The Minnesota Golden Gophers are a Division I

college wrestling Collegiate wrestling (also known as folkstyle wrestling) is the form of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. This style of wrestling, with some slight modifications, is also practiced at high school and mi ...

team based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. They are a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. Wrestling began at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

in 1910, but the first formal dual meet was not until 1921 when coach Frank Gilman led the team to a victory over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The Gophers have won the

NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have been held annually since 1928, except for a hiatus in 1943–45 during World War II and in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 1928 and from 1931–1933, there was only an unofficial team tit ...

team title three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2007. J Robinson served as head coach for the team for thirty years, leading the Golden Gophers to three national championships until he was fired in 2016 over his handling of a prescription drug scandal involving his wrestlers. Three-time Golden Gopher wrestling All-American Brandon Eggum was named as head coach following Robinson's departure.

Home meets

Home meets are held in the 5,700-seat Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis. When large crowds are expected, meets are held in

Williams Arena Williams Arena is an indoor arena located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the home arena for the University of Minnesota's men's and women's basketball teams. It also housed the men's hockey team until 1993, when it moved into its own buildi ...

, capacity 14,321. This often happens for matches against archrivals

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. Several home matches each year are televised by the Big Ten Network. The school has also used

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, ...

in downtown Minneapolis for some matches.

Team championships

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

: 2001, 2002, 2007 *

: 1910, 1912, 1913, 1941, 1957, 1959, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 The 2001 team has two unique distinctions: All ten wrestlers in each weight class 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 eighteen NCAA individual champions. Five of those were two-time champions. *John Whitaker: 1937 *Dale Hanson: 1939 (Most Valuable Wrestler) * Leonard Levy: 1941 *

Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrest ...

: 1948, 1949 *Dick Mueller: 1953 *Evan Johnson: 1976 *Pat Neu: 1977 * Marty Morgan: 1991 *Tim Hartung: 1998, 1999 * Brock Lesnar: 2000 *Luke Becker: 2002 *Jared Lawrence: 2002 *Damion Hahn: 2003, 2004 * Dustin Schlatter: 2006 *

Cole Konrad Minnesota Golden Gophers Cole Konrad (born April 2, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial arts fighter. Konrad won a gold medal at the 2005 Pan-American Championships. He won the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, NCA ...

: 2006, 2007 *Jayson Ness: 2010 *Tony Nelson: 2012, 2013 *

Gable Steveson Gable Steveson (born May 31, 2000) is an American professional wrestler and retired freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he was appointed to the Raw brand under his real name, but has yet to have his debut m ...

: 2021, 2022

Dan Hodge Trophy

*2010 – Jayson Ness *2021 –

Olympians

, 1948 * Alan Rice, 1956 *

Dan Chandler Daniel Chandler is an American singer from St. Louis, Missouri. He is best known for his work with rock band Evans Blue. Chandler was also the lead vocalist for the band Fight or Flight. History Chandler was born and raised in St. Louis, Miss ...

, 1976, 1980, 1984 * J Evan Johnson, 1976 * Jim Martinez, Bronze medalist 1984 * Evan Bernstein, 1988 for Israel * Brandon Paulson, Silver medalist 1996 * Gordy Morgan, 9th place 1996 * Garrett Lowney, Bronze medalist 2000 * Jacob Deitchler, 12th place Beijing 2008 *

, Gold medalist 2020

Notable Golden Gopher wrestlers

* Evan Bernstein – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

– Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

* Jake Deitchler – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 2008 Summer Olympics *

– two-time NCAA Champion *

–

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

fighter, first Bellator Heavyweight World Champion, two-time NCAA Champion and three-time finalist *

Nik Lentz Nik Lentz (born August 13, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He most notably fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in the lightweight division. Background Lentz was born in El Paso, Texas but grew up in Twin ...

– UFC fighter * Brock Lesnar –

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Heavyweight Champion,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, NCAA Champion and two-time finalist * Leonard Levy –

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

player, professional wrestler, NCAA Champion * Garrett Lowney – Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

* James Martinez – Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at

, NCAA All-American * Gordy Morgan – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, NCAA All-American * Marty Morgan – NCAA Champion at Minnesota * Brandon Paulson – Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1996 Summer Olympics, NCAA All-American * Alan Rice – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1956 Summer Olympics * Dustin Schlatter – NCAA Champion and three-time All-American * Gable Stevenson – Olympic gold medalist in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestli ...

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, professional wrestler, two-time NCAA Champion and three-time All-American *

Jacob Volkmann Minnesota Golden Gophers Jacob Joseph Volkmann (born September 5, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Volkmann has formerly competed for t ...

– UFC fighter, three-time NCAA All-American

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Golden Gophers Wrestling 1910 establishments in Minnesota Sports clubs established in 1910