Minnesota will look for their best finish under Brandon Eggem
The Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling team will kick of the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia Thursday morning. The Gophers will look for their best finish as a team under Brandon Eggum, and for Gable Steveson to cap off his collegiate career with one more national championship.
The Gophers come into the NCAA Tournament after a fourth place finish as a team at the Big Ten Championships. Steveson won his fourth Big Ten Heavyweight Championship, and become the 19th in Big Ten history and the only heavyweight to win four titles. The Gophers got second place finishes from Vance VomBaur at 141 pounds and Max McEnelly at 184 pounds giving them a big momentum boost as they head into the NCAA Championships.
Minnesota earned eight automatic qualifying spots in the NCAA Championships due to their performance at the Big Ten Championships, and then added a ninth competitor as an at-large selection by the NCAA Committee. Only at 149 pounds will the the Gophers not have a competitor at the NCAA Championships. Minnesota is one of 11 programs in the country to have at least nine qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. It’s the 20th time in program history the Gophers have sent nine or more to NCAAs, including in each of the last five seasons. Minnesota is making its eighth appearance at the NCAA Championships under head coach Brandom Eggum. In the team’s previous seven trips, they’ve finished 15th or better five times. The best finish came in 2021 when the team tied for seventh.
Steveson is the overall favorite as he comes in at the #1 seed in the heavyweight division and easily took care of #3 and previously undefeated Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State in the Big Ten Championships. Wyatt Hendrickson of Oklahoma State is the #2 seed. They have met just once in the 2021 NCAA Championships where Gable destroyed Hendrickson with an 18-2 tech fall in the second round en route to his first NCAA title. Gable will start his quest for his 3rd NCAA title against either #33 seed Hayden Flipovich of Purdue or #32 seed Stephan Monchery of Appalachian State in the opening round.
McEnelly is the next highest seeded Gopher as he enters his first NCAA Championships as the #3 seed. He begins his quest for a NCAA title against #30 seed Collin Fegley of Lock Haven in the opening round.
VomBauer is the #6 seed at 141 pounds. Last year as the No. 26 seed, VomBaur moved his way all the way to an 8th place finish earning All-American honors. He faces #27 Greyson Clark of Purdue in the opening round.
Tommy Askey is the #9 seed at 157 pounds. The transfer from Appalachian State took home 5th place in the Big Ten Championships. He previously cometed in the NCAA Championships twice for the Mountaineers, going 0-2 as the No. 24 seed in 2023, and reached the Blood Round in 2024 as the No. 19 seed. He faces #24 seed Dylan Evans of Pitt in the opening round.
The Gophers close out their Top 10 ranked seeds with a pair of #10 seeds in Andrew Sparks at 165 and Isiah Salazar at 197. Sparks is making his fourth NCAA appearance for the Gophers. His No. 10 seed this year is the best of his career after earning the No. 24 seed in both 2021 and 2024, while in 2023 he was 28th. Sparks has won at least one match in each of his last two trips to the NCAA Championships. He will face #23 Thomas Snipes of The Citadel in the opening round.
Salazar is also making his fourth NCAA appearance. He was an All-Americas last season by placing sixth at 184 pounds as the #2 seed. He was the No. 9 seed in 2023 with a 2-2 record and went 1-2 as the No. 19 seed the year before that. He will open his Championships against #23 Seth Shumate of Ohio State who he defeated 4-1 in overtime in their regular season meeting, and vai major decision at the Big Ten Championships.
Minnesota has #19 seed Cooper Flynn at 125 pounds. He is making his second career trip to the NCAA Championships, but his first with Minnesota. Last year, he went 1-2 as the No. 11 seed while at Virginia Tech. He will face #14 Spencer Moore of North Carolina in the opening round. Flynn is 2-0 vs Moore all time.
Tyler Wells is the #22 seed at 133 pounds. He is making his second straight appearance at the NCAAs. Last year as the No. 20 seed, he reached the Blood Round, going 3-2. This year he opens against #11 Evan Frost of Iowa State. The pair met last year in the Blood Round with Frost winning 2-1.
Clayton Whiting is the final Gopher in the field as the #28 seed at 174 pounds. It will be his first NCAA Championships after not making in in to season with Missouri. He opens his meet with #5 Simon Ruiz of Cornell.
The full schedule with TV information is below. ESPN+ will have individual mat coverage for each session as well.
Competition Schedule
Thursday, March 20:
11 AM: Session I (First Round) – ESPNU
6 PM: Session II (Second Round/Wrestlebacks) – ESPN
Friday, March 21
11 AM: Session III (Quarterfinals/Wrestlebacks) – ESPNU
7 PM: Session IV (Semifinals/Blood Round) – ESPN2
Saturday, March 22
10 AM: Session V (Medal Round) – ESPNU
6 AM: Session VI (Championship Finals) – ESPN