The Minnesota Golden Gophers are a Division I college wrestling team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are a member of the Big Ten Conference and NCAA. Wrestling began at the University of Minnesota in 1910, but the first formal dual meet was not until 1921 when coach Frank Gilman led the team to a victory over Wisconsin. The Gophers have won the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships team title three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2007. WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar won the 2000 NCAA Wrestling Championship as a heavyweight after placing second in 1999.
J Robinson coached the team for thirty years until he was fired in 2016 over his handling of a prescription drug scandal involving his wrestlers. Former Golden Gopher wrestler Brandon Eggum was named as his replacement.
Home meets
Home meets are held in the 5,700-seat Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis. When large crowds are expected, meets are held in Williams Arena, capacity 14,321. This often happens for matches against archrivals Iowa and Oklahoma State. Several home matches each year are televised by the Big Ten Network. The school has also used Target Center in downtown Minneapolis for some matches.
Team championships
- NCAA Division I: 2001, 2002, 2007
- Big Ten Conference: 1910, 1912, 1913, 1941, 1957, 1959, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007
The 2001 team has two unique distinctions: All ten of their wrestlers earned All-American (top eight) status and the school won the national team championship despite not having a single finalist.
NCAA individual champions
The Gophers have had seventeen NCAA individual champions. Four of those were two-time champions.
Dan Hodge Trophy
- 2010 รข€" Jayson Ness
Olympians
- Verne Gagne, 1948
- Alan Rice, 1956
- Dan Chandler, 1976, 1980, 1984
- Jim Martinez, Bronze, 1984
- Evan Bernstein, 1988 for Israel
- Brandon Paulson, Silver, 1996
- Garrett Lowney, Bronze, 2000
References
External links
- Minnesota Gophers official website
- NCAA Wrestling official website