Isaiah Salazar

Photo by: Brad Rempel

Photo by: Bjorn Franke

Photo by: Brad Rempel

Photo by: Joe Noyes

Photo by: Bjorn Franke

Photo by: Matt Krohn

Photo by: Bjorn Franke

Photo by: Eric Miller

Photo by: Brad Rempel

Class:
Fifth Year
Hometown:
Greeley, Colo.
High School:
Windsor HS
Position:
197 lbs.

CAREER NOTES

Tied for 59th all-time at Minnesota with 82 career wins

CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS

2024 All-American at 184 pounds after finishing sixth at the NCAA Championships
- First Gopher to be an All-American at 184 since Kevin Steinhaus in 2014
2024 Big Ten champion at 184 pounds
- First B1G champion at Minnesota since 2022
- Fifth Gopher overall to win a title at 184 pounds (sixth total title at the weight class for Minnesota) and first to do so since 2012
- Earned a spot on the 2024 All-Big Ten team
2024 Big Ten Medal of Honor winner
4x national qualifier at NCAA Championships (2022, '23, '24, '25)
2024 CSC Academic All-America Third Team honoree
2x CSC Academic All-District honoree (2024, '25)
2x NWCA Scholar All-American (2024, '25)
3x Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
4x Academic All-Big Ten honoree (2022-25)
Winner of Fraser Dean Most Courageous Award and Upperclassmen Academic Award at 2025 team banquet
Named J Robinson Outstanding Wrestler and winner of Verne Gagne Leadership Award, All-American Award and Upperclassmen Academic Award at 2024 team banquet
Took home Verne Gagne Leadership Award and Upperclassmen Academic Award at 2023 team banquet

2024-25: FIFTH-YEAR SENIOR (197) - Match List

Did not place as the No. 10 seed at the NCAA Championships, losing matches to the No. 23 and No. 7 seeds
Finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships with a 4-2 record; posted major decisions over No. 27 Ben Vanadia of Purdue and No. 23 Seth Shumate of Ohio State in the consolation brackets
Prevailed in sudden-victory over No. 18 Seth Shumate of Ohio State, 4-1
Majored Rutgers' PJ Casale, 16-6
Earned a 10-3 decision over No. 12 Evan Bates in a dual at Northwestern
Posted a 15-0 (2:11) tech fall of Wisconsin's Niccolo Colucci
An 8-3 loss to No. 3 Jacob Cardenas of Michigan ended a streak of 28 straight dual wins, including 16 in a row in the Big Ten
Shut out No. 22 Camden McDanel by major decision, 8-0, in a dual at Nebraska
Came in fourth at the Soldier Salute with a 3-2 mark, including one tech fall win
Posted an 8-1 decision over No. 8 Zach Glazier in the dual at South Dakota State
Scored a 17-0 (4:42) tech fall over Aiden Hight in the North Dakota State dual
Majored Dillon Bechtold, 11-2, in the Bucknell dual
Won the Mountaineer Invite with a 3-0 record and posted two tech fall shutout wins; outscored opponents 35-2
Led the team with eight shutout wins on the season
Finished fourth on the roster in wins by major decision (5) and tied for fourth in dual wins (9) and wins over ranked opponents (7)
Ranked fifth on the team in overall wins (19), bonus point wins (12), dual team points scored (37), Big Ten dual win percentage (.714, 5-2) and win percentage against ranked opponents (.538, 7-6); tied for fifth in matches wrestled (27), tech fall wins (5) and Big Ten dual wins (5)
Winner of Fraser Dean Most Courageous Award and Upperclassmen Academic Award at team banquet
CSC Academic All-District Selection
NWCA Scholar All-American
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
Academic All-Big Ten honoree

2023-24: SENIOR (184) - Match List

Finished sixth at 184 pounds at the NCAA Championships to become an All-American for the first time
- Won his first three matches to reach the semifinals where he lost to eventual national runner-up
Won the Big Ten championship at 184 pounds by going 3-0 and outscoring opponents 16-3; beat No. 31 Troy Fisher (Northwestern) in the quarterfinals, No. 19 Jaden Bullock (Michigan) in the semis and No. 6 Bernie Truax (Penn State) in the finals
Defeated 16th-ranked Shane Liegel of Wisconsin by a 4-1 decision (2/16)
Posted a 15-0 shutout over Purdue's James Rowley (2/11)
Shut out No. 31 Dylan Connell of Illinois, 6-0 (2/9)
Topped No. 33 Troy Fisher of Northwestern, 8-3 (2/4)
Recorded a 10-1 major decision over Maryland's Chase Mielnik (2/2)
Took down No. 3 Lenny Pinto, 4-1, in the dual against Nebraska (1/19)
Posted a 7-0 shutout of Iowa's Aiden Riggins (1/15)
Named co-champion at the Soldier Salute with teammate Max McEnelly; went 3-0 with two tech falls and a major decision, outscoring opponents 47-3
Placed third at the Cougar Clash with a 4-1 record, scoring two tech falls and a major decision
Scored a 14-3 major decision over South Dakota State's Connor Gaynor (11/26)
Went 3-0 on East Coast road trip against Bucknell, Morgan State and George Mason with a pair of tech falls
Led the Gophers in overall wins (24), wins over ranked opponents (9), dual win percentage (1.000, 11-0), Big Ten winning percentage (1.000, 7-0)
Ranked second on the team in overall win percentage (.857, 24-4), dual wins (11), Big Ten wins (7) and wins by tech fall (7)
Was also third on Minnesota in dual team points scored (44), Big Ten dual team points scored (24) and win percentage against ranked opponents (.750, 9-3), and fifth in wins by major decision (4)
Named J Robinson Outstanding Wrestler and winner of Verne Gagne Leadership Award, All-American Award and Upperclassmen Academic Award at annual team banquet
2024 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient
CSC Academic All-America Third Team
CSC Academic All-District
NWCA Scholar All-American
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
Academic All-Big Ten honoree

2022-23: JUNIOR (184)

Went 20-4 in his second season as a starter for Minnesota at 184 pounds
Tallied a 2-2 record at second NCAA Championships, falling in the blood round
Placed 4th at the Big Ten Championships to automatically qualify for NCAA tournament
Finished regular season with 12-1 dual record, going a perfect 7-0 in Big Ten play
Defeated 10 ranked opponents on the season.
Earned a 13-5 major decision against Drake Rhodes (Iowa) in final home dual of the season (2/3)
Defeated #25 Dylan Connell by 3-2 decision to help push Minnesota to a win over Illinois (1/28)
Went 2-0 on the weekend in dual wins over Purdue and Indiana, including a bonus-point win over Clayton Fielden.
Defeated his second ranked win of the weekend with 5-3 decision over Layne Malczewski (1/15)
Earned an impressive 7-6 comeback victory over No. 10 Lenny Pinto in road dual vs. Nebraska (1/13)
Won first Big Ten start of the season with 15-1 major decision over Northwestern's Evan Bates (1/7)
Earned a ranked in over #19 Adam Kemp by 6-2 decision at Cal Poly
Dominated NDSU's D.J. Parker by 18-1 technical fall in road dual (12/9)
Upset #11 Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) by 4-0 decision to push Minnesota to upset dual win.
Earned a major decision victory over Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) for first dual win of the season.
Won the Bison Open with a 3-0 record, defeating Gopher teammate Michial Foy in the finals
Started the season ranked No. 11 at 184 pounds in the InterMat preseason polls
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
Academic All-B1G Selection
Took home Verne Gagne Leadership Award and Upperclassmen Academic Award at annual team banquet

2021-22: SOPHOMORE (184)

Went 14-5 in his first season as the full-time starter at 184 pounds
2022 NCAA Qualifier, going 1-2 at the championships as the 19-seed
Earned first career NCAA tournament win by upsetting 14-seed Gavin Kane (North Carolina)
Placed 8th at the Big Ten Championships, upsetting both #9 John Poznanski (Rutgers) and #16 Donnell Washington (Indiana) in the tournament
Earned six ranked wins on the season, with five of them coming in upset fashion
Went 5-2 in dual competition, including a 4-1 record against Big Ten opponents
Upset #18 Zac Braunagel on the road via 8-4 decision during Feb. 4 dual at Illinois
Earned first conference win of the season against Brandyn Van Tassel (Nebraska) in 9-3 decision
Placed 6th at the Southern Scuffle, knocking off #28 Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) in the quarterfinals
Defeated Jacob Schoon (South Dakota State) by major decision for first dual victory of season
Bison Open Champ with 4-0 record, including one fall, one tech fall, and one major decision
Academic All-Big Ten pick

2020-21: FRESHMAN (184)

Finished 4-1 at 184 pounds in first season as a Gopher, including two appearances in starting lineup
Closed out season with first career pin against Northwestern's Jack Jessen in second career start on Feb. 21
Made first career start against Nelson Brands and top-ranked Iowa on Jan. 22, falling by decision 10-6
Earned 16-3 major decision against Nebraska's Colton Wolfe in dual meet "extra" match and Gopher debut

HIGH SCHOOL

Four-time Colorado state champion at Windsor HS, compiling a 143-6 career record
Helped lead team to pair of state titles
Finished 116-1 over his final three seasons, including a perfect 80-0 mark in junior and senior seasons
Three-time regional champion and four-time all-conference selection
2020 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner for Colorado
2019 Weld County Male Athlete of the Yea
Earned four letters on the track & field team, three letters in football and two in baseball
Member of the National Honor Society
Four-time academic honor roll member.

PERSONAL

Son of Jose and Anabel Salazar
Has two siblings
Father played football at the University of New Mexico
Born December 21, 2001
Earned his BS in psychology with a minor in construction management; currently a non-degree seeking grad student

YEAR	OVERALL W-L	DUAL W-L	BIG TEN W-L	PINS	TFs	MDs	B1G FINISH	NCAA FINISH
2020-21	5-1	1-1	1-1	1-0	0	2-0	---	---
2021-22	14-5	5-2	4-1	1-0	2-0	4-1	8th	DNP
2022-23	20-4	12-1	7-0	0-0	5-0	4-0	4th	DNP
2023-24	24-4	11-0	7-0	0-0	7-0	4-2	1st	6th
2024-25	19-8	9-2	5-2	0-1	5-0	5-0	4th	DNP
CAREER	82-22	38-6	24-4	2-1	19-0	19-3	1x Champ	1x AA, 4x NQ