The fourth-ranked Gophers’ quest for an unprecedented fourth consecutive National Duals title begins Saturday with a quarterfinal match against No. 5 Cornell
Following a 26-9 victory against No. 23 North Dakota State last Saturday in its opening-round match of the NWCA National Duals, No. 4 Minnesota heads to Iowa City this weekend to compete in the event’s championship rounds. The three-time defending champion Gophers will begin their title defense Saturday at 12 p.m. CT in a quarterfinal match against No. 5 Cornell. With a victory, Minnesota would advance to wrestle the winner of No. 1 Iowa vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga in a Saturday afternoon semifinal. The event’s championship match will take place on Sunday.
Minnesota’s quarterfinal contest with Cornell is a rematch of last year’s National Duals championship, which the Gophers won, 24-15, securing their record-tying eighth title in the event and their third straight, which also tied a National Duals record. The Gophers took six matches from the Big Red, building up a significant lead by winning four straight matches early in the dual (133 to 157), three with bonus points. Combined across the two teams, 15 of the 20 wrestlers who competed in last year’s dual will be on the mat Saturday – nine for Cornell and six for Minnesota.
Looking ahead to Saturday afternoon, three rematches from last year’s dual appear on the bout card. At 157, No. 1 Dylan Ness will put his unblemished, 26-0 record on the line when he takes on No. 6 Brian Realbuto, who also brings an undefeated dual match record into this contest. Last year, their match ended at 1:13 when Ness pinned Realbuto. Coincidentally, Ness enters this year’s match having pinned each of his last two opponent in just over a minute. At 197, No. 5 Scott Schiller will take on No. 9 Jace Bennett for the third time in the past year and four days. In last year’s contest, Schiller defeated Bennett in an 11-1 major decision that clinched the dual and the championship for the Gophers. The two met again earlier this year in the semifinals of the Cliff Keen Invitational, where Schiller pinned Bennett in 4:16. Finally, at 285, No. 14 Michael Kroells will look to avenge last year’s 7-6 loss when he takes on Jacob Aiken-Phillips for the second time in his career.
Several other highlighted bouts beyond those pairings include another rematch from this year’s Cliff Keen Invitational, as No. 13 Brett Pfarr will get another shot at No. 1 Gabe Dean. Dean defeated Pfarr, 2-1, in the second tiebreaker of a very tight quarterfinal contest in the tournament. Ranked wrestlers also will be pitted against each other at 133 and 174. At 133, undefeated and top-ranked Chris Dardanes will take on No. 16 Mark Grey with the chance to run his record to 20-0 this season, which would be the best start of his career. At 174, No. 4 Logan Storley will wrestle No. 18 Duke Pickett.
Saturday will be the sixth time in the event’s history (including a 1994 Virginia Duals match), and the third time in the past five years, the Gophers and the Big Red have met in the National Duals. Minnesota is 5-1 in those meetings, dropping its only match to Cornell, 20-16, in the 2011 tournament. The Big Red went on to win its lone National Duals championship that year. In fact, the winner between these two teams has gone on to win the title the last three times they’ve met – last year, 2011 and in 2007 when Minnesota defeated Cornell, 32-11, on its way to a first-place finish.
Cornell advanced in the National Duals with a 35-6 drubbing of Drexel last Sunday. The Big Red won eight matches, six with bonus points, and finished the afternoon by taking the final seven bouts. The win improved Cornell to 15-1 this season, with its only loss coming against fellow National Duals competitor, No. 2 Missouri, in early January.
The Gophers continued in the tournament with a strong showing against NDSU last Saturday in Fargo. Minnesota won seven matches, including three with bonus points. A stretch of six consecutive wins across the middle of the dual sealed the victory by Minnesota.
Including last Sunday’s win, Minnesota will take the mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena with an active, 11-match winning streak at the National Duals. As champions the past three years, the Gophers have posted perfect records in each effort. Their last loss in the event came in January 2011.
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The quarterfinal match against Cornell will be streamed live on BTN Plus beginning at 12 p.m. CT. The event’s semifinal matches will be broadcast live on BTN starting at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, with the championship match on the network at 11:30 a.m. CT on Sunday. For updates throughout any of the Gophers matches in Iowa City, follow Gopher Wrestling on Twitter. Full recaps of each match will be available later on GopherSports.com.
Minnesota Match Notes (NWCA)
Cornell Match Notes
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