2021 NCAA Champion Gable Steveson (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Minnesota Golden Gophers
A quick reminder to those who may have forgotten:
Do not forget about the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota, kind of quietly, turned in top-10 finishes last season at both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships - fifth at the conference tournament, with 77.5 points; seventh at the national tournament, with 64 points and three All-Americans.
"We had some really good leaders last year," Minnesota coach Brandon Eggum said. "I was impressed that they didn't sweat the small things. Guys were pretty adaptive, and they looked at last year at just being thankful for the opportunity to compete."
Many of key Gopher wrestlers are back again this season, but the lineup will also feature some new faces. And as a result, expect Minnesota to be right in the thick of a competitive, deep Big Ten Conference again this season.
"These guys just love wrestling," Minnesota coach Brandon Eggum said. "We're fired up. We've got a lot of new faces that came in this year. The goal is to obviously get better, and to put the best guy out on the mat."
TOP RETURNERS
Let's start with the three All-Americans: Patrick McKee (125), Brayton Lee (157), and Gable Steveson (285). Those three combined to score 53 of Minnesota's 64 team points at the NCAA Championships last year.
McKee lost in the second round and rattled off six-straight wrestleback wins to finish third - and that's after taking eighth at the Big Ten tournament two weeks before. Lee reached the quarterfinals then bounced back with a bloodround victory to finish on the podium. Gable did Gable things, going 17-0 overall en route to his first national title.
But Minnesota returns some valuable experience all over the lineup, like Marcos Polanco (141), Michael Blockhus (149), Andrew Sparks (165). All three qualified for the NCAA Championships. Garrett Joles is also back and leads the battle for the starting spot at 197 pounds.
"I really believe Michael Blockhus is going to make a statement early in the season," Eggum said, "and really do some great things for the program this season."
KEY DEPARTURES
Minnesota lost three key contributors from last year's team, in Boo Dryden, Jake Allar and Owen Webster, but their departures have opened the door for other wrestlers to step up and claim starting spots.
Dryden, the starter at 133 last season, is now at Nebraska. He was a national qualifier last season and went 19-16 in two seasons with the Gophers. Eggum said Jake Gliva and true freshman Vance Vombaur will battle to replace him.
Allar, the starter at 174 last season, transferred to Northern Colorado. He went 28-15 for Minnesota between 2019-21, and qualified for last year's national tournament. In his place is Jared Krattiger, who transferred in from Wisconsin.
Webster, the starter at 184 last season, graduated and joined the Gopher Wrestling Club. He spent four years with Minnesota, with a 48-30 career record, and reached the bloodround of the NCAA Championships last year. Eggum said Isaiah Salazar is now the likely front-runner to start at 184. Salazar went 4-1 as a true freshman last year.
TOP NEWCOMERs
We mentioned a few already - like Krattiger and Vombaur - but they aren't the only new Gopher wrestlers to keep an eye on early in the season.
Krattiger, of course, came from Wisconsin, where he was a two-year starter at 174 and is expected to take up the same role with Minnesota. He posted a 13-22 career record in two seasons with the Badgers, including a 4-5 mark last year.
Vombaur is one of three freshmen Eggum mentioned as guys who will be vying for starting spots. Vombaur, from Greeley, Colorado, will compete with Gliva for the spot at 133. There's also Aaron Nagao, from California, who Eggum said is among four guys competing for the starting spot at 141, with Polanco, Jake Bergeland, and Brent Jones.
The third freshman: Bennett Tabor, the ballyhooed recruit from nearby powerhouse Simley who Eggum said might contend for the starting spot at 197, along with Joles, Rowan Morgan and Michial Foy. Tabor is likely the future heavyweight for Minnesota, but is planning on throwing his hat into the ring at 197 early this season.
Minnesota is hosting an intersquad event at Williams Arena on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m., and is planning on attending the Bison Open (Nov. 13), Daktronics Open (Nov. 21) and the UNI Open (Dec. 11), all of which will help decide what the early-season lineup will look like.
WRESTLER TO WATCH
We're going with Gable Steveson, because duh, right?
Gable won everything over the past year. Consider these numbers: From the start of the 2021 NCAA season through the end of the Tokyo Games, he won 30 consecutive matches by a combined 343-71. Not bad.
In the span of about eight months, he won a Big Ten title, an NCAA title, the Hodge Trophy, the Olympic Trials, the Pan-American Championship, and the Olympics, all in the span of eight months. Again, not bad.
Gable will carry a 34-match winning streak into his senior season, and is 67-2 overall for the Gophers. Eggum is thrilled he decided to come back for his final collegiate season. Catch him while you still can.
"He's a great leader - not just on the mat, but off the mat, too," Eggum said. "The new guys who just joined the program, they're really thankful to get to be around him this year. At the end of the race, we've got a guy who's going to score some big points.
"It's really exciting. He's done a lot for our program. I know him coming back will be a big impact on our attendance and our crowds. No matter where you go, people are always excited to watch him compete."
POTENTIAL LINEUP
125: Patrick McKee
133: Jake Gliva, Vance Vombaur
141: Marcos Polanco, Aaron Nagao, Jake Bergeland, Brent Jones
149: Michael Blockhus
157: Brayton Lee
165: Andrew Sparks
174: Jared Krattiger, Bailey O'Reilly
184: Isaiah Salazar
197: Garrett Joles, Rowan Morgan, Michial Foy, Bennett Tabor
285: Gable Steveson
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