Gopher Wrestling Looks to Capture Southern Scuffle Title

The fourth-ranked Golden Gopher wrestling team will head to Greensboro, N.C., Saturday and Sunday to compete in the 2007 Southern Scuffle. Set up in a similar format to the NCAA Tournament, the Southern Scuffle will offer the Gophers an opportunity to gauge themselves in a championship-type atmosphere. A total of 28 schools from across the nation will be on hand. Each team may enter up to 15 wrestlers in the tournament with its top finisher in each weight class counting towards the team score.

Fans can purchase a live video webcast for the entire Southern Scuffle through the UNC Greensboro website at www.uncgspartans.com or its associate website, www.southernscuffle.com,which will be the source for the most up-to-date results throughout the competition. Single-day video packages are $9.95 and weekend packages will be $16.95. Live stats will be available free of charge via www.southernscuffle.com. Action will get underway at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday and last until the late evening, with quarterfinals and finals beginning at 9 a.m. ET. The finals will begin at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Southern Scuffle Notes to Know:
Eight nationally-ranked teams and are scheduled to compete in the Southern Scuffle. While the fourth-ranked and defending national champion Gophers highlight the field, the tournament will also feature, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 14 Edinboro, No. 15 Hofstra, No. 17 Cornell, No. 21 Navy, No. 22 Maryland, and No. 24 Old Dominion.

A total of 59 ranked individuals will be making the trip to North Carolina. Highlighting the list are Minnesota’s Jayson Ness (No. 3, 125 lbs.), Dustin Schlatter (No. 1, 149 lbs.), and Roger Kish (No. 2, 184 lbs.). Lou Ruggirello (No. 2, 133 lbs.), Charles Griffin (No. 3, 141 lbs.), and Joe Rovelli (No. 8, 197 lbs.) will represent Hofstra and Edinboro will bring along Gregor Gillespie (No. 2, 157 lbs.). Mack Lewnes (No. 14, 165 lbs.) of Cornell, Navy’s Matt Stolpinski (No. 6, 174 lbs.), and Ohio State J.D. Bergman (No. 3, 285 lbs.) round out the top-rated wrestlers slated for the 28-team competition.

The Golden Gophers will be looking to claim their second Southern Scuffle title in the past three years. Minnesota won the event in 2005 but narrowly lost to then-No. 1 Missouri a year ago by a team score of 179.5-176. Three Gophers are looking to defend their individual crowns from 2006 - Manuel Rivera (141), Dustin Schlatter (149) and Roger Kish (184). Graduated heavyweight Cole Konrad also won the Southern Scuffle title in 2006, the fourth of his legendary career.

Eight Gophers are seeded in the tournament’s top ten, including Jayson Ness (No. 1, 125 pounds), Mack Reiter (No. 2, 133 pounds), Rivera (No. 2, 141 pounds), Dustin Schlatter (No. 1, 149 pounds), C.P. Schlatter (No. 3, 157 pounds), Scott Glasser (No. 2, 165 pounds), Gabe Dretsch (No. 4, 174 pounds) and Kish (No. 1, 184 pounds). Last season, four Gophers earned the top seeds in their respective weight classes.

As the defending national champions, the Gophers entered the 2007-08 season as the top-ranked team in the nation in all four major polls (NWCA, W.I.N. Magazine, Amateur Wrestling News and RevWrestling) but have dropped down to No. 4 in the NWCA/Intermat rankings and No. 3 according to W.I.N. Magazine. Minnesota is 6-1 in dual meet competition this season, with their only loss coming to then-No. 2 Iowa State on Dec. 2, a 19-13 decision in Minneapolis.

Eight of Minnesota’s 10 starters are ranked nationally in their respective weight classes as the season restarts after the holiday break. Ness (No. 3 at 125 pounds), Reiter (No. 7 at 133 pounds), Rivera (No. 6 at 141), C.P. Schlatter (No. 10 at 157), Glasser (No. 15 at 165), Dretsch (No. 7 at 174) and Kish (No. 2 at 184) all rank among the nation’s best.

After their disappointing defeat at the hands of the Cyclones on Dec. 2, J Robinson’s Golden Gophers have bounced back with three consecutive dual meet wins, one over then-No. 7 Nebraska (25-13 on Dec. 6) and a sweep of Cal State-Fullerton and Cal Poly (34-9 and 25-12 on Dec. 8 in San Luis Obispo, Cal.).

The early loss should do little to halt Minnesota’s run for a second straight national crown the Gophers suffered an early-season 18-17 defeat at the hands of Hofstra last year but rebounded to win their final 20 dual meets of the season, also taking first at the National Duals, Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships.

Several Golden Gophers are enjoying outstanding seasons so far in 2007. Sophomore Jayson Ness, an All-American at 125 pounds last year, is currently undefeated at 13-0 and has nine pins to his name thus far. Manny Rivera is 13-1 overall, including 5-1 in duals, and 2006 national champion Dustin Schlatter is a perfect 9-0 (including 5-0 in duals). Roger Kish has also posted a 6-1 record in dual meets.

Last Year at the Southern Scuffle
All four Golden Gopher wrestlers who entered 2006 Southern Scuffle as No. 1 seeds claimed individual titles and remained undefeated on the season, but Minnesota was narrowly edged by top-ranked Missouri, 179.5-176, for the team title. Capturing individual titles for the Gophers were Manuel Rivera (141), Dustin Schlatter (149), Roger Kish (184) and Cole Konrad (Hwt). Konrad won his fourth consecutive title at the Southern Scuffle and pushed his unbeaten streak to 53 consecutive matches at the event, just five shy of tying the school record (which he now holds at 76 consecutive wins).

Also placing for Minnesota were Jasyon Ness (125), Gabriel Dretsch (174), Jeremy Larson (165) and Tyler Safratowich (157).

2006 Southern Scuffle Final Team Standings
1. Missouri (179.5)
2. Minnesota (176)
3. Cornell (134.5)
4. Edinboro (129.5)
5. Navy (92.5)

Minnesota’s Individual Placewinners
1st - Manuel Rivera (141)
1st - Dustin Schlatter (149)
1st - Roger Kish (184)
1st - Cole Konrad (Hwt)
3rd Jayson Ness (125)
4th Gabriel Dretsch (174)
7th Jeremy Larson (165)
8th Tyler Safratowich (157)

2005 Southern Scuffle Results
2005 Final Team Scores
1. Minnesota (192.0)
2. Missouri (149.0)
3. Cornell (131.0)
4. Edinboro (103.0)
5. Ohio State (94.5)

Golden Gopher Finishers
1st - Dustin Schlatter (149)
1st - Roger Kish (184)
1st - Cole Konrad (Hwt)
2nd - Mack Reiter (133)
2nd - C.P. Schlatter (157)
3rd - Matt Nagel (165)
3rd - Gabriel Dretsch (174)
5th - Travis Lang (125)
5th - Jeremy Larson (165)

Gophers Win Pair in California
It wasn’t always easy, but the defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team emerged with two dual meet victories in their last competition on Dec. 8 in San Luis Obispo, Calf. After cruising to a 32-9 win over Cal State Fullerton, the Gophers won the final five matches of the nightcap with Cal Poly to win 23-12 and improve their overall dual meet record to 6-1. Both of Saturday’s meets took place at Cal Poly’s Mott Gymnasium.

In the early West Coast match-up, the Gophers squared off with the Titans of Cal State Fullerton for the first time since 1991. Even without the nationally-ranked brother duo of Dustin and C.P. Schlatter, the Gophers were able to win seven of 10 matches and collected two pins and three tech falls en route to the comfortable 21-point victory.

In a meet that did not get underway until after 9 p.m. Central time, the second half of Minnesota’s doubleheader did not go as smoothly as the first. It was not until Justin Bronson’s tight 3-2 decision over Arturo Basulto at 197 pounds that the Gophers guaranteed themselves a victory over the Mustangs of Cal Poly. Ness, Reiter, Glasser, Kish, Bronson and Ben Berhow won their individual matches as the Gophers were able to overcome surprising losses by Rivera and C.P. Schlatter to win their third dual meet in a row.

Minnesota to Host 2008 Big Ten Championships
Tickets for the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, to be held at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena March 8 and 9, went on sale at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17. The 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will feature a three-session format, with Sessions 1 and 2 held on Saturday and Session 3 on Sunday.

The Big Ten Network is currently scheduled to provide live television coverage of Sunday’s conference finals. The BTN is currently available in Minnesota on DirecTV (channel 220) and Dish Network (channel 439).

Williams Arena has not played host to the Big Ten Championships since 1997, a year that saw Robinson’s Gophers finish in second place to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Since that year, Minnesota has dominated the Big Ten and established itself as one of the most dominant teams in the country. The Gophers have won six Big Ten team titles in the last nine seasons and crowned a Big Ten-best 27 individual champions during that span.

Iowa Start Time Changed
The start time for the Minnesota Golden Gopher Iowa Hawkeye dual meet at Williams Arena on Friday, Feb. 1 has been moved back to 7:30 p.m., athletics officials have confirmed today. The change was made to alleviate potential traffic congestion around campus due to other on-campus sporting events.

Wrestling fans are encouraged to arrive early to secure the limited amount of parking that will be available that evening.

Looking Ahead for the Gophers
Following the Southern Scuffle, the Golden Gophers will have nearly two weeks off before they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa where they will look to pick up their third National Duals title in a row from Jan. 12-13.

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