University of Minnesota Athletics
Monday, December 30
Coralville, IA
11:00 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
Gophers Place Third at Soldier Salute
12/30/2024 7:55:00 PM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota had five top-three finishers and came in third place as a team as competition concluded Monday at the third annual Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa.
Fifth-year senior Andrew Sparks (165 pounds) and redshirt juniors Vance VomBaur (141) and Bennett Tabor (285) all finished in second place, while fifth-year Tommy Askey (157) and redshirt junior Blaine Brenner (165) both won their third-place matches to lead the way for the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota finished with 125 team points to claim third place. Iowa won the team title with 248 points, while Northern Iowa was one point ahead of the Gophers at 126 points for second place. No other team reached 100 points for the tournament.
VomBaur got to the finals following a tight, 4-3, win over South Dakota State's Tyson Peach in the semifinals. Trailing 3-1 in the second period, VomBaur battled for the go-ahead takedown and then fended off Peach in the third. In the finals, the sixth-ranked VomBaur saw his 14-match win streak to open the season come to an end in a 4-2 defeat to No. 7 Josh Koderhandt of Navy. The only takedown was by Koderhandt early in the second period.
The ninth-ranked Sparks, who defeated SDSU's Marcus Espinoza-Owens 7-2 in the semis, met No. 2 Michael Caliendo of Iowa in the 165-pound finals. Sparks trailed 3-1 midway through the second period and Caliendo had nearly 2:00 of riding time before an escape and a takedown gave Sparks a 5-3 lead. Sparks was able to get Caliendo's riding time under 1:00, but a reversal put Caliendo back on top as he clinched the riding time point. Sparks got a late escape but the riding time sealed the 7-6 win for Caliendo.
Tabor reached the finals after an 11-5 decision over Bellarmine's Daulton Mayer. The match was tied 5-5 in the second before Tabor got a reversal and added four nearfall points on his way to the win. In the finals, Tabor faced No. 12 Ben Kueter of Iowa. The low-scoring affair went Kueter's way as the only point came on 2:00 of riding time for the Hawkeye heavyweight in a 1-0 final.
Askey suffered his first loss of the season with a loss to No. 19 Jared Hill of Wyoming in the semifinals. The match went to overtime and was still even at 2-2 after the full nine minutes, but Hill had the riding time advantage to earn the win. Askey bounced back with a 7-2 decision over another Cowboy, Sloan Swan, to reach the third-place match. There, Askey defeated Jonathan Ley of Navy, 4-2, as a second-period takedown proved to be the difference.
Brenner lost his semifinal match by major decision to Caliendo, but he earned his way back with a major of his own as he shut out Wyoming's Cooper Voorhees, 11-0. In the third-place match, Brenner took on Marcus Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State and prevailed with a 4-2 decision. The lone takedown of the match belonged to Brenner late in the second period.
Like Askey, fifth-year senior Isaiah Salazar also dropped his first match of the season in the 197-pound semifinals as he fell 5-3 to Missouri's Aeodon Sinclair. In the consolations, Salazar, ranked fifth in the country, trailed Northern Iowa's Kaleb Runyon 4-2 midway through the second period when he battled for a go-ahead takedown and prevailed in a 10-4 decision. In the third-place match, Salazar dropped a 4-2 decision to Oklahoma State's Cody Merrill. Escapes from each wrestler found the match even at 1-1, but with just over 20 seconds to go Merrill took down Salazar for the winning score.
A no-contest at 174 pounds resulted in redshirt sophomore Clayton Whiting and redshirt freshman Ethan Riddle tying for fifth place with 3-2 records for the tournament.
Both Whiting and Riddle began their days with wins before losses dropped them to the fifth-place match. Whiting topped Wyoming's Ethan Ducca, 6-4, while Riddle bested Northern Iowa's Nick Fox, 7-2. Whiting then fell to No. 15 Jared Simma of UNI, 4-1, and Riddle was defeated by 19th-ranked Joshua Ogunsanya of North Carolina by tech fall.
With tournament action now concluded for the regular season, No. 4 Minnesota turns its attention to the Big Ten slate. First up, a trip to Nebraska to face the No. 5 Cornhuskers on Jan. 11. Match time is set for 3:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Soldier Salute Results
2nd Place
141: Vance VomBaur (3-1)
165: Andrew Sparks (3-1)
285: Bennett Tabor (3-1)
3rd
157: Tommy Askey (4-1)
165: Blaine Brenner (4-1)
4th Place
197: Isaiah Salazar (3-2)
5th Place
174: Ethan Riddle (3-2), Clayton Whiting (3-2)
DNP
149: Theo Cha (3-3), Jack Nelson (1-3)
157: Tim Stapleton (0-2)
174: Silas Dailey (3-2), Hunter Lyden (1-2)
Fifth-year senior Andrew Sparks (165 pounds) and redshirt juniors Vance VomBaur (141) and Bennett Tabor (285) all finished in second place, while fifth-year Tommy Askey (157) and redshirt junior Blaine Brenner (165) both won their third-place matches to lead the way for the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota finished with 125 team points to claim third place. Iowa won the team title with 248 points, while Northern Iowa was one point ahead of the Gophers at 126 points for second place. No other team reached 100 points for the tournament.
VomBaur got to the finals following a tight, 4-3, win over South Dakota State's Tyson Peach in the semifinals. Trailing 3-1 in the second period, VomBaur battled for the go-ahead takedown and then fended off Peach in the third. In the finals, the sixth-ranked VomBaur saw his 14-match win streak to open the season come to an end in a 4-2 defeat to No. 7 Josh Koderhandt of Navy. The only takedown was by Koderhandt early in the second period.
The ninth-ranked Sparks, who defeated SDSU's Marcus Espinoza-Owens 7-2 in the semis, met No. 2 Michael Caliendo of Iowa in the 165-pound finals. Sparks trailed 3-1 midway through the second period and Caliendo had nearly 2:00 of riding time before an escape and a takedown gave Sparks a 5-3 lead. Sparks was able to get Caliendo's riding time under 1:00, but a reversal put Caliendo back on top as he clinched the riding time point. Sparks got a late escape but the riding time sealed the 7-6 win for Caliendo.
Tabor reached the finals after an 11-5 decision over Bellarmine's Daulton Mayer. The match was tied 5-5 in the second before Tabor got a reversal and added four nearfall points on his way to the win. In the finals, Tabor faced No. 12 Ben Kueter of Iowa. The low-scoring affair went Kueter's way as the only point came on 2:00 of riding time for the Hawkeye heavyweight in a 1-0 final.
Askey suffered his first loss of the season with a loss to No. 19 Jared Hill of Wyoming in the semifinals. The match went to overtime and was still even at 2-2 after the full nine minutes, but Hill had the riding time advantage to earn the win. Askey bounced back with a 7-2 decision over another Cowboy, Sloan Swan, to reach the third-place match. There, Askey defeated Jonathan Ley of Navy, 4-2, as a second-period takedown proved to be the difference.
Brenner lost his semifinal match by major decision to Caliendo, but he earned his way back with a major of his own as he shut out Wyoming's Cooper Voorhees, 11-0. In the third-place match, Brenner took on Marcus Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State and prevailed with a 4-2 decision. The lone takedown of the match belonged to Brenner late in the second period.
Like Askey, fifth-year senior Isaiah Salazar also dropped his first match of the season in the 197-pound semifinals as he fell 5-3 to Missouri's Aeodon Sinclair. In the consolations, Salazar, ranked fifth in the country, trailed Northern Iowa's Kaleb Runyon 4-2 midway through the second period when he battled for a go-ahead takedown and prevailed in a 10-4 decision. In the third-place match, Salazar dropped a 4-2 decision to Oklahoma State's Cody Merrill. Escapes from each wrestler found the match even at 1-1, but with just over 20 seconds to go Merrill took down Salazar for the winning score.
A no-contest at 174 pounds resulted in redshirt sophomore Clayton Whiting and redshirt freshman Ethan Riddle tying for fifth place with 3-2 records for the tournament.
Both Whiting and Riddle began their days with wins before losses dropped them to the fifth-place match. Whiting topped Wyoming's Ethan Ducca, 6-4, while Riddle bested Northern Iowa's Nick Fox, 7-2. Whiting then fell to No. 15 Jared Simma of UNI, 4-1, and Riddle was defeated by 19th-ranked Joshua Ogunsanya of North Carolina by tech fall.
With tournament action now concluded for the regular season, No. 4 Minnesota turns its attention to the Big Ten slate. First up, a trip to Nebraska to face the No. 5 Cornhuskers on Jan. 11. Match time is set for 3:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Soldier Salute Results
2nd Place
141: Vance VomBaur (3-1)
165: Andrew Sparks (3-1)
285: Bennett Tabor (3-1)
3rd
157: Tommy Askey (4-1)
165: Blaine Brenner (4-1)
4th Place
197: Isaiah Salazar (3-2)
5th Place
174: Ethan Riddle (3-2), Clayton Whiting (3-2)
DNP
149: Theo Cha (3-3), Jack Nelson (1-3)
157: Tim Stapleton (0-2)
174: Silas Dailey (3-2), Hunter Lyden (1-2)
Gopher Wrestling Tries Gymnastics
Thursday, May 29
Steveson Advances to NCAA Title Match
Friday, March 21
Gable Steveson: NCAA Quarterfinals
Friday, March 21
Gable Steveson: NCAA Pin
Thursday, March 20