University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, December 29
Coralville, IA
10:00 AM
University of Minnesota
vs
Soldier Salute
Players Mentioned
157 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
149 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
149 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Photo by: Jamie Bergeland
Six Headed to Semifinals at Soldier Salute
12/29/2024 8:35:00 PM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 4 Minnesota wrestling team saw six wrestlers advance into the semifinals after action concluded Sunday on the opening day of the third annual Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa.
In all, eight Gophers are still alive as action moves to its final day Monday. Still running for an individual title are fifth-year seniors Tommy Askey (157), Andrew Sparks and Isaiah Salazar (197), as well as redshirt juniors Vance VomBaur (141), Blaine Brenner (165) and Bennett Tabor (285). Additionally, redshirt sophomore Clayton Whiting and redshirt freshman Ethan Riddle are both in the consolation bracket at 174 pounds.
VomBaur, sixth in the latest InterMat rankings, opened at 141 pounds with a ranked win over No. 25 Cole Brooks of Wyoming, 19-6. The match was tied 5-5 with less than 45 seconds to go in the opening period when VomBaur scored a takedown and grabbed a lead he would not relinquish for his second major over a ranked opponent this season.
VomBaur followed that up in the quarterfinals with a 9-2 decision over Iowa's Jace Rhodes to improve to 13-0 on the season. VomBaur will face South Dakota State's Tyson Peach in Monday's semifinals.
Askey, also ranked sixth, posted a pair of decisions to stay undefeated on the season. He opened with a 4-2 victory over South Dakota State's Moses Espinoza-Owens and added a 7-2 victory against Northern Iowa's Cael Rahnavardi to push his record to 12-0 this year. Askey will get No. 19 Jared Hill of Wyoming in the semifinals.
Minnesota has half of the semifinalists at 165 pounds with No. 9 Sparks and Brenner on opposite sides of the bracket. Sparks is scheduled to face Marcus Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State, while Brenner has drawn No. 2 Mikey Caliendo of Iowa.
Sparks was dominant with a pair of bonus-point victories. He posted his sixth tech fall of the win, stopping Iowa State's Manny Rojas at 4:39 in a 17-2 victory. Sparks then pushed his winning streak to 10 with a pin of Wyoming's Cooper Voorhees in just 1:14. It was Sparks' first win by pin since last February.
Brenner did not yield a point Sunday following a pair of bonus-point wins. He shut out Bellarmine's Anthony Streib, 15-0, in 1:35, then majored Oregon State's Mason Reiniche, 12-0.
The fifth-ranked Salazar outscored his opponents 23-1 Sunday, starting with a 5-1 decision over Iowa State's Sawyer Bartelt. The Greeley, Colo., native then shut out Navy Wrestling Club's Gage Yackee, 18-0, in 5:36 to improve his record to 9-0 on the season. Salazar will face Missouri's Aeoden Sinclair in the semifinals.
Arguably no one had a more impressive day than Tabor at heavyweight, who pinned both of his opponents for his first two wins by fall of the year. He started with a pin at 6:41 against Oklahoma State's Hayden Simpson. Facing Cody Donnelly of South Dakota State, Tabor was down 4-0 in the second period but was able to flatten Donnelly for the fall at the 3:52 mark. Tabor is now slated to face Bellarmine's Daulton Mayer in the semis.
Whiting and Riddle are both still alive in the consolations at 174 pounds.
Ranked 26th, Whiting defeated Illinois' Chris Moore, 3-0, before taking a 13-3 loss from No. 19 Joshua Ogunsanya of North Carolina. Whiting advanced though after topping Missouri's Jake Stoffel, 8-2.
Riddle also alternated wins and losses, starting with a 11-0 win over North Carolina's Cade Tenold. An 11-4 loss to No. 15 Jared Simma sent Riddle to the consolation bracket where he met teammate Silas Dailey. Riddle trailed 5-4 in the closing seconds but scored a reversal to net the 6-5 victory.
Redshirt seniors Theo Cha (1-2 at 149 pounds) and Tim Stapleton (0-2 at 157), redshirt sophomore Hunter Lyden (1-2 at 174), and true freshmen Dailey (3-2 at 174) and Jack Nelson (0-2 at 149) all saw their tournament runs end Sunday.
Minnesota initially had 26 student-athletes potentially scheduled to compete at the event, but a flu bug affecting the team contributed to only 13 taking to the mats.
Session III of the Soldier Salute starts at 11 a.m. Monday, while the final session begins at 5 p.m. All matches are streaming on B1G+, and SmoothComp has live results.
In all, eight Gophers are still alive as action moves to its final day Monday. Still running for an individual title are fifth-year seniors Tommy Askey (157), Andrew Sparks and Isaiah Salazar (197), as well as redshirt juniors Vance VomBaur (141), Blaine Brenner (165) and Bennett Tabor (285). Additionally, redshirt sophomore Clayton Whiting and redshirt freshman Ethan Riddle are both in the consolation bracket at 174 pounds.
VomBaur, sixth in the latest InterMat rankings, opened at 141 pounds with a ranked win over No. 25 Cole Brooks of Wyoming, 19-6. The match was tied 5-5 with less than 45 seconds to go in the opening period when VomBaur scored a takedown and grabbed a lead he would not relinquish for his second major over a ranked opponent this season.
VomBaur followed that up in the quarterfinals with a 9-2 decision over Iowa's Jace Rhodes to improve to 13-0 on the season. VomBaur will face South Dakota State's Tyson Peach in Monday's semifinals.
Askey, also ranked sixth, posted a pair of decisions to stay undefeated on the season. He opened with a 4-2 victory over South Dakota State's Moses Espinoza-Owens and added a 7-2 victory against Northern Iowa's Cael Rahnavardi to push his record to 12-0 this year. Askey will get No. 19 Jared Hill of Wyoming in the semifinals.
Minnesota has half of the semifinalists at 165 pounds with No. 9 Sparks and Brenner on opposite sides of the bracket. Sparks is scheduled to face Marcus Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State, while Brenner has drawn No. 2 Mikey Caliendo of Iowa.
Sparks was dominant with a pair of bonus-point victories. He posted his sixth tech fall of the win, stopping Iowa State's Manny Rojas at 4:39 in a 17-2 victory. Sparks then pushed his winning streak to 10 with a pin of Wyoming's Cooper Voorhees in just 1:14. It was Sparks' first win by pin since last February.
Brenner did not yield a point Sunday following a pair of bonus-point wins. He shut out Bellarmine's Anthony Streib, 15-0, in 1:35, then majored Oregon State's Mason Reiniche, 12-0.
The fifth-ranked Salazar outscored his opponents 23-1 Sunday, starting with a 5-1 decision over Iowa State's Sawyer Bartelt. The Greeley, Colo., native then shut out Navy Wrestling Club's Gage Yackee, 18-0, in 5:36 to improve his record to 9-0 on the season. Salazar will face Missouri's Aeoden Sinclair in the semifinals.
Arguably no one had a more impressive day than Tabor at heavyweight, who pinned both of his opponents for his first two wins by fall of the year. He started with a pin at 6:41 against Oklahoma State's Hayden Simpson. Facing Cody Donnelly of South Dakota State, Tabor was down 4-0 in the second period but was able to flatten Donnelly for the fall at the 3:52 mark. Tabor is now slated to face Bellarmine's Daulton Mayer in the semis.
Whiting and Riddle are both still alive in the consolations at 174 pounds.
Ranked 26th, Whiting defeated Illinois' Chris Moore, 3-0, before taking a 13-3 loss from No. 19 Joshua Ogunsanya of North Carolina. Whiting advanced though after topping Missouri's Jake Stoffel, 8-2.
Riddle also alternated wins and losses, starting with a 11-0 win over North Carolina's Cade Tenold. An 11-4 loss to No. 15 Jared Simma sent Riddle to the consolation bracket where he met teammate Silas Dailey. Riddle trailed 5-4 in the closing seconds but scored a reversal to net the 6-5 victory.
Redshirt seniors Theo Cha (1-2 at 149 pounds) and Tim Stapleton (0-2 at 157), redshirt sophomore Hunter Lyden (1-2 at 174), and true freshmen Dailey (3-2 at 174) and Jack Nelson (0-2 at 149) all saw their tournament runs end Sunday.
Minnesota initially had 26 student-athletes potentially scheduled to compete at the event, but a flu bug affecting the team contributed to only 13 taking to the mats.
Session III of the Soldier Salute starts at 11 a.m. Monday, while the final session begins at 5 p.m. All matches are streaming on B1G+, and SmoothComp has live results.
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