PM: #4 +Ohio State Buckeyes vs #5 +Mizzou Athletics

8 PM: #3 +Minnesota Gophers vs #6 +Virginia Tech

8 PM: #2 Iowa vs #7 Cornell

Saturday, February 23

1 PM: Semifinals

7:30 PM: Championship and 3rd Place

Minnesota To Host National Duals

Participating Teams:

#2-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes

#4-ranked +Minnesota Gophers

#5-ranked +Ohio State Buckeyes

#8-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini

Four regional winners

Regionals to be held on February 17

At Cornell: Cornell, +Hofstra Pride Athletics, +Nebraska Huskers, Virginia

At Kent State: Kent State, Northern Iowa, +Oklahoma State Athletics, +Wisconsin Badgers

At Missouri: +Maryland Terrapins , +Mizzou, +Purdue University, Wyoming

At Oregon State: Michigan, Oklahoma, +Oregon State University, +Virginia Tech

For more information: http://www.nwcaonline.com/NWCAWebSite/Events/nwcanationalduals.aspx

NCAA Division 1 rankings: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/wrestling/d1

SCSU-MSU To Battle For NSIC Wrestling Title

Two top-10 NCAA Division II wrestling teams will clash on Thursday, February 14 when top-ranked St. Cloud State hosts rival Minnesota State-Mankato. The match is the final dual of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) season. It will stream live online from Halenbeck Hall beginning at 7 PM.

St. Cloud State (20-0 overall; 7-0 NSIC) will try to complete an undefeated season and conference title, but it won't be easy. 10th-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato (9-2 overall; 6-0 NSIC) is also chasing a conference championship, undefeated in league duals. The Mavericks will close out their regular season schedule on February 15 against Northern State.

The Huskies will carry a 46-straight dual match victory streak in their quest to win their 1st NCAA Division II wrestling team championship. SCSU finished runner-up in each of the past two years losing to Nebraska-Omaha.

TheMat.com NCAA Division II rankings: http://goo.gl/WpKMg

To watch a live webcast, go here: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/scsu.portal#

Minnesota Gophers Host Iowa On Saturday

Minnesota Gophers wrestling: http://goo.gl/fXJ7f

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GopherWrestling

LeVesseur Featured On FX Prelims Tonight!

UFC on FOX 5

FOX TV fights (7 PM):

• UFC Lightweight title: Nate Diaz (16-7) vs Benson Henderson (17-2)
• Alexander Gustafsson (14-1) vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (21-6)
• Rory MacDonald (13-1) vs BJ Penn (16-8-2)
• Matt Brown (15-11) vs Mike Swick (15-4)

FX fights (4 PM):

• Jeremy Stephens (20-8) vs Yves Edwards (41-18-1)
• Mike Easton (13-1) vs Raphael Assuncao (18-4)
• Joe Proctor (8-1) vs Ramsey Nijem (6-2)
• Henry Martinez (9-2) vs Daron Cruickshank (11-2)
• Abel Trujillo (9-4) vs Marcus LeVesseur (22-6)
• Nam Phan (18-10) vs Dennis Siver (20-8)

Online fight (3:20 PM):

• John Albert (7-3) vs Scott Jorgensen (13-6)

USA Wrestling Olympic Team Roster

2012 USA Olympic Wrestling Team (hometown, club)

Greco Roman
55 kg/121 lbs. - Spenser Mango, St. Louis, MO (U.S. Army)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Ellis Coleman, Oak Park, IL (New York AC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Justin Lester, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (U.S. Army)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Ben Provisor, Stevens Point, WI (Sunkist Kids)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Chas Betts, St. Michael-Albertville HS (Minnesota Storm)

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - none qualified
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers, Kings Mountain, NC (U.S. Army)

Men’s freestyle
55 kg/121 lbs. - Sam Hazewinkel, Pensacola, FL (Sunkist Kids)

60 kg/132 lbs. - Coleman Scott, Waynesburg, PA (Gator WC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Jared Frayer, Clearwater, FL (Gator WC)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Jordan Burroughs, Atco, NJ (Sunkist Kids)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Jake Herbert, Wexford, PA (New York AC)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Jake Varner, Bakersfield, CA (Nittany Lion WC)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Tervel Dlagnev, Arlington, TX (Sunkist Kids)

Women’s freestyle
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Clarissa Chun, Hawaii (Sunkist Kids)
55 kg/121 lbs. - Kelsey Campbell, Milwaukie, OR (Sunkist Kids)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Elena Pirozhkova, Greenfield, MA (Gator WC)
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Stephany Lee, Hawaii (Sunkist Kids)

Olympic Sports Previews

In the next few days I am going to take a look at the four martial arts Olympic sports, highlighting the USA rosters. This includes boxing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling.

Up first will be boxing. Look for a post on July 9.

U.S.A. Olympic Wrestling Team Decided

The U.S. Olympic Trials were held this past weekend in Iowa City. All winners advanced to the U.S.A. Olympic Team.

Freestyle results:
121: Sam Hazewinkel

Betts (blue) vs Holm
Photo by  Matthew Stockman

132: Coleman Scott
145.5: Jared Frayer
163: Jordan Burroughs
185: Jake Herbert
211.5: Jake Varner
264.5: Tervel Diagnev

Greco-Roman results:
121: Spenser Mango
132: Ellis Coleman
145.5: Justin Lester (def. C.P. Schlatter, Univ. of Minnesota '08)
163: Ben Provisor
185: Chas Betts, St. Michael-Albertville HS '94, Minnesota Storm (def. Jordan Holm, Northfield HS '99, Minnesota Storm)
211.5: R.C. Johnson
264.5: Dremiel Byers

Women's Freestyle results:
105.5: Clarissa Chun
111: Kelsey Campbell
138.75: Elena Pirozhkova
158.5: Stephaney Lee (def. Ali Bernard, New Ulm HS '04)

Gophers Come Up Short, Nelson Crowned Champion

Despite having one more wrestler competing in the quarterfinals, Minnesota came up 25 points short of winning a team NCAA National Championship. Big Ten Conference foe Penn State had five wrestlers reach the finals and that was enough to wrap up their second-straight team championship.

Final Team Scores:
1. Penn State  143
2. Minnesota  117.5
3. Iowa  107.5
4. Cornell  102.5
5. Ohio State  68.5

This was the fifth runner-up finish for Minnesota, who won the NCAA Championship in 2007, 2002, and 2001.

Tony Nelson

The highlight of the tournament for the Gophers came in the final match as sophomore Tony Nelson became the fifth heavyweight in Minnesota history to capture the NCAA title. Nelson defeated Zach Rey of Lehigh 4-1 in the final.

The individual title is the first for a Minnesota heavyweight since Cole Konrad (2007 and 2006). Other Gopher heavyweight champions include Brock Lesnar (2000), Verne Gagne (1949) and Leonard "Butch" Levy (1941).

Minnesota Gophers Individual Results:
125: Zach Saunders, 6-1; 3rd Place
133: Chris Dardanes, 5-2; 4th Place
141: Nick Dardanes, 2-2
149: Dylan Ness, 4-1; 2nd Place
157: none
165: Cody Yohn, 0-2
174: Logan Storley, 3-3; 6th Place
184: Kevin Steinhauss, 5-2; 5th Place
197: Sonny Yohn, 5-2; 5th Place
HWT: Tony Nelson, 5-0; NCAA Champion

Gophers Head Coach J Robinson was also honored at the tournament by being named NWCA National Coach of the Year.

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Former UM-Morris Wrestler Sara McMann Making An Impact In MMA

Photo by K. Mills (Sherdog.com)

It was the fall of 1998 at the college campus of the University of Minnesota-Morris. A small town in west central Minnesota, with a population of just around 5,000, another school year was set to begin. A small 18-year old girl from North Carolina had somehow made her way to Morris, a school with a high reputation in academics. And in wrestling. Women's wrestling.

Sara McMann had started wrestling at age 14 at McDowell High School in Marion, North Carolina. Her older brother, Jason, was also a wrestler and her role model. He needed a practice partner and who better than his little sister. McMann went to UM-Morris, which was, in 1993, the first college in the United States to sponsor women's wrestling as an official varsity sport. Her coach was Doug Reese, who helped build UMM into a wrestling power. Unfortunately, the program was cut in 2003 due to budget constraints.

After competing with the Cougars all winter, tradgedy struck the McMann family. On January 22, 1999 Jason disappeared from Lock Haven University after an altercation with several football players. Three month went by before the body of Jason McMann was found in the woods about 30 miles away from campus. Sara decided to transfer closer to home and ended up at Lock Haven in the fall of 1999 competing with the men's wrestling program.

Flash forward to June of 2010. Now an Olympic Silver medalist (2004 Athens Games), the first American woman wrestler to medal, the wrestler has turned to a new sport. McMann made her mixed martial arts debut as an amateur at an event in South Carolina. Three victories as an amateur before McMann debuts as a professional in May 2011. She defeats Christina Marks by submission in just 1:41 of the first round. Her second fight was against former Canadien Olympic weightlifter Julie Malenfant, who she stoppped by TKO in just 32 seconds.

In just her third career pro fight, McMann took on veteran mma fighter Tonya Evinger on live television at Titan Fighting Championships 19 on HDNet. Evinger came in with a 8-5 record, but had fought some of the top female mma athletes like Jennifer Tate (6-1), Gina Carano (7-1), Julie Kedzie (16-9) and Alexis Davis (10-4).

Using her superior strength and wrestling, McMann easily won a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). It was an impressive performance considering Sara had a total of just 2 minutes 13 seconds of cage experience.

Keeping up with her one fight per month schedule, Sara McMann (3-0) is scheduled to face Hawaiian Raquel Pa'aluhi (3-1) on August 27 at ProElite 1 in Honolulu. The event is headlined by former heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski.

Like the male wrestling athletes before her, could McMann be known for paving the way for female wrestlers to make it in mma? I would say she is off to a good start.

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Ness, Thorn Win Titles as Gophers Place Second - Gophersports.com - Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics

Ness, Thorn Win Titles as Gophers Place Second - Gophersports.com - Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics

Big Ten Championship Team Results:
1. Iowa - 156.5
2. Minnesota - 119.5
3. Wisconsin - 109
4. Ohio State - 102.5
5. Penn State - 91
6. Purdue - 76
7. Michigan State - 68.5
8. Illinois - 64
8. Indiana - 64
10. Michigan - 57.5
11. Northwestern - 20

NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Quick Results

Division III
Consolation: Concordia (Moorhead) 22, St. John's 13
Semifinal: Augsburg 22, Coe 14
7th Place: Cornell College 25, St. John's 20
5th Place: UW-LaCrosse 36, Concordia (Moorhead) 6
Championship: Augsburg 18, Wartburg 15

Division II
Semifinal: UW-Parkside 19, St. Cloud State 14
Consolation: Nebraska-Omaha 31, MSU-Mankato 5
7th Place: St. Cloud State 19, Augustana 18
3rd Place: MSU-Mankato 36, Gannon 10
Division I
Semifinal: Iowa 28, Minnesota 12
3rd Place: Ohio State 26, Minnesota 12
Championship: Iowa 19, Iowa State 12

Follow my Twitter feed for live coverage of the Minnesota-Iowa match.

Minnesota, Minnesota State, Augsburg all advance at National Duals

The 2010 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals began today with some of the top collegiate wrestling programs in the country competing.  Six schools from Minnesota are competing in three different divisions to see who the top wrestling team will be.

The University of Minnesota, currently ranked #6 in the NWCA/USA Today national poll, were seeded fifth in the Division 1 bracket.  The Gophers opened the day against #17 ranked Missouri and advanced to the second round with a 25-14 victory.

Minnesota then faced #5 ranked Central Michigan, the fourth seed in the tournament.  A dominating 25-9 win propelled the Gophers to the semifinals, where they will face their Big 10 Conference rival Iowa on Sunday at 11 AM.  Iowa is ranked #1 in the nation and is the tournament top seed.

Two NCAA Division II schools are competing and did well on Saturday.  Minnesota State-Mankato, ranked #11 in the most current NWCA poll, pulled off an upset in the first round and advanced to the semifinals.  The Mavericks opened the day with a 23-16 upset of the fifth seed Western (CO) State.  Western State was ranked #7 in the national poll.  A quarterfinal matchup against West Liberty (WV) University saw MSU coast to a 27-8 victory.  The Mavericks will face top seed University of Nebraska-Omaha on Sunday at 11 AM.

St. Cloud State, ranked #9 nationally, defeated San Francisco State 22-10 in their opening match, but fell to Nebraska-Omaha 27-12 in the quarterfinals.  The Huskies defeated #14 ranked Fort Hays State 17-13 in the consolation bracket.

Three MIAC teams are competing in the Division III bracket.  Augsburg, Concordia (Moorhead), and St. John's had mixed results on the first day, but the Auggies will be featured in the semifinals again on Sunday.

Ranked #2 in the NCWA Division III national poll, Augsburg defeated UW-Whitewater 32-6 and North Central (IL) 25-12 to advance in the tournament.  They will face Coe (IA) College, the #3 ranked team in the country.  Coe defeated #9 randed Concordia in the quarterfinals.

St. John's lost their opening match against Delaware Valley 22-15, but advanced through the consolation bracket by defeating Dubuque 19-18.  The Johnnies advanced over North Central after a 15-15 score was decided by near-fall points.

Local results:
Minnesota 25, Missouri 14
Minnesota 26, Central Michigan 9
Minnesota State-Mankato 23, Western State 16
Minnesota State-Mankato 27, West Liberty 8
St. Cloud State 22, San Francisco State 10
Nebraska-Omaha 27, St. Cloud State 12
St. Cloud State 23, Fort Hays State 13
Augsburg 23, UW-Whitewater 6
Augsburg 25, North Central 12
Concordia 24, Cornell College 10
Coe 33, Concordia 6
Concordia 30, Johnson & Wales 13
Delaware Valley 22, St. John's 15
St. John's 19, Dubuque 8
St. John's 15, North Central (St. John's advances on near fall points)
Sunday schedule:
D1: Minnesota vs. Iowa, 11 AM
D2: St. Cloud State vs. Wisconsin-Parkside, 9 AM
D2: Minnesota State-Mankato vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 11 AM
D3: Concordia vs. St. John's, 9 AM
D3: Augsburg vs. Coe, 11 AM

Gophers win Big Ten finale

Jayson Ness tied a 13-year-old school record with his 51st career victory by fall, pinning Matt Ortega at 133 pounds as the Gophers captured their final dual meet of the season by a 22-13 score over Indiana (15-7-1, 2-5-1). The Gophers (15-8, 5-3) were also buoyed by wins from Tyler Safratowich (157 pounds) and Gordon Bierschenk (197 pounds) who were both wrestling in their final home dual on Senior Day.

After Minnesota dropped the first bout of the meet, Ness brought the crowd of 2,854 to its feet when he pinned Ortega in the waning seconds of the first period. The pin was Ness’ 16th of the season and tied the school mark set by Billy Pierce (1992-96).

Honored in a pre-meet ceremony for their contributions to Minnesota wrestling, both Safratowich and Bierschenk notched hard-fought wins by decision that helped the Gophers close out the dual season on a high note. Safratowich’s victory came over the Hoosiers’ 13th-ranked Kurt Kinser by a 5-1 score and Bierschenk’s 10-5 win over Matt Powless at 197 pounds virtually put the meet out of reach for Indiana

Mike Thorn, who had lost his previous three matches to top-five ranked opponents, bounced back with a decisive 7-3 win over Andrae Hernandez at 141 pounds. Hernandez, who had defeated Iowa’s top-ranked Alex Tsirtsis in overtime on Friday, was forced to wrestle from behind throughout the match as Thorn recorded a takedown just four seconds into the bout.

Following Safratowich’s win at 157 pounds, the Hoosiers responded with wins in each of the next three bouts to claim a 13-12 lead. Minnesota redshirt freshman Sonny Yohn then regained the lead when his 11-0 major decision win over Eric Cameron gave his team a 16-13 lead it would not relinquish.

Bierschenk’s win pushed the lead to 19-13 and heavyweight Ben Berhow put a stamp on the dual win with a 5-3 win over Nate Everhart. Berhow’s win gave the sophomore a perfect 8-0 record in Big Ten duals this season.

Minnesota will be off for nearly two weeks as it prepares for the Big Ten Championships, which will be held March 7-8 at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa. For ticket information, visit gopsusports.cstv.com.

Gopher wrestlers wrap up regular season on Sunday

The Gophers got a forfeit victory at 133 pounds, but those six points were all they would get in a 29-6 dual meet loss to Iowa State on Friday evening in Ames. The meet, which took place concurrently with a women’s gymnastics meet between Minnesota and Iowa State as a part of ISU’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ event at the Hilton Coliseum, featured seven decision wins by Iowa State.

Just one pin away from tying Minnesota’s all-time school record with 51, Jayson Ness was not afforded the chance to wrestle on Friday night. Ness’ win by forfeit was his second such win of the season, having earned six points for his team in a 26-12 win at Arizona State earlier this winter. Ness will now have the opportunity to tie the record owned by Billy Pierce (1992-96) in Minneapolis when the Gophers host No. 18 Indiana to close the dual season on Sunday afternoon.

In the opening match of the meet, Iowa State was able to set the tone when 10th-ranked Tyler Clark edged the Gophers’ Zach Sanders with a 3-2 decision at 125 pounds. The win by Clark dealt Sanders just his fourth loss of the season and foiled Sanders’ attempt at consecutive wins over an opponent ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Mike Thorn suffered his third consecutive close defeat to a top-five opponent with a 7-5 loss to fourth-ranked Nick Gallick at 141 pounds. Thorn lost to Wisconsin’s No. 1 Zach Tanelli (2-1) and Iowa’s No. 2 Alex Tsirtsis (7-5) last weekend.

Minnesota heavyweight Ben Berhow had his career-long nine-match winning streak snapped by top-ranked David Zabriske in the final bout of the dual. Berhow will still have an opportunity to finish the Big Ten dual season with a perfect 8-0 record on Sunday at the Sports Pavilion, where he is projected to meet the Hoosiers’ Nate Everhart.

The team will also celebrate the anniversaries of its 1959 and 1999 Big Ten championships on Sunday at the Sports Pavilion. Tickets for the dual with Indiana are still available and can be obtained by calling 1-800-U-GOPHER or by contacting the Gopher Ticket Office at 612-624-8080.

Gophers ranked #12 in preseason poll

The University of Minnesota Gophers wrestling team was ranked #12 in the NCAA Division 1 wrestling preseason poll released on October 21, 2008. All 11 teams in the Big Ten Conference received votes in the poll with nine being ranked in the top 16.

USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Team Rankings
1 Iowa (Big 10)
2 Iowa State
3 Cornell
4 Ohio State (Big 10)
5 Missouri
6 Nebraska
T7 Penn State (Big 10)
T7 Oklahoma State
9 Illinois (Big 10)
10 Michigan (Big 10)
11 Northwestern (Big 10)
12 MINNESOTA (Big 10)
13 Wisconsin (Big 10)
14 Boise State
15 Edinboro
16 Indiana (Big 10)
17 Maryland
18 Central Michigan
19 Old Dominion
20 Oklahoma
T21 Navy
T21 Penn
23 Virginia
24 Northern Iowa
25 West Virginia

Others receiving votes: Harvard, Kent State, Hofstra, Oregon State, NC State, Michigan State, Purdue, Chattanooga