No. 7 Minnesota won the first five matches, four by bonus point, on its way to a 29-12 victory at Northwestern Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
gophersports.com
Dominant Start Leads to 29-12 Win at Northwestern
1/26/2025 2:40:00 PM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS – No. 7 Minnesota (6-1, 3-1 B1G) won the first five matches, four by bonus point, on its way to a 29-12 victory at Northwestern (2-4, 0-4) Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
In all, the Golden Gophers won seven of the 10 matches Sunday, taking five by bonus points, including three tech falls. They've won 13 of their last 14 duals overall, and against Northwestern, Minnesota has taken five of the last six and 19 of the past 21 matchups.
The dual kicked off at 165 with the first of five ranked matchups. In what would be a theme for the rest of the dual, No. 11
Andrew Sparks took care of No. 20 Maxx Mayfield in an 11-3 major decision. Sparks scored a pair of first-period takedowns to set the tone, while a short-time takedown and riding time in the third period gave Sparks his highest ranked win of the season. It was also Sparks' third major decision, giving him 11 bonus-point victories this year.
A second straight major came at 174 pounds as 25th-ranked
Clayton Whiting dispatched Aiden Vandenbush, 18-4, for his third straight victory. Like Sparks, a pair of first-period takedowns proved to be enough for Whiting. Leading 7-1 after two periods, Whiting tacked on three more in the third, adding one point for riding time and another on stalling calls on Vandenbush. It was Whiting's third major decision of the year and first against a Big Ten opponent as Minnesota's lead grew to 8-0.
The first technical fall of the dual came at 184 pounds as No. 4
Max McEnelly dominated Jon Halvorsen, 19-4 (6:17). McEnelly wasted no time with three takedowns in the opening period for a 9-2 lead. The lead was 12-3 through two before McEnelly ended it with an escape and two more takedowns in the third. It was his team-leading 10th tech fall victory of the season and 12th bonus-point win. Giving Minnesota a 13-0 lead, McEnelly improved to 14-0 on the season and 29-0 in his young career.
No. 9
Isaiah Salazar earned his third ranked win of the season and the team's second of the day in a 10-3 decision over No. 12 Evan Bates at 197. Bates actually struck first with Northwestern's first takedown of the day, but Salazar rallied to lead 4-3 after the first period. He then rode out Bates and picked up a stalling point in the second to push the lead to 5-3. Ahead 6-3 in the third, Salazar got a final go-behind takedown to put the match away in the final 20 seconds and push the advantage to 16-0.
Minnesota made it five-for-five with a first-period tech fall from top-ranked
Gable Steveson at heavyweight. Facing Dirk Morley, Steveson had four takedowns and picked up nearfall points on two of them to finish the match at 1:51, 19-3. His bonus point rate stays at 100 percent with six tech falls and a pin in seven matches this year. Steveson is 92-2 overall in his career, including 55-0 in duals and 40-0 within the Big Ten.
The win was the 59th straight victory for Steveson, passing Tim Hartung for the third longest winning streak in program history. The only Gophers ahead of Steveson are Dustin Schlatter, who won 65 in a row from 2005-07, and Cole Konrad, who holds the record with 76 straight victories from 2005 to 2007.
After building a 21-0 lead at intermission, Minnesota saw Northwestern pick up its first two wins coming out of the break.
At 125 pounds, redshirt sophomore
Quincy Hulverson was pinned at 4:22 by Dedrick Navarro as Hulverson made his Big Ten dual debut. In fact, it was just the second dual for Hulverson in his career along with a 2022 start versus Augustana.
True freshman
Blake Beissel bumped up to 133 pounds for the second straight match. He battled Massey Odiotti in a 14-7 loss. Down 8-5 after two periods, Beissel escaped early in the third to cut it to 8-6 but Odiotti pulled away late for the decision.
The lead was trimmed to 21-9, but the Gophers clinched the dual at 141 pounds when No. 8
Vance VomBaur tech falled No. 27 Chris Cannon, 20-4. With VomBaur 4-0 in the second period, Cannon took injury time to deal with an issue to his lower right leg. With Cannon not at 100 percent for the remainder of the match, VomBaur took advantage with one more takedown in the second followed by four in the third period to close out the match at the 6:26 mark. It was VomBaur's team-leading sixth ranked win of the season, and his fourth tech fall, as he improved to 17-2.
Northwestern got its final win at 149 pounds with No. 24 Sam Cartella topping No. 23
Drew Roberts, 6-3. Down 4-0 in the final period, Roberts got a late takedown but couldn't complete the comeback.
Tommy Askey delivered the exclamation point for Minnesota by winning the foul bout at 157. In a top-10 matchup, the eighth-ranked Askey prevailed over No. 9 Trevor Chumbley, 3-2. The match was scoreless through two periods, and Chumbley led 2-0 in the third behind an escape and securing the riding time point. With just over 30 seconds left, however, Askey picked Chumbley's right leg and rode him out for the dramatic victory. The win, Askey's first over a ranked opponent this year, tied him with VomBaur for the team lead with 17 victories.
Minnesota is back in action next Sunday as it hosts No. 13 Rutgers at Maturi Pavilion. Match time is set for noon on Big Ten Network.
Match Results
#7 Minnesota 29, Northwestern 12
Jan. 26, 2025 | Evanston, Ill. | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Attendance: 843
165 #11
Andrew Sparks MD #20 Maxx Mayfield (NU), 11-3 | MINN 4, NU 0
174 #25
Clayton Whiting MD Aiden Vandenbush (NU), 18-4 | MINN 8, NU 0
184 #4
Max McEnelly TF Jon Halvorsen (NU), 19-4 (6:17) | MINN 13, NU 0
197 #9
Isaiah Salazar dec. #12 Evan Bates (NU), 10-3 | MINN 16, NU 0
285 #1
Gable Steveson TF Dirk Morley (NU), 19-3 (1:51) | MINN 21, NU 0
125 Dedrick Navarro (NU) fall
Quincy Hulverson, 4:22 | MINN 21, NU 6
133 Massey Odiotti (NU) dec.
Blake Beissel, 14-7 | MINN 21, NU 9
141 #8
Vance VomBaur TF #27 Chris Cannon (NU), 20-4 (6:26) | MINN 26, NU 9
149 #24 Sam Cartella (NU) dec. #23
Drew Roberts, 6-3 | MINN 26, NU 12
157 #8
Tommy Askey dec. #9 Trevor Chumbley (NU),