At least one Gophers wrestler is under investigation for an assault that allegedly occurred in the early morning on Jan. 25.
Gophers associate athletic director Jeff Schemmel and wrestling coach J Robinson confirmed that at least one Gophers wrestler was involved. Nobody on the team has been charged at this point.
“We have tried to cooperate with police as much as we can, and that’s still going on,” Schemmel said.
According to a police report, Kevin Fix and Stuart Schirmer were approached by a group of seven or eight males outside a house in Dinkytown. A verbal confrontation turned into an assault, and both victims sustained substantial injuries to their faces.
The men’s athletics department has not taken any action against the wrestler or wrestlers alleged to be involved in the incident. Schemmel said that the department will let the police handle the case until further facts are known.
“Since we’ve become aware of it, we’ve tried to find out what happened,” Schemmel said. “But since the police started, we’ve felt like we should let them do their job and follow up from there.”
The alleged victims, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, have made more specific statements about the alleged assault to other media outlets. The men’s athletics department is not commenting until the investigation is complete.
In a prepared statement, men’s athletic director Mark Dienhart said: “We will continue to fully cooperate with the proper authorities as they attempt to resolve the dramatically different versions of the facts surrounding this incident, and will act accordingly.”
The third-ranked Gophers practiced as usual Wednesday. Robinson said the incident is not interfering with Minnesota’s focus, but that’s not to minimize the issue.
“It’s a bump in the road,” Robinson said. “We’ve dealt with it and we’ll continue to deal with it if it goes in a different direction. Other than that, we’re just going forward.”