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Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Minnesota Golden Gophers
wrestling
UniversityUniversity of Minnesota
Head CoachBrandon Eggum (7th season)
ConferenceBig Ten
LocationMinneapolis, MN
ArenaMaturi Pavilion
(Capacity: 5,700)
NicknameGophers
ColorsMaroon and gold[1]
   
Team national championships
3
National championship years
2001, 2002, 2007
NCAA individual champions
23 (by 18 athletes)
All-Americans
195 (by 100 athletes)
Conference championships
94 (by 61 athletes)
Conference Tournament championships
1910, 1912, 1913, 1941, 1957, 1959, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007

The Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling program is an intercollegiate varsity sport at the University of Minnesota. They are a member of the Big Ten Conference and NCAA. Wrestling began at Minnesota in 1910, but the first formal dual meet was not until 1921 when coach Frank Gilman led the team to a victory over Wisconsin. The Gophers have won the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships team title three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2007.

J Robinson served as head coach for the team for thirty years, leading the Golden Gophers to three national championships during his tenure, until he was fired in 2016 over his handling of a prescription drug scandal involving his wrestlers.[2] Following Robinson's departure, three-time Golden Gopher wrestling All-American Brandon Eggum was named as head coach.[3]

A Golden Gophers wrestler grapples with an Air Force opponent during a match in 2018

Home meets

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Home meets are held in the 5,700-seat Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis. When large crowds are expected, meets are held in Williams Arena, capacity 14,321. This often happens for matches against archrivals Iowa and Oklahoma State. Several home matches each year are televised by the Big Ten Network. The school has also used Target Center in downtown Minneapolis for some matches.

Team championships

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The 2001 team has two unique distinctions: All ten wrestlers in each weight class earned All-American (top eight) status and the school won the national team championship despite not having a single finalist.

NCAA individual champions

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The Gophers have had eighteen NCAA individual champions. Five of those were two-time champions.

Dan Hodge Trophy

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Olympians

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Minnesota wrestlers in the Olympics
Year Name Country Style Weight Class Place
1948 London Verne Gagne  United States Freestyle 87 kg ALT
1956 Melbourne Alan Rice  United States Greco-Roman 62 kg DNP
1976 Montreal Gary Alexander  United States Greco-Roman 62 kg DNP
1976 Montreal James "Evan" Johnson  United States Greco-Roman 90 kg 7th
1976 Montreal Dan Chandler  United States Greco-Roman 82 kg DNP
1980 Moscow Dan Chandler  United States Greco-Roman 82 kg Boycott
1984 Los Angeles Dan Chandler  United States Greco-Roman 82 kg DNP
1984 Los Angeles Jim Martinez  United States Greco-Roman 68 kg Bronze
1988 Seoul Evan Bernstein  Israel Greco-Roman 90 kg DNP
1996 Atlanta Brandon Paulson  United States Greco-Roman 52 kg Silver
1996 Atlanta Gordy Morgan  United States Greco-Roman 74 kg 9th
1996 Atlanta David Zuniga  United States Greco-Roman 62 kg 10th
2000 Sydney Garrett Lowney  United States Greco-Roman 97 kg Bronze
2004 Athens Garrett Lowney  United States Greco-Roman 96 kg 19th
2008 Beijing Jake Deitchler  United States Greco-Roman 66 kg 12th
2020 Tokyo Gable Stevenson  United States Freestyle 125 kg Gold

Notable Minnesota wrestlers

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References

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  1. ^ "Colors and Type | University Relations". Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  2. ^ Fuller, Marcus; Christensen, Joe (September 8, 2016). "J Robinson fired by University of Minnesota after 30 years as wrestling coach". Star Tribune.
  3. ^ "Brandon Eggum". University of Minnesota.
  4. ^ "Jayson Ness Wins Hodge Trophy". University of Minnesota Athletics. March 26, 2010. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
  5. ^ "Jayson Ness Wins Hodge Trophy". TheGuillotine.com. March 26, 2010. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
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