Sunday's dual meet will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. InterMat will be providing a live blog from Minneapolis for fans to follow the action and interact.
Below is a weight-by-weight preview with predictions.
125: No. 2 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) vs. Sam Brancale (Minnesota)
Megaludis, a two-time NCAA runner-up, did not compete last weekend due to illness, but is expected to compete on Sunday against Minnesota. He has only been defeated by one wrestler this season, top-ranked Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, twice. Garrett defeated Megaludis in the Binghamton Open finals, 6-5, and again in the Southern Scuffle finals, 6-4. The Penn State junior is coming off a 5-4 victory over returning NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois. Brancale was a Top 100 recruit coming out of high school, but is one of two Minnesota wrestlers not ranked. He has shown glimpses of potential this season, but has battled inconsistency. Brancale's signature win to this point was his pin over Iowa's Thomas Gilman at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which ignited the Gophers in a dual meet victory over the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. In his last outing Brancale hammered Indiana's Alonzo Shepherd, 15-3.
Bottom Line: Megaludis enters this match as a prohibitive favorite against a young Minnesota wrestler who seems to be gaining confidence, but is still trying to find his way in Division I wrestling.
Prediction: Megaludis maj. dec. Brancale
133: No. 16 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State) vs. No. 8 David Thorn (Minnesota)
The 16th-ranked Gulibon has had an up-and-down freshman campaign. The highlight of his season was his run to the finals of the Southern Scuffle, which included wins over two wrestlers ranked in the top ten. Expectations remain high for the four-time state champion from Latrobe, Pa. He is coming off a dominating 9-0 win over Michigan's Rossi Bruno, who defeated Ohio State's Johnni DiJulius two days prior. Thorn has been a steady performer for the Gophers this season and has been ranked in the top ten all season. All four of Thorn's losses have come to ranked wrestlers, but his only ranked wins are over No. 12 Nick Soto of Chattanooga twice and the aforementioned Bruno, who is currently ranked 19th.
Bottom Line: These two wrestlers met at the Southern Scuffle, with Gulibon earning a 4-3 victory. Both wrestlers scored one takedown in that match, but an escape from Gulibon in the final minute proved to be the difference. Thorn has shown more consistency and is ranked higher, but Gulibon has the head-to-head win. Thorn is more dynamic on his feet, but Gulibon has a slight advantage on the mat. Call it a tossup.
Prediction: Thorn dec. Gulibon
141: No. 2 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota)
What Retherford has accomplished this season as a true freshman is mind-blowing. Not only is he undefeated, but he earned a victory over two-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State, who was considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the NCAA. Two weeks after beating Stieber, Retherford won the Southern Scuffle. He had some tight matches during the first half of the season (two wins in sudden victory), but has been dominant since the Scuffle. Retherford is coming off a 7-1 win over No. 13 Steve Dutton of Michigan. Prior to that he had a pin and after four straight major decisions. Dardanes has been an All-American in each of his first two seasons at Minnesota. He was unbeaten through December before suffering losses to Joe Spisak of Virginia and Chris Mecate of Old Dominion at the Southern Scuffle. Since the Southern Scuffle, Dardanes has battled an injury and only seen action in three of Minnesota's six dual meets. He picked up decisions over Pat Greco of Northwestern and Jesse Thielke of Wisconsin, but suffered a 1-0 loss in his last match against Iowa's Josh Dziewa.
Bottom Line: Retherford seems to be improving and gaining confidence with each match. Dardanes has the tools to stay competitive with Retherford, but an injury seems to be hindering his performance lately.
Prediction: Retherford dec. Dardanes
149: No. 8 Andrew Alton (Penn State) or Zack Beitz vs. No. 3 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota)
It remains to be seen whether Penn State goes with Alton or Beitz against Minnesota. Both are listed in their projected lineup. Alton has the better pedigree, but missed most of the first half of the season with an injury. Beitz has been solid when called upon this season. Alton started in both of Penn State's dual meets last weekend, earning a 9-5 win against Michigan State before being pinned two days later by Michigan's Eric Grajales in a wild match. Alton led Grajales 8-2 after the opening period, but seemed to run out of gas in the third period. Grajales stormed back to tie the match at 12-12 before throwing Alton to his back and pinning him with four seconds remaining in the match. Dardanes, a returning All-American, has been impressive this season, compiling an 18-2 record, with his only losses coming to No. 1 Drake Houdashelt of Missouri and Grajales. His most notable wins have come over No. 4 Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern, No. 9 Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State, No. 11 Scott Sakaguchi of Oregon State, and No. 12 Brody Grothus of Iowa.
Bottom Line: On paper, Minnesota has to be considered the favorite in this weight class based on the way Dardanes has competed this season. Alton's talent is undeniable. He's capable of competing with anyone in the country at 149 pounds. If Alton can wrestle an entire match like he did the first period against Grajales, he will put himself in a position to defeat Dardanes. But that's a big if. Beitz could certainly be competitive with Dardanes, but a win would be a tall order.
Prediction: Dardanes dec. Alton
157: No. 4 Dylan Alton (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Dylan Ness (Minnesota)
Dylan Alton, like his twin brother Andrew, was held out of competition the first two months of the season because of an injury. He went undefeated in three open tournaments and has added four Big Ten victories, with two of those coming over ranked wrestlers: No. 13 Zac Brunson of Illinois and No. 14 Brian Murphy of Michigan. Ness, a two-time All-American, comes in ranked No. 8. He has moved up and down the rankings this season because of inconsistent results. Without question his biggest win this season came against defending NCAA champion Derek St. John of Iowa two weeks ago at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Bottom Line: This is a difficult match to predict ... and one that could really go either way. Alton is undefeated and has a win over Brian Murphy, who defeated Ness. But Ness throughout his career has been a big-match wrestler who thrives in the spotlight.
Prediction: Ness dec. Alton
165: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) vs. Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota)
Taylor, a three-time NCAA finalist and 2012 NCAA champion, has crushed every opponent he has faced this season. He has earned bonus points in all 23 of his victories this season. He has 11 pins, seven technical falls, and five major decisions. Taylor is coming off a 17-2 technical fall victory over No. 6 Dan Yates of Michigan. Zilverberg finished last season strong at 157 pounds, picking up some impressive wins late in the season. He moved up to 165 pounds this season, and although he has a winning record (14-8), Zilverberg has struggled against ranked wrestlers this season, going 0-6 in those matches.
Bottom Line: Taylor is on a different stratosphere than anyone else in the weight class. He was a runner-up at the U.S. Open last spring and has sights set on being the best in the world. It's hard to envision Taylor getting anything less than a technical fall or pin in this match. Zilverberg is a quality Big Ten wrestler who will compete hard, but will be overmatched.
Prediction: Taylor tech. fall Zilverberg
174: No. 3 Matt Brown (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Logan Storley (Minnesota)
Brown was a Big Ten champion and NCAA runner-up last season, but finds himself ranked third this season behind a couple NCAA champions, Andrew Howe of Oklahoma and Chris Perry of Oklahoma State, the only two wrestlers who have beaten him this season. (Howe defeated Brown in an unofficial match at the NWCA All-Star Classic.) Since losing to Perry in the finals of the Southern Scuffle, Brown has reeled off six consecutive bonus-point victories against Big Ten competition. Storley, a two-time All-American, comes in with a 22-3 record and ranked sixth. His losses have come to Perry, Brown, and most recently Mike Evans of Iowa.
Bottom Line: These two wrestlers have met four times over the past three seasons, with Brown winning three of those meetings. Storley's lone win over Brown came by pin last season at the Southern Scuffle. All three of Brown's wins over Storley have been by two points or less. Brown comes in as the favorite, but expect another tight match between these two rivals.
Prediction: Brown dec. Storley
184: No. 2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota)
A year ago nobody would have predicted that Ed Ruth would not be ranked No. 1 with just over a month remaining in his collegiate wrestling career. He will go down as one of college wrestling's all-time greats. Ruth has a career record is 124-3, which is virtually identical to his teammate David Taylor's career record. (Taylor is 123-3.) His loss to Cornell's Gabe Dean in the finals of the Southern Scuffle in early January sent shockwaves through the college wrestling world. Aside from that hiccup in Chattanooga, Ruth has earned bonus points against every wrestler he has faced this season. Steinhaus missed the first month of the season while recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in the summer. Last season he failed to reach the All-American podium for the first time in his college wrestling career, losing in the round of 12 to Maryland's Jimmy Sheptock. Steinhaus comes in with a 10-2 record, with both losses coming at the Southern Scuffle. He fell to Dean, 3-2, in the semifinals, and then dropped a match in the consolation semifinals to Kent State's Sam Wheeler, 6-4. Steinhaus' most notable win this season has come against No. 10 Lorenzo Thomas of Penn at the Southern Scuffle.
Bottom Line: It's rare for a wrestler to avoid giving up bonus points against Ruth, but last season Steinhaus managed to do so at the Big Ten Championships, losing 5-3. Will Steinhaus slow down Ruth again and keep himself in the match? Or will Ruth earn bonus points like he has done in each of his 22 wins this season? I'll predict the latter.
Prediction: Ruth maj. dec. Steinhaus
197: No. 5 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) vs. No. 1 Scott Schiller (Minnesota)
McIntosh, ranked fifth, has compiled a 22-2 record this season, with both losses coming to No. 3 J'den Cox of Missouri at the Southern Scuffle. Since finishing fourth at the Southern Scuffle, McIntosh has reeled off six consecutive wins against Big Ten competition. Schiller, ranked No. 1, has been Minnesota's top performer this season. Since losing to Oregon State's Taylor Meeks at the NWCA All-Star Classic in an unofficial match, Schiller has won 24 consecutive matches. He has notched two wins over No. 2 Kyven Gadson of Iowa State and also avenged his loss to Meeks.
Bottom Line: It's ancient history now, but these two wrestlers met two seasons ago, with Schiller winning 11-6 at the Southern Scuffle. Both wrestlers are competing at a very high level right now, which should make for a close, competitive match.
Prediction: McIntosh dec. Schiller
285: Jon Gingrich (Penn State) vs. No. 5 Tony Nelson (Minnesota)
Gingrich may not be No. 1 on Penn State's depth chart, but don't let that fool you. He's very tough and talented. He's 19-4 and has shown that he can compete with the nation's top big men. He will get the call on Sunday with No. 12 Jimmy Lawson out of action. Gingrich is coming off a 2-1 loss to No. 2 Adam Coon of Michigan. A lot has been made of Nelson's recent struggles. The two-time NCAA champion has already taken four losses in 2014. While surprising, it's not as bad as it sounds on the surface. The four wrestlers who have defeated Nelson this season are the top four heavyweights in the nation, and three of Nelson's four losses came in sudden victory, while the other came by one point. Nelson has not suffered this many losses in a season since his redshirt freshman season, but he has also never been the top seed at the NCAAs.
Bottom Line: Nelson, one of Minnesota's all-time greats, will compete in front of his home crowd for the final time in his collegiate wrestling career on Sunday. It seems very unlikely that he would drop his fourth straight match (and fifth this season), but Gingrich has the skill set to make it a competitive match and put himself in a position to win. Expect a tight battle.
Prediction: Nelson dec. Gingrich
Dual Meet Predicted Score: Penn State 22, Minnesota 12
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