No. 2 Gophers Resume Big Ten Competition

Minnesota travels to Northwestern before hosting Wisconsin.

The No. 2 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers will return to Big Ten action as they hit the road to take on No. 16 Northwestern on Friday evening and then return home to host No. 23 Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

No. 16 Northwestern, led by head coach , opened its Big Ten home schedule last weekend by defeated then-No. 23 Indiana, 27-12. The Wildcats are 6-1 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten Competition after a loss to Nebraska in December.

The Wildcats were able to seal a seventh place team finish in the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Northwestern had four competitors place in the top six and finished with an overall score of 63.5, just above Big Ten foe, Wisconsin.

SCOUTING THE BADGERS

The No. 23 Badgers will also return to dual competition as they host No. 9 Ohio State on Friday evening in Madison. Wisconsin with an overall record of 8-3 will then travel to take on border rival Minnesota on Sunday afternoon.

Just before the new year, Wisconsin also competed in the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. The Badgers had four place winners and finished the competition in eighth place overall.

REWIND – SOUTHERN SCUFFLE

To start 2014, the Golden Gophers traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn. to compete in the Southern Scuffle. The team finished in third place with a score of 161.0 behind No. 1 Penn State (189.0) and No. 4 Oklahoma State (164.5) despite leading after the first day of competition.

Two Golden Gophers took home individual crowns at the competition as Scott Schiller(197) and Tony Nelson (285) finished the competition with an undefeated record in their respective weight classes.

This is Nelson’s second Southern Scuffle victory after ending the tournament as the runner-up last year. He was able to win his respective weight class in 2012.

GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS

The Golden Gophers sit in the top 5 in three major team rankings including the USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll (2), the InterMat rankings (4) and WIN’s Jan. 3, 2014 Tournament Power Index (2).

Eight Gophers made their way into the InterMat rankings in their respective weight classes including No. 10 David Thorn (133), No. 5 Chris Dardanes (141), No. 2 Nick Dardanes (149), No. 9 Dylan Ness (157), No. 5 Logan Storley (174), No. 10 Kevin Steinhaus (184), No. 1 Scott Schiller (197) and No. 1 Tony Nelson (HWT).

Both Schiller and Nelson are undefeated this season.

CANNED FOOD DRIVE

At the dual on Sunday afternoon, the Gophers will host a food drive that will benefit Second Harvest Heartland and the Prospect Park Food Shelf. Bring a non-perishable food item or monetary donation to the match to help those in need and support the Gophers at the same time!

A CHANCE TO BE DIFFERENT: Tony Nelson

Two-time heavyweight national champion, Tony Nelson, has started his season on track with his goal to become Minnesota’s first ever three-time national champion. Thus far, he has been ranked No. 1 in every edition of InterMat’s rankings and is undefeated (19-0) on the season. His quest for a third national championship was featured in this month’s edition of Ski-U-Mah Magazine.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Golden Gophers will hit the road and spend next weekend in Michigan. Minnesota will take on Michigan State at 6 p.m. before heading to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

TICKETS

There are still tickets available for this weekends dual against Wisconsin as well as single event tickets for when the Gophers host Indiana (Feb. 2) and Penn State (Feb. 9). Don’t miss out on your opportunity to see the Gophers in action on their home mat.

BE PART OF THE ACTION

You can be part of the action by liking Gopher Wrestling on Facebook or by following @GopherWrestling and using the hashtag #GopherTough. News about the program, live bout updates and other information can be at your finger tips by following our social media accounts.

For live dual results, please follow along via trackwrestling.com. Results will be posted on Twitter.

LIVE ON THE BIG TEN NETWORK

Fans will be able to see the Gophers live on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, February 9 as Minnesota hosts Penn State.