Minnesota 2/15

[17>1]

Let's pump it up!!! in the wrestling forum. The U of M comes to town and I for one am pretty excited about it. They've got some pretty good wrestlers that are nationally ranked, and should be a very tough test for the Herd. Anyone else going to make it out for this?

[Snake]

Hate to burst your bubble but i only see us having a shot at 125 and 184. Hope im wrong! That is unless Minny doesnt take us seriously and brings partial JV.

[17>1]

Hate to burst your bubble but i only see us having a shot at 125 and 184. Hope im wrong! That is unless Minny doesnt take us seriously and brings partial JV.

And if by "bubble" you mean high expectations of the Bison beating them, no I don't have any kind of bubble. Just nice to see a top 2 or 3 team in the nation with some highly ranked wrestlers come to town, that's all. Ness @ '57 is sure fun to watch. And WF's own Scott Schiller will be here too.

[Christopher Moen]

Even though Minnesota has been flat as of late, I only expect NDSU to win one to three matches in this dual. This isn't being disrespectful towards our team, but the Gophers are really balanced top to bottom and still stand a good chance at being a Top-Three Team at Nationals this year. I believe they are a bigger threat at being a tournament team than a dual meet team, especially in comparison to Iowa.

Hopefully, nobody gets a similar beat down I received from Eggum (Minnesota Assistant Head Coach) back in late-1998. I got a take-down within the first 20 seconds of our match and like the typically mental-midget I was back then, was physically worn out for the next six and half minutes. After he realize he couldn't turn me (damn, he was unmerciless attempting the barb-wire turn), he started doing the release for an escape, circle around and score another take-down routine. It got so bad, I had to grab and hold onto his leg to prevent getting a free escape. Although the final score was 22-10, the match wasn't even that close. Definitely an embarrassing nonperformance on my part, but I did feel a bit better when he earned a Silver Medal at the 2001 World Championships.

[Big Bird]

Way too long, but these are my two favorite teams and I didn't want to retype my predictions, so I'm pasting mine I put on the MN forum:
My prediction:
125- Rodriguez maj Lizak. If Lizak can find a way to get the first takedown, he has a fighting chance. Don't expect Rrodriguez to pick down during the match. He's been great on his feet lately, and I see that continuing vs Lizak. The one thing Rodriguez struggles with is strength, but Lizak doesn't have enough yet.
133- Brancale dec Gliva. This is one of NDSU's three big holes. Weber gives them a chance when he's on top, but is not good on his feet, so I think they go with Gliva and hope he can score off of his front head. Regardless of who NDSU throws out there, Brancale should win comfortably. Dardanes can get a tech against either of the two if he starts and pushes the pace
141- Dardanes maj Bengston. Looking forward to this one. Dardanes is light years better, but Bengston is funky and unorthodox. He spladed Dardanes (if my memory isn't failing me) last time and he's hit that multiple times this year. He's dangerous with his front head locks too and consistently looks for 5 when he gets to one
149- Ream dec Short. This is the one I'm most excited for. Ream is an unknown to basically the whole country, but he's pretty solid. He's not a very smooth mover, but he gets the job done. He has been great on top lately and on a roll (save for the Utah Valley dual). Ream has 20+ wins and has to be on the fringes of the top 33 in the coaches panel rankings. Short needs this match. He was 25 in the first coaches panel ranking and if he wants to stay there or move up, he needs to win. If he wins, it should be a good confidence boost heading into the rest of the postseasonand keep him squarely in the mix for a wild card if he doesn't get an AQ. I think this match is won by whoever wrestles the better match on their feet. If Short is finishing his shots quickly, he'll win. Also, Short beat Ream 4-2 earlier this year
157- Dolezal dec Nehring. Jack Bass beat both Nehring and Keogh early this year. The gophers can win this match with a backup. If Smith can weigh in at 157, give him the match. In Nehring's defense, he's been a lot better lately and getting the job done on top. Dolezal has never wowed me, and I could see Nehring being right in it vs him. Smith would be a terrible matchup for Nehring IMO, as I've only seen Nehring score on his feet off of a Russian. Ness gets a pin if he wrestles.
165- Wanzeck maj Keogh. Keogh has underwhelmed all year and had been at 157. If Wanzeck is willing to work and push the pace on his feet, he can get a major with relative ease.
174- Storley dec Julson. Just don't get hurt...major is a possibility if Storley wants it bad enough. Would be nice to see him get aggressive.
184- Zillmer dec Pfarr. Zillmer has been looking better as the year has progressed (albeit vs generally lesser competition), while Pfarr hasn't really. Should be close, and Pfarr certainly can win, but Zillmer and his blast doubles and body locks get it done.
197- Schiller maj Peterson. Schiller should be able to do pretty much what he wants in this one.
HWT- Kroells dec Knutson. Knutson has been winning, and looking pretty solid, but the thing he struggles with is good shots...which is what MK can deliver in droves.

Final: 24-10 MN. If they have their full lineup, 29-10 MN

I just hope they both make it through this healthy. 141, 149, 184, and HWT could all be entertaining.

[BisonTeacher]

Will this be on all access? Ir shows a link on gobison page but its not on the all access schedule.

[17>1]

Way too long, but these are my two favorite teams and I didn't want to retype my predictions, so I'm pasting mine I put on the MN forum:
My prediction:
125- Rodriguez maj Lizak. If Lizak can find a way to get the first takedown, he has a fighting chance. Don't expect Rrodriguez to pick down during the match. He's been great on his feet lately, and I see that continuing vs Lizak. The one thing Rodriguez struggles with is strength, but Lizak doesn't have enough yet.
133- Brancale dec Gliva. This is one of NDSU's three big holes. Weber gives them a chance when he's on top, but is not good on his feet, so I think they go with Gliva and hope he can score off of his front head. Regardless of who NDSU throws out there, Brancale should win comfortably. Dardanes can get a tech against either of the two if he starts and pushes the pace
141- Dardanes maj Bengston. Looking forward to this one. Dardanes is light years better, but Bengston is funky and unorthodox. He spladed Dardanes (if my memory isn't failing me) last time and he's hit that multiple times this year. He's dangerous with his front head locks too and consistently looks for 5 when he gets to one
149- Ream dec Short. This is the one I'm most excited for. Ream is an unknown to basically the whole country, but he's pretty solid. He's not a very smooth mover, but he gets the job done. He has been great on top lately and on a roll (save for the Utah Valley dual). Ream has 20+ wins and has to be on the fringes of the top 33 in the coaches panel rankings. Short needs this match. He was 25 in the first coaches panel ranking and if he wants to stay there or move up, he needs to win. If he wins, it should be a good confidence boost heading into the rest of the postseasonand keep him squarely in the mix for a wild card if he doesn't get an AQ. I think this match is won by whoever wrestles the better match on their feet. If Short is finishing his shots quickly, he'll win. Also, Short beat Ream 4-2 earlier this year
157- Dolezal dec Nehring. Jack Bass beat both Nehring and Keogh early this year. The gophers can win this match with a backup. If Smith can weigh in at 157, give him the match. In Nehring's defense, he's been a lot better lately and getting the job done on top. Dolezal has never wowed me, and I could see Nehring being right in it vs him. Smith would be a terrible matchup for Nehring IMO, as I've only seen Nehring score on his feet off of a Russian. Ness gets a pin if he wrestles.
165- Wanzeck maj Keogh. Keogh has underwhelmed all year and had been at 157. If Wanzeck is willing to work and push the pace on his feet, he can get a major with relative ease.
174- Storley dec Julson. Just don't get hurt...major is a possibility if Storley wants it bad enough. Would be nice to see him get aggressive.
184- Zillmer dec Pfarr. Zillmer has been looking better as the year has progressed (albeit vs generally lesser competition), while Pfarr hasn't really. Should be close, and Pfarr certainly can win, but Zillmer and his blast doubles and body locks get it done.
197- Schiller maj Peterson. Schiller should be able to do pretty much what he wants in this one.
HWT- Kroells dec Knutson. Knutson has been winning, and looking pretty solid, but the thing he struggles with is good shots...which is what MK can deliver in droves.

Final: 24-10 MN. If they have their full lineup, 29-10 MN

I just hope they both make it through this healthy. 141, 149, 184, and HWT could all be entertaining.

Dang, excellent rundown. Why no Ness at '57? Sure would like to see him there. Also, I want to see both Dardanes wrestle. Without looking, is it the '33 or '41 Dardanes that is ranked #1? My dad is best friends with Wanzeks second cousin or uncle or something, same guy that rode down with me to the cities for the Iowa Minny dual. We didn't get to see Wanzek against Iowa as they went with the other kid they announced that night....and he got stuck in the 2nd period. Lizak, if he's the one I watched that night, go smoked. But in his defense, I think he's a true frosh and the kid he wrestled was like top 3 in the nation....it was ugly.

Edit: Just saw your Ness comment, sure hope he wrestles as well. Worth the price of admission in my opinion.

[RadioBison]

149- Ream dec Short. This is the one I'm most excited for.

I was thinking the same thing.

[RadioBison]

Without looking, is it the '33 or '41 Dardanes that is ranked #1?

Chris is #1 at 133. Logan Stieber from Ohio St. is a 3x NCAA champ at 141.

[BisoninNWMN]

Wish I could be there. Good luck to the Bison. Gophers will dominate the dual but the Bison should win a couple of matches.