University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, January 3
Coralville, IA
University of Minnesota
vs
Soldier Salute
Players Mentioned
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
149 lbs.
/ Wrestling
133 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
149 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Photo by: Ryan Schroeder
Hopke Into Semifinals at Soldier Salute
1/3/2026 8:54:00 PM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota redshirt freshman heavyweight Koy Hopke has advanced to Sunday's semifinals at the fourth annual Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa.
Ranked 11th in the country by InterMat, Hopke won both of his matches Saturday at Xtream Arena, yielding just one point to the opposition. In his first match, the Amery, Wis., native defeated Missouri's Sampson Stillwell, 2-0, thanks to an escape and a stalling point, both of which occurred in the second period. In the third, Hopke started on top and rode out Stillwell for the entire period.
In the quarterfinals, Hopke trailed Iowa State's Daniel Herrera, 1-0, through two periods. It was the first point allowed by Hopke after three straight shutouts. A quick escape in the third for Hopke evened the match at 1-1 before he got the go-ahead takedown with just over a minute remaining. Riding time gave Hopke a 5-1 victory.
Hopke will face Wyoming's No. 10 Christian Carroll in Sunday morning's semifinal matchup.
Also still alive at the Soldier Salute in the consolation brackets for Minnesota are redshirt senior Bennett Tabor and redshirt junior Clayton Whiting.
Tabor began his day at heavyweight with his team-leading sixth fall of the season, sticking Charles Weidman of Army Prep at the 6:21 mark in the Round of 16. Moving to the quarterfinals, Tabor was stopped by Nebraska's Cade Ziola, 4-2. Tabor responded in the consolations with a 5-1 decision over Gophers' signee, Evan McGuire, but a 6-2 loss to Oklahoma's Bradley Hill sent Tabor to the seventh-place match Sunday where he will face No. 26 Jarrett Stoner of Missouri.
Competing at 174 pounds, Whiting went 3-2 on Saturday, with all three wins coming by major decision. He'll wrestle for seventh place Sunday against Iowa State's Melton Powe.
Whiting reached the quarterfinals after majoring both Jacob Fistler of South Dakota State, 12-2, and VMI's Beau Lewis, 15-4. In the quarters, Whiting held a 4-0 lead early in the third period over Northern Iowa's Izzy Moreno, but Moreno logged two takedowns in the final minute for a 7-5 win. Whiting bounced back in the consolations with an 18-5 majoring of Iowa State's Jacob Helgeson before a 4-2 loss to Wyoming's Lane Foard sent Whiting to the seventh-place match.
Seven other Gophers saw their tournament runs start and end on Saturday: redshirt senior Jager Eisch (0-2 at 149 pounds), redshirt sophomore Rhett Koenig (2-2 at 149), redshirt freshmen Blake Beissel (1-2 at 125), Silas Dailey (0-2 at 197), Wyatt Duchateau (1-2 at 149) and Dawson Johnson (1-2 at 141), and true freshman Charles Vanier (1-2 at 149).
Session III of the Soldier Salute starts at 11 a.m. Sunday, while the final session begins at 5 p.m. All matches are streaming on B1G+, and TrackWrestling has live results.
Ranked 11th in the country by InterMat, Hopke won both of his matches Saturday at Xtream Arena, yielding just one point to the opposition. In his first match, the Amery, Wis., native defeated Missouri's Sampson Stillwell, 2-0, thanks to an escape and a stalling point, both of which occurred in the second period. In the third, Hopke started on top and rode out Stillwell for the entire period.
In the quarterfinals, Hopke trailed Iowa State's Daniel Herrera, 1-0, through two periods. It was the first point allowed by Hopke after three straight shutouts. A quick escape in the third for Hopke evened the match at 1-1 before he got the go-ahead takedown with just over a minute remaining. Riding time gave Hopke a 5-1 victory.
Hopke will face Wyoming's No. 10 Christian Carroll in Sunday morning's semifinal matchup.
Also still alive at the Soldier Salute in the consolation brackets for Minnesota are redshirt senior Bennett Tabor and redshirt junior Clayton Whiting.
Tabor began his day at heavyweight with his team-leading sixth fall of the season, sticking Charles Weidman of Army Prep at the 6:21 mark in the Round of 16. Moving to the quarterfinals, Tabor was stopped by Nebraska's Cade Ziola, 4-2. Tabor responded in the consolations with a 5-1 decision over Gophers' signee, Evan McGuire, but a 6-2 loss to Oklahoma's Bradley Hill sent Tabor to the seventh-place match Sunday where he will face No. 26 Jarrett Stoner of Missouri.
Competing at 174 pounds, Whiting went 3-2 on Saturday, with all three wins coming by major decision. He'll wrestle for seventh place Sunday against Iowa State's Melton Powe.
Whiting reached the quarterfinals after majoring both Jacob Fistler of South Dakota State, 12-2, and VMI's Beau Lewis, 15-4. In the quarters, Whiting held a 4-0 lead early in the third period over Northern Iowa's Izzy Moreno, but Moreno logged two takedowns in the final minute for a 7-5 win. Whiting bounced back in the consolations with an 18-5 majoring of Iowa State's Jacob Helgeson before a 4-2 loss to Wyoming's Lane Foard sent Whiting to the seventh-place match.
Seven other Gophers saw their tournament runs start and end on Saturday: redshirt senior Jager Eisch (0-2 at 149 pounds), redshirt sophomore Rhett Koenig (2-2 at 149), redshirt freshmen Blake Beissel (1-2 at 125), Silas Dailey (0-2 at 197), Wyatt Duchateau (1-2 at 149) and Dawson Johnson (1-2 at 141), and true freshman Charles Vanier (1-2 at 149).
Session III of the Soldier Salute starts at 11 a.m. Sunday, while the final session begins at 5 p.m. All matches are streaming on B1G+, and TrackWrestling has live results.
Highlights: Hopke Wins Soldier Salute
Tuesday, January 06
Coach's Corner with Brandon Eggum
Tuesday, December 23
Cinematic Recap: Gophers-Little Rock in Mequon
Thursday, December 18
Cinematic Recap: Gophers Beat NDSU
Friday, December 12