Zach Sanders

Class:
Redshirt Senior
Position:
125 lbs.
Hometown:
Wabasha, Minn.
High School:
Wabasha-Kellogg HS

2011-12 ? REDSHIRT SENIOR:
Overall Record: 32-4
Dual Meet Record: 15-2
Big Ten Record: 7-1
Pins: 3
Major Decisions: 6
Technical Falls: 5

All-American ? Became the seventh four-time All-American in Golden Gopher history with his third place finish at the NCAA championships ? Finished his career ranked sixth on the all-time wins list with a record of 134-27-1 ? Recorded his third 30-win season ? Named team MVP for second straight season ? Had six wins by a major decision, three falls, and five tech falls ? Bison Open Champion ? Scored a 6-4 overtime win over Cornell's Frank Perrelli in his final match, at the NCAA championships ? Took second at the Big Ten championships with a 2-1 record ? Took first at the Bison Open, defeating NDSU's Trent Sprenkle by a 16-7 major decision for the title ? Won 6-3 at the over No. 8 Frank Perrelli of Cornell in his first dual of the season ? Defeated No. 18 Nico Megaludis of Penn State in a 6-2 dual victory ? Defeated North Dakota State's No. 7 Trent Sprenkle by a 4-2decision ? Defeated No. 19 Joe Roth of Central Michigan via technical fall (24-9) ? Beat Oklahoma State's No. 13 Ladd Rupp in a 15-7 major decision ? Crowned Southern Scuffle Champion after defeating No. 3 Alan Waters of Missouri 1-0 victory ? Defeated No. 15 Johnni Dijulius of Ohio State by a 20-10 major decision ? Rallied from a 9-0 deficit to top Illinois' No. 5 Jesse Delgado for a 14-13 decision ? Had a 20 match win streak during the season ? Was ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation during the season ? Named to the Big Ten All-Academic Team ? Named upperclassmen academic award winner ? Earned his fourth varsity letter.

2010-11 ? REDSHIRTJUNIOR:
Overall Record: 34-6
Dual Meet Record: 18-2
Big Ten Record: 7-1
Pins: 7
Major Decisions: 11
Technical Falls: 4

All-American ? Placed fifth at the NCCA championships ? Finished in third at the Big Ten Tournament ? Named Most Valuable Wrestler ? Went 34-6 overall on the season, tying Kevin Steinhaus for second-most wins on the team behind Mike Thorn (39) ? Finished 18-2 in duals meets and posted a team best 7-1 record in the Big Ten ? Recorded seven pins and had 11 major decisions with four technical falls ? Finished third at the Big Ten championships after a 22-7 tech fall first round victory of Ohio State's Bo Touris, pinning Indiana's Justin Brooks in the quarterfinals at 2:37, and falling in the semifinals to Northwestern's Brandon Precin (who would finish second) ? Came back in the consolation round to pin Thomas Kelliher of Wisconsin at 3:29, before earning a 12-4 major decision against Michigan's Sean Boyle in the third place match ? Defeated Brad Pataky of Penn State (10-8) in the Gophers 18-18 tie against the Nittany Lions ? Pinned Michigan's Sean Boyle at 4:46 on Feb. 11 ? Added his 10th major decision of the season when he scored an 18-4 win over Ohio State's Bo Touris in Columbus ? Posted a 4-0 record at the National Duals with 16-8 major decision over Northern Illinois Nick Smith, an 11-5 decision over Allen Bartelli of Boise State, a 4-3 decision over Cornel's Frank Perrelli, and a 12-4 major decision over Wisconsin's Thomas Kelliher to cap off the weekend ? Went 4-0 at the Bison Open to earn top honors after scoring a fall at 4:56 over Southwest Minnesota State's Seifemichael Kenea in the first round before rallying off two-straight technical falls over Mary's Matt Garcia (25-10) and Minnesota State-Moorhead's Corey Ulmer (23-5) to advance to championship match against North Dakota State's Trent Sprinkle where he won a 10-6 decision to pick up his first title of the season ? Big Ten All-Academic Team ? Picked up his third letter.

2009-10 ? REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE:
Overall Record: 29-7
Dual Meet Record: 11-3
Big Ten Record: 4-1
Pins: 6
Major Decisions: 4
Technical Falls: 2

All-American, placing fifth place the NCAA Tournament ? Third place at the Big Ten Tournament ? Winner of the Most Dedicated award ? Went 29-7 on the season, tying Mike Thorn with the third most wins behind only Jayson Ness and Scott Glasser (31) ? Went 11-1 in dual meets and 4-1 in the Big Ten ? One of six wrestlers with 10 or more dual meet wins and one of eight with 20 or more wins ? Charted six falls, for major decisions and two tech falls ? Went 7-7 against ranked opponents ? Opened season with 11 straight wins ? Went 6-2 at the NCAA Championships, recovering from a first round loss to fifth, his best career finish ? At the NCAA Tournament: opened with 7-17 loss to No. 14 Jarrod Garnett, beat Aaron Kalil of Navy 11-5, beat Frank Lomas of Cal State Bakersfield 8-6, beat No. 15 Jason Lara of Oregon State 6-4, beat Fred Santaite of Boston University 9-4, beat No. 19 Nikko Triggas of Ohio State 8-3, and fell 3-10 to No. 1 Angel Escobedo to slide to the fifth place match ? Earned fifth place with a 6-2 win over No. 20 Cashe Quiroga of Purdue ? Went 3-1 and took third at the Big Ten Championships, losing only to Big Ten runner-up Matt McDouough ? Opened Big Ten Tournament with a 6-1 win over Nikko Triggas in the quarterfinals, lost 0-8 to No. 3 Matt McDounough of Iowa in the semifinals, beat No. 18 Cashe Quiroga of Purdue and beat No. 12 Brad Patacky of Penn State 13-11 SV in the third place match ? Lost to No. 4 Matt McDonough of Iowa 2-13 ? Beat Cashe Quiroga of Purdue 10-6 ? Bested Drew Hammen of Wisconsin 17-3 ? Beat Sean Boyle of Michigan 14-5 ? Pinned Brennan Lyon of Michigan State in 3:59 ? Went 3-1 at the National Duals, winning by forfeit against Missouri and beating Matt Steinrager of Central Michigan 5-2 and Nikko Triggas of Ohio State 10-3, losing only to No. 4 Matt McDonough of Iowa 4-6 ? Lost 4-8 to No. 13 Andrew Long of Iowa State ? Placed third at the Southern Scuffle with a 5-1 mark, beating Frank Lomas of Cal State Bakersfield in the third place match, and losing only to champion and No. 1 ranked Angel Escobedo of Indiana, 2-8 ? Beat Tony Mustari of Northern Colorado 10-6 ? Tech falled David Klingsheim of Nebraska 23-8 in 6:23 ? Beat No. 7 Chris Notte of Oklahoma State 11-5 ? Tech falled Tyler Iwamura of Cal State Bakersfield 21-5 in 6:04 on 11/28 ? Opened season with a Bison Open Championship, going 4-0 and beating Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State 17-7 in the Championship match ? Winner over James Nicholson of Old Dominion in the NWCA All-Star Classic ? Earned second letter.

2008-09 ? REDSHIRT FRESHMAN:
Overall Record: 39-10
Dual Meet Record: 19-4
Big Ten Record: 5-3
Pins: 6
Major Decisions: 9
Technical Falls: 5

Earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships ? Named to the Amateur Wrestling News All-Rookie Team ? Named Most Outstanding Freshman and Most Exciting Wrestler by his teammates ? Placed sixth at 125 lbs. after going 4-3 at the NCAA's ? Won his first two matches at the National Championships before falling in the quarterfinals, but rebounded to defeat No. 5 Charlie Falck of Iowa and earn a major decision over No. 18 Nicholas Bedelyon of Kent State ? Fell in the fifth place match to No. 3 Angel Escobedo of Indiana ? Placed fifth in the Big Ten at 125 lbs., going 4-2 at the meet ? Beat B.J. Futrell of Illinois in the fifth place match ? Led Minnesota in victories, going 39-10 on the season ? Went 9-10 against ranked opponents ? Wrestled all matches at 125 lbs. ? One of three Golden Gopher wrestlers (Ness, Safratowich) to appear in all 23 dual meets ? Tied teammate Jayson Ness in dual meet victories with a 19-4 record ? Earned 79 team points in dual meets while only surrendering 13 ? Went 5-3 in Big Ten Duals ? Won six total matches by fall, the sixth best mark on the team, and never lost by fall ? Tied with Tyler Safratowich with a team-high five wins by technical fall and never lost by tech fall ? Won a team-high nine matches by major decision ? Opened the 2008-09 campaign with a season-high 15 straight wins, and strung together another streak of 12 straight later in the season ? Began season with a title in the Bison open, going undefeated through the tournament including major decisions in the semifinal and championship matches ? Champion at the Kaufman/Brand Elite, finishing 3-0 ? Notched three wins at the Northern Quad as the Golden Gophers swept, including a fall (Portland State) and a technical fall (North Dakota State) ? Tabbed runner-up honors at the Las Vegas Invite, going 4-1 in the meet ? Won his first match of the Invite by major decision ? Won by technical fall at Nebraska ? In the New Year's Day match with Oklahoma State, earned a 7-6 decision over No. 14 Obenson Blanc ? Went 3-0, including a fall and major decision, as Minnesota swept through the Lone Star Duals ? Collected wins in all five matches at the National Duals, including two falls and one major decision ? The only Golden Gopher to win all five matches, and one of five to appear in all five matches ? Earned a major decision as Minnesota beat Arizona State ? Earned his first Big Ten win with a major decision against Michigan State as Minnesota won 30-6 ? Notched a 13-7 decision against No. 5 Ohio State to bring Minnesota within one at 15-16, before they won 18-16 ? Won an 11-6 decision over Michigan's No. 17 Mike Watts ? Dropped a close 7-8 decision to No. 3 Brandon Precin of No. 16 Northwestern ? Began the meet with a win, earning a 10-4 decision against Wisconsin ? Started the meet with No. 1 Iowa with a 5-4 decision over Charlie Falck ? Dropped a close 2-3 decision to No. 10 Tyler Clark of No. 4 Iowa State ? In the regular season finale lost a 7-8 decision to No. 5 Angel Escopedo of 18th ranked Indiana ? Named a U of M Maroon Scholar Athlete ? Earned first letter.

2007-08 ? REDSHIRTED:
Began his Gopher wrestling career by winning his first 26 matches of his redshirt season ? Recorded seven pins among his 26 triumphs ? Competed in seven events as a redshirt, winning six titles ? Recorded pair of major decisions on his way to championship honors at Daktronics Open ? Named co-champion of Bison Open after 3-0 performance that included two major decision and a pin ? Recorded two more major decisions on his way to a title at Kaufman-Brand Open ? Notched another pin and a technical fall during 5-0 showing to capture Husky Open title (12/8) ? Two more major decisions and two pins gave Sanders the Flash Flanigan title ? Pinned MSU-Mankato's Andy Forstner in title match of Worthington Open to polish off 3-0 weekend ? Finished season with second place performance at North Country Open.

HIGH?SCHOOL:
Wabasha, Minn. native attended Wabasha-Kellogg High School ? National winner of Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award as top high school wrestler in country ? Top-ranked recruit at 119 pounds by a number of publications and was ranked 15th overall by InterMat ? Five-time state champion ? Compiled a career record of 223-5 ? Won the Class A 119-pound title in 2007, the 112-pound title as a junior and sophomore and the 103-pound title as a freshman and eighth grader ? Ended high school career with three undefeated seasons ? Cadet and Junior Freestyle national champion ? Placed second at 2007 U.S. Wrestling Junior Greco-Roman Nationals and third at Freestyle Nationals ? 2007 NHSCA senior champion at 119 pounds ? ASICS First Team All-American in 2006 and 2007 ? Named Mr. Minnesota of Wrestling in 2007 by the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association ? Also lettered twice in both cross country and baseball in high school ? Had a 3.58 GPA.

PERSONAL:
Son of Ron and Liz Sanders ? Has a brother Eric and a sister Katie ? Enjoys hunting, fishing and traveling ? Brother Eric wrestled at North Dakota State, while father Ron wrestled at UM-Morris ? Born April 27, 1988 ? Majoring business marketing education.

Season	Wt.	Overall	Wt. Cl.	Dual	Big Ten	Points	Pins	MD	TF	v.Rnk	Strk	Fast Pin	Big Ten's	NCAA's
2008-09	125	39-10	39-10	19-4	5-3	79-13	6	9	5	5-4	15W	-	4-2/5th	4-3/6th
2009-10	125	29-7	29-7	11-3	4-1	46-10	6	4	2	7-7	11W	2:27	3-1/3rd	6-2/5th
2010-11	125	34-6	34-6	18-2	7-1	-	7	11	4	-	12W	2:37	4-1/3rd	5-2/5th
2011-12	125	32-4	32-4	15-2	7-1	-	3	6	5	10-1	20W	5:53	2-1/2nd	6-1/3rd
Total		164-27	164-27	63-11	23-6	125-23	22	30	16	22-12	20W	2:27	-	-