The Hawkeye wrestlers will take on the Gophers in Carver-Hawkeye for the first time since Minnesota beat them in 2014.
By Courtney Baumann
The Iowa wrestlers will take on No. 23 Minnesota tonight in Carver-Hawkeye for one of the Hawkeyes’ last Big Ten dual meets of the season.
The last time the Gophers traveled to Iowa City, in 2014, they took down the Hawkeyes, 19-15.
Although the teams split the 10 matches, bonus points contributed to Iowa’s loss. Sam Brancale of Minnesota pinned Thomas Gilman, a redshirt freshman at the time, in the first period.
“[This meet] is one of the ones that we pointed to — last time they were in Iowa City, they beat us,” head coach Tom Brands said. “We gave up a bonus-point match at 125, so we have to be ready to go.”
Brody Grothus, Sammy Brooks, and Nathan Burak also competed in that dual meet. All three lost their matches.
Now, two years later, Gilman and Burak are undefeated as they head into the competition with Minnesota.
Burak, who is ranked No. 3, will face his largest challenge of the season tonight against No. 4 Brett Pfarr. He has yet to wrestle anyone ranked in the top 10.
That does not bother him.
“I know [Pfarr] is having a pretty good season, but I know I’m pretty tough,” Burak said. “I’m ready for him. I just have to get after it, and get to my offense, and make it hard for him.”
His undefeated record is not a factor, either.
While the senior said he would like to have a perfect regular-season record, it is not the goal, which is why he refuses to put extra pressure on himself to continue the streak.
Sophomore Brandon Sorensen joins Gilman and Burak with his own undefeated record. No. 2 Sorensen will also see a top-ranked competitor in No. 13 Jake Short.
Sorensen has seen top-ranked competition already this season; he has wrestled No. 4 Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern twice and No. 5 Jake Sueflohn of Nebraska once. Sam Stoll does not have an undefeated record, but he is high in the rankings.
Stoll, who hails from Kasson, Minnesota, was recruited by Minnesota while in high school, but he decided to head to Iowa. The redshirt freshman ended his high-school career with a national-record 63-consecutive pins.
There was some pushback from fellow Minnesotans when Stoll decided to head south for his college career, especially because his senior year of high school was the year that Minnesota beat Iowa in Carver.
Stoll will face Minnesota’s Michael Kroells, also a native of Minnesota. In fact, he went to high school fewer than 90 miles away from Stoll. The No. 9 ranked junior and Stoll, who sits at No. 7, have a bit of history.
“Around when I was in eighth grade, he used to beat me,”Stoll said. “He was a sophomore. I’m excited to get this one.”
Follow @cbomb12 on Twitter for Iowa wrestling news, analysis, and updates.