NCAA wrestling championships
Gophers' NCAA wrestling championships primer: Hopefuls include two No. 8 seeds
Minnesota is ranked 15th entering the NCAA meet after finishing 11th last season.
March 15, 2023 at 5:24PM
Thursday-Saturday, Tulsa, Okla.
TV schedule
11 a.m. Thursday on ESPNU; 6 p.m. ESPN
11 a.m. Friday on ESPNU; 7 p.m. ESPN
10 a.m. Saturday on ESPNU; 6 p.m. ESPN
Defending champion: Penn State. Gophers finished 11th last year.
InterMat tournament rankings: 1. Penn State, 2. Iowa, 3. Nebraska, 4. Missouri, 5. Cornell, 6. Iowa State, 7 Ohio State, 8. North Carolina State, 9. Arizona State, 10. Michigan ... 15. Gophers.
Gophers in the tournament
125 pounds: No. 11 seed Patrick McKee, sr., 12-7. Finished sixth in Big Ten tournament. Finished fifth at 125 in NCAAs last year and third in 2021.
133: No. 8 Aaron Nagao, fr., 18-4. Finished as Big Ten runner-up, falling 5-2 to two-time national champ Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State.
141: No. 20 Jake Bergeland, sr., 14-9. Placed eighth at Big Ten and making second NCAA appearance.
149: No. 11 Michael Blockhus, sr., 17-5: Big Ten runner-up after falling 7-5 in sudden victory to Ohio State's Sammy Sasso. Making his fourth NCAA appearance.
165: No. 28 Andrew Sparks, jr., 15-9: Making second NCAA appearance, receiving an at-large bid after finishing ninth in Big Ten.
174: No. 8 Bailee O'Reilly, sr., 18-5: Placed fourth in Big Ten, making second NCAA appearance.
184: No. 9 Isaiah Salazar, jr., 16-2: Took fourth in Big Ten and will wrestle in third NCAA tournament.
197: No. 22 Michial Foy, sr., 15-10: Placed eighth in Big Ten and will appear in second NCAA tournament.
Hwt: No. 32 Garrett Joles, sr., 15-14: Placed 10th in Big Ten and received at-large bid to NCAAs.
Former defensive coordinator Joe Rossi left for Michigan State, so Gophers coach P.J. Fleck went back to his Rutgers roots.
