Projected Matchups
Iowa vs. Minnesota
125: No. 5 Gilman vs. Lizak
133: No. 5 Clark vs. No. 1 C.Dardanes
141: No. 5 Dziewa vs. No. 4 N.Dardanes
149: No. 2 Sorensen vs. Short
157: No. 15 Kelly vs. No. 1 Ness
165: No. 7 Moore vs. No. 17 Wanzek
174: No. 2 Evans vs. No. 4 Storley
184: No. 8 Brooks vs. No. 11 Pfarr
197: No. 3 Burak vs. No. 6 Schiller
285: No. 2 Telford vs. No. 13 Kroells
Tonight No. 1 Minnesota (10-0) battles No. 2 Iowa (10-0) for the 100th time. The dual meet is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Minnesota has come out victorious in three of the last four meetings between the programs, including the two most recent meetings. However, the Hawkeyes lead the all-time series 70-28-1.
Iowa vs. Minnesota
125: No. 5 Gilman vs. Lizak
133: No. 5 Clark vs. No. 1 C.Dardanes
141: No. 5 Dziewa vs. No. 4 N.Dardanes
149: No. 2 Sorensen vs. Short
157: No. 15 Kelly vs. No. 1 Ness
165: No. 7 Moore vs. No. 17 Wanzek
174: No. 2 Evans vs. No. 4 Storley
184: No. 8 Brooks vs. No. 11 Pfarr
197: No. 3 Burak vs. No. 6 Schiller
285: No. 2 Telford vs. No. 13 Kroells
Tonight's dual meet will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
Below are three keys to victory for each team.
Iowa
Thomas Gilman has a record of 19-1 and is currently ranked fifth at 125 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy)Both programs have loyal fan bases that travel well. So even with the dual meet taking place in Minneapolis, there will be a large Hawkeye contingent. It's important for Iowa to start strong and take the Minnesota crowd out of it early. Last year in Iowa City, Minnesota pulled a major upset at 125 pounds to begin the dual meet when Sam Brancale pinned Thomas Gilman, which helped silence the Iowa crowd and jumpstart the Gophers in a 19-15 victory. Assuming the dual meet starts at 125 pounds again (like most Iowa-Minnesota dual meets), Gilman will be the first Iowa wrestler on the mat and be heavily favored against Minnesota true freshman Ethan Lizak. Gilman defeated Lizak 11-4 at the Midlands Championships a month ago. If Gilman can dominate his Gopher opponent and earn bonus points this time around, it could help silence the Minnesota crowd and give the Hawkeyes momentum heading into matches that slightly favor Minnesota.
Win one of the following three weight classes: 133, 141, 174
All three of the matches are expected to be competitive and will be especially important matches in deciding the dual meet winner. Based strictly on rankings, Iowa is a slight underdog at 133 pounds and 141 pounds, and a slight favorite at 174 pounds. At 133 pounds, Iowa's Cory Clark comes into tonight's match with a 16-2 record and ranked No. 5, while Minnesota's Chris Dardanes enters with a perfect 17-0 record and ranked No. 1. Clark won a Midlands title this season, beating Zane Richards of Illinois in the finals, a wrestler who was on the brink of beating Dardanes until the Gopher senior mounted a late rally, scoring four takedowns in the span of a minute in the final period to steal the victory. Chris Dardanes wrestles at a high pace and uses his conditioning to his advantage. If Clark can slow the pace, pick his spots and ride Dardanes, it's a match he can win. At 141 pounds, Iowa's fifth-ranked Josh Dziewa will meet fourth-ranked Nick Dardanes. Last season Dziewa upset Nick's twin brother Chris Dardanes, 1-0, in the dual meet. Dziewa will most certainly be in the match tonight, but whether he can get his hand raised remains to be seen. Undefeated Mike Evans of Iowa, a two-time All-American, is ranked two spots higher than Minnesota three-time All-American Logan Storley at 174 pounds, but it's Storley who leads the all-time series 3-1. All four of the matches between Evans and Storley have been decided by two points or less. Evans' lone win over Storley came in their most recent meeting last season in Iowa City, 2-1.
Win the bonus-point battle
With these two teams being so evenly matched, there is a very real possibility that the teams will both win five matches like the last time they met a year ago. If a 5-5 split occurs it will come down to bonus points. Iowa is expected to get bonus points from Thomas Gilman at 125 pounds, while Minnesota is counting on bonus point from top-ranked Dylan Ness at 157 pounds. In addition to being heavily favored at 125 pounds, the Hawkeyes are solid favorites at 149 pounds, 165 pounds and heavyweight. Of those three weight classes, 149 pounds appears to be Iowa's best opportunity for bonus points based on this season's results. It's a match pitting No. 2 Brandon Sorensen of Iowa vs. unranked Jake Short of Minnesota, who comes in with a record of 11-7. The freshman Sorensen has earned bonus points in over half of his wins this season has been on fire lately. He has recent wins over both returning NCAA finalists at 149 pounds, Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern and Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State, as well as two-time All-American Hunter Stieber of Ohio State. Sorensen crushed nationally ranked Ken Theobold of Rutgers, a wrestler who defeated Short. However, what makes the Sorensen-Short match intriguing and gives Gopher fans a glimmer of hope is the fact that Short has owned the series in freestyle. Short notched a 7-2 victory over Sorensen this past summer in freestyle at the FILA Junior World Team Trials in Madison, and also defeated him in in the Cadet National freestyle finals in Fargo while in high school.
Minnesota
Chris Dardanes stormed back to defeat Zane Richards of Illinois (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)If the dual meet starts at 125 pounds, the Dardanes brothers will be on the mat early at 133 pounds and 141 pounds and help set the tone for the dual meet. The twins have a combined record this season of 33-1 and will be facing highly ranked Hawkeyes Cory Clark (133) and Josh Dziewa (141), who have a combined record this season of 34-6. If both Dardanes brothers pick up victories early in the dual meet, along with Dylan Ness at 157 pounds, the Gophers will take a lead into intermission and just need to win two of the final five matches to guarantee a 5-5 split.
Win two of the following three weight classes: 174, 184, 197
At least two of three Gopher upperweights from 174 pounds to 197 pounds must earn victories for the Gophers to have a chance to win the dual meet. Logan Storley (174) and Scott Schiller (197) both lead the all-time series against their Hawkeye opponents despite both being ranked lower than those wrestlers. The matchup at 184 pounds between Sammy Brooks of Iowa and Brett Pfarr of Minnesota is virtually a tossup on paper. Brooks has a slightly better record and is ranked three spots higher, but Pfarr has a win over a wrestler (Nolan Boyd of Oklahoma State) who defeated Brooks this season. (Brooks also has a win over NDSU's Hayden Zillmer, a wrestler who has beaten Pfarr twice this season.) Pfarr defeated Brooks 11-6 this past summer at the FILA Junior World Team Trials in Madison. However, it was Brooks who won their only collegiate meeting, 5-4, at the UNI Open two seasons ago.
Use the home crowd to its advantage
Minnesota has won 26 of its 27 home dual meets since 2011, so there is no denying that the Gophers feel comfortable wrestling in front of their home crowd. Last season Minnesota finished third among all Division I wrestling programs in attendance, behind only Iowa and Penn State. The Minnesota faithful will pack Williams Arena tonight, but the Gophers need to give their fans something to cheer about and keep them loud and engaged throughout the dual meet.
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