University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota vs. Iowa: Old Rivalry, New Twist
1/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
When the defending national champion Golden Gopher wrestling team hosts the top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes Friday night at Williams Arena, the number of intriguing storylines will be enough to make any college wrestling fan salivate. Can the Hawkeyes cement their place atop the collegiate wrestling world by beating last year’s champs on their own turf? How will Gopher senior Mack Reiter fare in his final dual meet battle against his home state’s favorite team? Can Jayson Ness continue his march into the record books as he approaches Minnesota’s single-season pins mark? And will the wrestling world finally see the long-awaited initial collegiate showdown between vaunted 149-pounders Dustin Schlatter and Brent Metcalf?
As captivating as these ancillary plotlines might seem, they can’t hold a candle to Friday’s main event that is, one of the oldest rivalries in one of mankind’s oldest sports. The Gophers and Hawkeyes have met 88 times since 1921, with previously-dominant Iowa (winners of 20 national and 25 Big Ten titles since 1974) winning all but 25 of those head-to-head match-ups.
But ever since Minnesota heavyweight Shelton Benjamin pinned Iowa’s Wes Hand to give the Gophers an 18-17 win in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 1998 (making J Robinson’s squad just the second team ever to beat the Hawks in that building), this rivalry has taken on a slightly more Maroon and Gold-colored hue.
Since that fateful slam, the Gophers have won nine of 14 head-to-head match-ups between the two programs, but two numbers three and zero stick out in particular. That’s the number of national titles J Robinson and the Gophers have won (2001, ’02 and ’07) compared to the number for the Hawkeyes during the current millennium.
“Growing up, I always wanted to go to Iowa... Every little kid did,” said Minnesota senior Jeremy Larson, a five-year veteran in Robinson’s program. “They were the team to root for. But now, being at Minnesota, we’re the (top) team this is the place everyone wants to be.”
While the Hawkeyes have been far from a non-factor even since the Gophers broke their streak of 25 consecutive Big Ten titles in 2000 (Iowa has finished runner-up twice at NCAAs), it is Minnesota that has emerged as the cream of the Upper Midwestern crop with three NCAA titles in seven years. But the Gophers, prohibitive preseason favorites to win another championship in 2007-08 on the strength of five returning All-Americans, have struggled with injuries and inconsistency somewhat, losing three dual meets already this season (their highest total in three years).
Meanwhile, new Iowa coach Tom Brands has his Hawkeyes off to a roaring start they will enter Williams Arena Friday with a 14-1 dual meet record and their first No. 1 national ranking since 2000.
“Iowa’s back,” said Robinson, a former assistant coach under the legendary Dan Gable in Iowa City. “I think that the rivalry is a little bit more competitive this year. Whether the two teams are ranked fourth and first or third and first, you’ve got the best of the best. It should be a good match.”
Larson also feels that this year’s Hawkeyes will present a unique challenge for a Gopher program that has won the last two dual meets between the teams by lopsided scores of 25-9 (2006) and 29-13 (2007).
“They’ve got a little more motivation behind them this year,” said Larson about Minnesota’s most fearsome Big Ten rival. “They’ve struggled somewhat for the last couple years and really didn’t seem to have that team togetherness. This year they look a lot more motivated, and they’re going to be tough to beat.”
Even with the Big Ten Championships (also to be hosted in Williams Arena) still six weeks away and the NCAAs over two months distant, Friday’s “Border Brawl” showdown carries with it a certain sense of urgency for both schools. Not only will the winner hold bragging rights and most likely the number one national ranking, they might also gain an edge in the ever-important recruitment battle and pick up a psychological advantage heading into the latter half of the collegiate wrestling year.
For the defending national champion Gophers, their weekend run through the proverbial “gauntlet” (Minnesota must also face No. 3 Oklahoma State Sunday in Stillwater - CLICK HERE TO IT WATCH LIVE) should serve as effective measuring stick for the team’s potential to repeat as champions.
“I think wrestling Iowa and Oklahoma State on the same weekend is not bad scheduling it’s strategic scheduling,” said assistant coach Joe Russell. “You have to wrestle in one high-stress match and then get yourself back up again two days later to wrestle in a hostile environment in front of another big crowd. It’ll be a good prequel for what nationals will be like.”
It all starts Friday night for Minnesota’s seven starting seniors, who are out to prove they’ve got what it takes to clip the Hawkeyes and make one last championship run.
“It’s going to be a pretty good match,” said Larson. “This weekend we’re going to go into the den and face the lion, and we’ll see where we end up afterwards.”
By Ryan Maus, Athletic Communications Intern
