University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head South for the New Year
12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
After a one-year absence, Minnesota will return to the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., to compete in the 2016 edition of the elite, in-season tournament, which begins this Friday (Jan. 1) and wraps up on Saturday evening. This year's appearance will be the Gophers eleventh in the event's 13-year history.
The Southern Scuffle has emerged as a prime destination for many of the nation's top teams in the past decade, routinely producing one of the most competitive fields in the country outside of postseason tournaments in March. This year's event will be no different, with 11 teams ranked among the nation's 25 best in the latest InterMat tournament rankings, a group headlined by No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Cornell. Minnesota is ranked No. 15 in that poll. Three of Minnesota's Big Ten peers are among the 30 teams who will be on the mat at McKenzie Arena this weekend, with PSU and a pair from the Great Lakes State - No. 9 Michigan and Michigan State.
In Minnesota's last trip to the Scuffle (2014), the Gophers finished third with 161 team points. Two-time national champion Tony Nelson led the way for the Maroon and Gold by claiming the heavyweight crown, followed by a runner-up performance from Nick Dardanes at 149 pounds, and five other top-five performances from Gopher wrestlers.
Three Gophers who will wrestle in this year's event competed in the 2014 tournament as well, when all were redshirt freshmen. No. 5 Brett Pfarr, wrestling at 184 pounds at the time, finished 5-2 on the day and advanced to the quarterfinals before heading to wrestlebacks, where he earned a fourth-place finish. No. 6 Michael Kroells also placed in the event, going 6-2 and finishing seventh at 285. Though he did not place, Brandon Kingsley had a solid outing at 157, going 4-2 and falling one match shy of the Round of 12 on the backside of the bracket.
Outside of that trio, every other Gopher visiting Chattanooga will be making his debut in the event. That group will include 11 additional Gophers wrestling attached to Minnesota: Skyler Petry (125), Steve Polakowski (125), Sam Brancale (133), No. 11 Tommy Thorn (141), No. 10 Jake Short (149), Brandon Krone (165), Dylan Urbach (165), Nick Wanzek (174), Jordon Rothers (174), Chris Pfarr (184) and Broc Berge (184).
When added to the three Gophers with Scuffle experience, the group of attached wrestlers for this weekend grows to 14. The event produces a team score by counting the highest-scoring wrestler from each school at each weight. At 125, 165, 174 and 184, weights in which Minnesota will have two attached competitors, the higher-scoring wrestler will count toward the team score and the lower-scoring wrestler will not.
In addition to that contingent, five Gophers will wrestle unattached in the tournament and not count toward the team score. This quintet includes: Ethan Lizak (125), Fredy Stroker (149), Larry Early (157), Bobby Steveson (184), and Rylee Streifel (285). Wrestling unattached will preserve the redshirt status of all five of these wrestlers for this season.
The Southern Scuffle will be the Gophers' second (and final) top-tier, in-season tournament this winter. Four weeks ago, Minnesota wrestled in the Cliff Keen Invitational, placing third in a field that included 12 ranked teams. Three Gophers reached championship bouts in that event ââ'¬" Short, Kroells and Brett Pfarr ââ'¬" each placing second. Thorn also turned in a top-three performance by taking third at 141. Minnesota won 32 matches in the tournament, including 16 bonus point victories. Half of those bonus point wins were by fall.
The 2016 Southern Scuffle will get started at 8 a.m. Central on both Friday, with action resuming at the same time on Saturday. All mats and all sessions in Chattanooga will be streamed live on Flowrestling.org. Viewing the livestream requires a FloPRO account. An alternative to keep tabs on Minnesota's results throughout the tournament is to follow Gopher Wrestling on Twitter, which will provide live updates from every Gopher match.
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