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The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

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The Minnesota Daily

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With 10-of-11 Big Ten teams ranked, Gophers well aware of tough run ahead

With 10-of-11 teams ranked in the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA top 25 , thereâÄôs no such thing as an easy weekend in Big Ten wrestling, but thereâÄôs no need to remind the Minnesota wrestling team âÄì especially because the Gophers are already quite familiar with who theyâÄôll line up against this weekend. ItâÄôs a weekend of rematches for the No. 10 Gophers as they travel to State College, Penn. and Columbus, Ohio for duals against Penn State and Ohio State. TonightâÄôs 6 p.m. matchup against the 16th-ranked Nittany Lions will be a repeat of the consolation semifinal at the National Duals, which Minnesota won 21-18. The Gophers met the No. 5 Buckeyes at the National Duals as well, falling 12-25 in the fifth place dual. TheyâÄôll have a chance to avenge the loss Sunday at 10 a.m. Though itâÄôs been a mere three weeks since Minnesota saw both teams, head coach J Robinson said there have been a litany of changes made by various Gophers wrestlers. âÄúWeâÄôre trying to get some of the guys to understand that you have to change,âÄù he said. âÄúIf youâÄôre doing the same things you did two months ago and youâÄôre not winning you have to change something. âÄúAs you start going up and down the lineup, thereâÄôs a lot of [changes] that are going on so we can be not only ready for the Big Ten season but [beyond].âÄù Even the likes of two-time All American Jayson Ness, currently ranked 5th at 133 , and No. 8 Mike Thorn (141) are making meaningful adjustments, Robinson said. But when heâÄôs discussing the men making major strides, Robinson keeps coming back to sophomore heavyweight Ben Berhow . âÄúThereâÄôs a difference between the way Berhow wrestled two months ago and the way heâÄôs wrestling today,âÄù Robsinson said. âÄú[HeâÄôs learned] if he wrestles a certain way heâÄôs going to have success.âÄù But that certain way isnâÄôt unique to Berhow. âÄúA lot of heavyweights like to tie up and sit there and have maybe one or two explosive moves in the match,âÄù Berhow said. âÄúBut thatâÄôs not our style at Minnesota; we want to dominate opponents.âÄù In his last two duals, the 20th-ranked Berhow has done just that. Thanks to his newly developed aggressive style, he recorded a pair of major decisions last weekend against Arizona State and Michigan State and will look to build off that success against Penn StateâÄôs Cameron Wade and Ohio StateâÄôs No. 17 Corey Morrison. Berhow and Morrison met in early December in the quarterfinals of the Las Vegas Invitational, where Morrison prevailed 9-4 . This weekend, rematches are the rule, not the exception. And a number of the rematches are sure to provide some fireworks. For the second straight Sunday, Ness will face the top-ranked wrestler at 133. The BuckeyesâÄô Reece Humphrey is 19-0 and edged Ness 5-4 at the National Duals , but Ness will try to build off last weekendâÄôs 6-5 decision over then-No. 1 Franklin Gomez of Michigan State and knock Humprhey off his post. Thorn meanwhile will get a third shot at defending national champion J Jaggers at 141. TheyâÄôve split their first two matchups this season, with Thorn edging Jaggers 5-3 at the Las Vegas Invite and Jaggers returning the favor with a 7-2 decision at the National Duals.

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