University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
#19 Wisconsin
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Minnesota Slated for Border Battle Regular Season Finale
2/9/2023 4:41:00 PM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 9 University of Minnesota wrestling program (11-3, 4-3 B1G) is set to hit the road for their regular season finale this weekend, as they are slated for a battle with No. 19 Wisconsin (7-7, 1-6 B1G) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CST.
The dual will be broadcasted live on Big Ten Network with Shane Sparks and Tim Johnson on the call. Fans can also follow along to match-by-match updates on Twitter at @GopherWrestling.
The Gophers are looking to close out the season in the win column, as they are coming off a 18-13 loss in their home finale last weekend to second-ranked Iowa. The Gophers claimed four of the ten bouts on the night, with Bailee O'Reilly, Isaiah Salazar, Michial Foy, and Garrett Joles all earning victories.
Tale of the Tape - The Badgers
Wisconsin sits at an even .500 record during head coach Chris Bono's fifth year at the helm this season, proving to be a down year after the Badgers' 12-2 mark a season ago. The Badgers have struggled in conference competition thus far, going 1-6 against Big Ten opponents.
The Badgers still do have plenty of firepower up and down the lineup, however, housing a total of five former NCAA All-Americans in Eric Barnett, Taylor LaMont, Austin Gomez, Dean Hamiti, and Trent Hillger.
The Series with Wisconsin
The Minnesota Golden Gophers hold the all-time series lead over Wisconsin with a record of 63-36-1 in a series that dates back to the 1921-22 season. The Gophers have been in command of the series as of late, with wins in nine of the previous ten matchups. However, Wisconsin did snap Minnesota's nine-dual win streak last season with a win inside Maturi Pavilion. Now, the Gophers will look to get back in the win column during Saturday's showdown with the Badgers.
First Meeting: W, 29-19 (2/21/1922)
Last Meeting: L, 15-21 (1/16/2022)
Longest Win Streak: W11 (2/5/1955-2/11/1967)
Longest Losing Streak: L7 (1/26/1974-1/12/1980)
Current Streak: L1
Last Meeting
The Gophers played host to Wisconsin on Championship Weekend last January inside Maturi Pavilion, but it was the Badgers who spoiled the party with a 21-15 victory to snap Minnesota's nine-dual win streak in the series. The Badgers took five of the first six bouts to jump to a commanding 18-3 lead, with a Jake Bergeland decision being the Gophers' lone win. Bailee O'Reilly and Isaiah Salazar looked to bring Minnesota back with a pair of major decisions, but Wisconsin would clinch the dual at 197 pounds before Gable Steveson closed out the day with his own major decision win over Trent Hillger.
Potential Matchups
This weekend's probable lineups with the Badgers features a total of 17 ranked wrestlers according to the InterMat polls, with the potential for up to seven ranked matchups in Saturday's dual.
The feature bout of the dual comes at 125 pounds, where we will get the seventh installment of the classic rivalry between No. 6 Patrick McKee and No. 7 Eric Barnett, with McKee leading the series with a 4-2 record over Barnett.
Aaron Nagao looks to return to the lineup at 133 pounds following a three-week hiatus, where he could be slated to compete against 2021 NCAA All-American Taylor LaMont.
Michael Blockhus looks for another tough test at 149 pounds, where he could see the nation's second-ranked 149-pounder Austin Gomez.
A potential swing match looms at 157 pounds, where Brayton Lee and Garrett Model will compete in a rubber match after splitting their previous two matches against each other.
Isaiah Salazar looks to leave the regular season with an unblemished conference record, as he looks to defeat Wisconsin's Tyler Dow and go 8-0 in Big Ten duals this season.
Michial Foy will look to build off of last weekend's statement win, as he gets yet another top-20 opponent in Braxton Amos.
Up Next
Following Saturday's regular season finale, Minnesota will look ahead to postseason wrestling at the Big Ten Championships on March 4-5 in Ann Arbor, Mich., as ten Gophers will look to punch their tickets to Tulsa for the NCAA Championships on March 17-19.