![](/Files/image/articles/braytonleenov2019.jpg)
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Gopher wrestling program earned a 28-9 season opening victory over CSU Bakersfield on Friday night in Maturi Pavilion.
The Gophers won seven of the first ten individual bouts while five Minnesota natives (Patrick McKee, Mitch McKee, Carson Brolsma, Bailee O'Reilly, and Owen Webster) earned victories and three underclassmen (Patrick McKee, Brayton Lee, and Bailee O'Reilly) earned their first dual victories.
At 125-pounds Pat McKee opened the Gophers' season up in exciting fashion with a pin only 54 seconds into the first bout of the 2019-20 season.
"I've been coming to Gopher duals since I was eight or nine years old just watching the greats wrestle before me," Pat said. "So it was kinda cool that now it's my turn to run out there. As a fan I always used to watch and think so much about it. Now as a wrestler I just try to simplify it as best I can."
The Gophers added to the lead when Pat's older brother, Mitch, worked towards a 15-5 major decision at 141-pounds. The 2019 All-American earned three takedowns in the first period and never looked back on his way to four team points.
Redshirt freshman Brayton Lee opened up his Gophers career with an 8-7 decision over No.18 Russell Rohlfing, the Roadrunners' highest ranked wrestler.
At 157-pounds Carson Brolsma sent the Gophers into intermission with a victory. Brolsma and Gerl were tied at one apiece after regulation but Brolsma got the key takedown in the first sudden victory period.
Coming out of intermission both 165-pound Bailee O'Reilly ad 174-pound Devin Skatzka earned victories. O'Reilly grinded out 6-5 victory before Skatzka ran away with an 18-0 technical fall.
In his best offensive performance as a Gopher grappler, 184-pound Owen Webster scored over five takedowns en route to a 16-3 major decision.
The Gophers' only losses of the dual came from 133-pound Brent Jones, 197-pound Garrett Joles, and heavyweight Chase O'Connor. All three lost by only one score.
Results:
125: Patrick Mckee (MINN) over Alex Hernandez-Figueroa (CSUB) (Fall 0:57)
133: Chance Rich (CSUB) over Brent Jones (MINN) (Dec 7-4)
141: Mitch McKee (MINN) over Angelo Martinoni (CSUB) (MD 14-5)
149: Brayton Lee (MINN) over Russell Rohlfing (CSUB) (Dec 8-7)
157: Carson Brolsma (MINN) over Wyatt Gerl (CSUB) (3-1, OT)
165: Bailee O`Reilly (MINN) over Jacob Thalin (CSUB) (Dec 6-5)
174: Devin Skatzka (MINN) over Josh Annis (CSUB) (TF 19-0 4:01)
184: Owen Webster (MINN) over Josh Loomer (CSUB) (MD 16-3)
197: Dominic Ducharme (CSUB) over Garrett Joles (MINN) (Dec 6-4)
285: Jarrod Snyder (CSUB) over Chase O`Connor (MINN) (4-1, OT)
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now