The Gophers know regular season success doesn’t necessarily guarantee postseason success.
Despite that, they’ll try building off a successful regular season as they head to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in the Big Ten championships.
Minnesota finished 12-3 overall in dual meets while being ranked No. 5 in the nation as a team. Despite these accolades, head assistant coach Brandon Eggum said his team has to forget about what it has accomplished in the regular season.
“Everything starts fresh from here on out,” Eggum said.
Last year, the team went into the Big Ten championships with an even better record at 14-1.
However, the Gophers turned in a third-place finish with only one wrestler capturing a Big Ten title, despite sending nine wrestlers to the semifinals.
Redshirt senior Nick Dardanes and senior Logan Storley are looking to avenge semifinal losses from last year.
Dardanes wrestled at 149 pounds last year and ultimately placed third individually.
This year, he’ll wrestle at 141 pounds, where he is seeded No. 2. Dardanes said he expects himself to win it all this year.
“It’s my last year, and I only have this year left to get it done,” Dardanes said.
The only wrestler seeded higher than him is Ohio State’s Logan Stieber, an opponent Dardanes lost to this season by one point in dual meet.
“That [matchup] is definitely what I am looking forward to,” Dardanes said. “I don’t want to look ahead, but our seeding makes it where I will meet him in the finals. Hopefully, we can both get there, and I can get some revenge.”
Storley, Minnesota’s 174-pounder, finished fourth at the Big Ten championships last year.
Like his teammate Dardanes, Storley is seeking his first Big Ten crown.
“The Big Ten [championships are] just as tough, if not tougher sometimes than the NCAA tournament,” Storley said. “You have to show up, and you have to be ready to compete. My plan is to go out there and just put on my offense and come home with a Big Ten title.”
Storley is seeded No. 4 in this year’s tournament, and two of the three opponents seeded higher than him are Nebraska’s Robert Kokesh and Penn State’s Matt Brown.
Storley said it will be a great matchup against both athletes because he has wrestled them more than once before.
“They beat me in the Big Tens last year, but I beat them both in the NCAAs,” Storley said. “It’ll be interesting, but my goal every weekend is to go wherever and win matches. That’s what I want to do again.”
Eggum said the team goal is to win a Big Ten title as a team, but that starts with each individual wrestler.
“The team comes first, but to do that, we know that we need to have individual success,” Eggum said. “Our guys are ready as far as training goes. They seem hungry to compete, and they will turn it on at the Big Ten tournament.”
