Thus far in '24-'25 both of these outstanding wrestling programs have impressed me. The Golden Gophers have impressed me because in in two dual meets, one against North Dakota State & the other against Campbell, they completely shut out both teams. Winning all of the "could go either way" matches. Cooper Flynn for example pulling out a tough one against Anthony Molton in a 5-4 decision. They nearly did the same against Bucknell, losing only one match in that dual. They come in looking to go 10 for 10, and that's admirable.
The Jackrabbits have impressed me because if there's a team out there that implements the philosophy of "wrestle all seven minutes" it is South Dakota State. I watched the dual at Northern Iowa live this past Sunday, and that was my #1 takeaway from the dual concerning the blue and yellow. Win or lose, behind or ahead, they are out there wrestling the whole time.
I think combining the two states of mind and two styles is going to result in some really fun, exciting, and exhilarating wrestling in this dual. All 10 matches.
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| #14 Cooper Flynn Vs #5 Tanner Jordan 125 |
Both of these guys are balls to the wall, give it 100%, going to give it everything they have to win grapplers. I personally think the best thing to happen to Tanner Jordan in his career was finally getting a win over Patrick McKee, whom had beaten him previously five times. It seemed to me that ever since he defeated McKee, he's been on a role. Ironically enough, now he has a new Golden Gopher to contend with & that Golden Gopher is going to be every bit as tough. I see this one going to the wire. Being decided in the closing seconds. Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see sudden victory or even tiebreakers.
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| #8 Tyler Wells Vs #24 Derrick Cardinal 133 |
These two outstanding talents have met twice. A 19-4 technical fall for Wells & a 5-3 decision for Cardinal. Makes it fun to predict, doesn't it? The truth of the matter here, is that Cardinal sorta has a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on. He's up and down. Inconsistent. There are times when he looks extremely good out there on the mat and times when he doesn't. He's 6-1 thus far on the season.
Wells thus far is undefeated. Good wins against Chad Bellis, Kurt Phipps and Connor McGonagle under his belt. Both Cardinal and Wells have wrestled Kyle Burwick this season. Cardinal took it took Burwick in a 9-1 decision, where it was much closer for Wells in a 3-2 decision. This has the potential to be a very good match.
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| #5 Vance VomBaur Vs U.R. Caleb Gross 141 |
Ranking strongly suggest bonus points for the Golden Gophers here, whereas results tell a different story. Although Vance VomBaur is the #5 wrestler in the nation, 8th in 2024 NCAA DI's & Caleb Gross is unranked coming off of a losing record last year...we are probably still looking at a good, tight match. Why do I say this? Because it's been a good, tight match the last three times it has happened.
5-2, 4-1 & 3-1 s.v. have been the match results. So the Golden Gopher has been winning all of the meetings, but he hasn't been killing the Jackrabbit the way you think he would be. This dual takes place in Brookings. Can you imagine how loud First Bank and Trust arena would get if he could pull off this upset? The blue and yellow faithful would completely lose their ' ' .
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| #22 Drew Roberts Vs #25 Alek Martin 149 |
Here's another one that's really hard to predict. These guys have met a total of three times thus far. Drew Roberts with both a 7-1 decision and a 16-5 major decision. Alek Martin with a 12-2 major decision. In the realms of a world where a takedown is worth 3 points and a turn can be worth up to 4, big scoring matches aren't as rare as they used to be. Considering that both guys will most likely be on the offensive, I think we could once again see a lot of points on the board.
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| #7 Tommy Askey Vs #17 Cobe Siebrecht 157 |
Bear with me....
Recently at the Bison Open, Charlie Millard of Minnesota majored Cobe Siebrecht 13-4. However, considering that Millard is redshirting, I don't think we're going to see him here against South Dakota State. I think it will be Tommy Askey in action.
Continue to bear with me...
At the Bison Open, Millard suffered a loss. An 8-7 loss. To whom? Moses Espinoza-Owen. From where? South Dakota State. He's a redshirt freshman. So, could we possibly see him in action instead of Siebrecht?
College wrestling is a strange world. What I do know is that we have two transfers here. One from Appalachian State & the other from Iowa. Both are trying to prove themselves and show their teams that their investments were well worth it. This would be the match to do so.
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| #10 Andrew Sparks Vs #25 Drake Rhodes 165 |
Have you ever treated yourself to the Marvelous Marvin Hagler Vs "The Hitman" Tommy Hearns fight from April 15th, 1985? These two guys went out into the ring and threw everything they had at one another. Three rounds of both guys trying to kill one another for about 8 minutes straight. That's exactly what I'm expecting to see in this match between Andrew Sparks and Drake Rhodes.
Both of these tremendous athletes are very in your face, physical wrestlers. Might see some blood in this one or a couple of black eyes.
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| #25 Clayton Whiting Vs #3 Cade DeVos 174 |
I've been watching Cade DeVos since his freshman year. Watching him last Sunday, come back from a deficit to win a tough match against Jared Simma was rewarding. To see how far his technique has come and how much he has improved is pretty cool. It's not only that, but it's also how calm, cool and collected he is out on the mat. Doesn't get overwhelmed. Doesn't get too excited. Simply keeps wrestling. Keeps trying to create an opening, finds one and then takes advantage of it. That's fun to watch. The "Chess" part of wrestling if you will.
With that said, I know how tough Clayton Whiting can be. He's shown his skills in the past. A 4-1 win over Colton Hawks of Missouri, speaks for itself. Despite the gap in ranking, I think he can give DeVos a good match.
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| #18 Max McEnelly Vs #4 Bennett Berge 184 |
Going into this match, I ask myself a question. Is Max McEnelly underrated at the moment? I think he is. I also know going into this match, he has to face an incredibly tough Bennett Berge. So even if I am right, and McEnelly is underrated, we might not know from this match. Then again, we might. Here's what I can say from the times I've watched Berge wrestle both live and via television/internet stream.
There was an old professional wrestler back in the 80's and early 90's named Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. Legendary WWE commentator Gorilla Monsoon would always say about him, "It takes the Hammer a good 5 minutes just to get warmed up in there!" Well Bennett Berge is to collegiate wrestling what Greg Valentine is to professional wrestling. It takes him a minute before he's fully charged. He doesn't floor it as soon as he hits the on ramp. He gradually gets up to speed. Yet, once he's up to speed, he's at full throttle. The cruise control is set and there is no slowing him down.
What does this pose for McEnelly? I say go hard and go fast right from the get go. Try and put as many points on the board as soon as possible. From what I could tell (and I'm just a fan. I repeat just a fan) that's how Shane Liegel of Wisconsin was able to overcome him in the first round of the NCAA's last year. If you wait around and let Berge make the first move, by that time it'll be too late. That's been my observation, but again I'm not a scientist, nor do I claim to be.
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| #7 Isaiah Salazar Vs #8 Zach Glazier 197 |
If NCAA DI 197 lbs has a darkhorse among the Buchanan's and the Ferrari's, I think the answer could very well be Zach Glazier. I've been very vocal about that all season. If he's in the right frame of mind and ready to go 100% mentally and physically, I don't think there's a wrestler at 197 that he can't beat. That doesn't mean that I'm not well aware of how tough Isaiah Salazar is, or that he may very well be a darkhorse in his own right. Both of these guys are currently undefeated. Both of them have their eyes set on the prize. Salazar won a BIG 10 title last year at 184. Glazier finished 2nd to a four time BIG 10 champ at 197. Stories get told out there on the mat. This will be one most certainly worth reading.
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| #1 Gable Steveson Vs #28 Luke Rasmussen HWT |
Let's not kid ourselves here. This is going to be bonus points for the Golden Gophers. There's no denying that. And it isn't a shot at Luke Rasmussen either. If Clark Kent & Bruce Wayne were both real people, unless Wayne had kryptonite, Kent would destroy him. I love Wayne, huge Batman fan, but that's just the way it is. Gable Steveson may not be able to fly. He may not be able to run faster than a locomotive and I'm pretty sure he can't leap tall buildings in a single bound. However, there's something super about him and he's the "Kal El" of our great sport. I give Wyatt Hendrickson and Greg Kerkvliet the best chance against Steveson, but even then I still think the separation will be apparent.
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