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Scott Bradley
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Staff Reporter
Sophomore wrestler Jason Davids is one of only three upperclassmen on the Gophers starting lineup this season, and he is ready to lead the young team into the new year.
Davids, who wrestles at 142 pounds, can relate to Minnesota's eight freshmen this season. That's because they, like Davids, redshirted their first year, which means they will sitout the season without losing a year of eligibility.
"I didn't think it was that bad (sitting out a season)," Davids said. "It's just a learning experience. When you wrestle with the varsity guys, you know that if you didn't redshirt as a freshman, it would've been a lot tougher."
Davids, senior Billy Pierce and junior Gerald Carr, will lead the young Gophers this season.
The Gophers, ranked fifth nationally, competed in three meets during December. They began their regular season with a home victory over Missouri on Dec. 1. Minnesota ended the year with a win over San Francisco State and a tie against Fresno State in Fresno, Calif.
Ranked seventh in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News, Davids has a 14-2 record so far this season. He said he enjoys his leadership role on the team, a position he has become familiar with over the years.
Unlike most wrestlers who begin competing in seventh or eighth grade Davids began wrestling when he was 5 years old. His early introduction to the sport is partly because of his family background.
His father, William, wrestled at Michigan and earned All-America honors in 1973. Most recently, the elder Davids coached the wrestling squad at Blaine High School for six years.
"My whole family background has wrestling ties," Jason Davids said. "My uncles on both sides of my family wrestled at one level or another."
Davids, who graduated from Forest Lake High School in the Twin Cities, proved he was one of the state's top wrestlers his senior year when he compiled a perfect 40-0 record, which climaxed with a state championship.
This season at Minnesota, Davids is hopeful his squad can qualify seven athletes for the NCAA tournament, which will be hosted this March at Target Center. That's a high goal for a team that lost three All-Americans from last year's squad.
Brad Gibson, Tim Harris and Brett Colombini are gone, but the team has successfully recruited the nation's top freshmen class this season as rated by Amateur Wrestling News.
Even though all eight of the team's true freshmen are redshirting this season, Davids is confident this year's group of redshirt freshmen can perform up to coach J Robinson's expectations.
"This year we have guys who can step in and do the job," Davids said. "It might take a little more effort and training than it would to have a guy like Colombini walk on the mat. But I think we're going to do alright."
In addition to Minnesota's recruiting class this year, the program landed Carr, a 1995 junior college national champion. Carr, who wrestles at 177 pounds, replaces Colombini.
Robinson said the Gophers are not at the level they need to be in order to fair well against national powers, such as Nebraska, a team Minnesota will face Jan. 9.
"We have nine weeks to get to where we want to be," Robinson said. "We're doing good right now. This isn't a 100-yard dash. It's a one-mile run."
Davids looks forward to this season's challenges.
"We're going to take some losses with a young team," he said. "But we're just going to get better and better as the year goes on. We have something now on the team that we didn't have before, and that's depth."
Despite Davids's early success this season, he suffered a setback early last month when he tore cartilage in his ribs. He said, however, he will be back when the team wrestles Nebraska.
"It's definitely a setback," Davids said. "If I get hurt again, I will be out another four to five weeks. So I can't rush and get back onto the mats because I may risk missing the remainder of the season."
Redshirt Freshman Troy Marr will likely fill in for Davids this Friday when the Gophers wrestle North Dakota.
