Will Dustin Schlatter (right) wrestle against Iowa?

The Gophers, rated No. 4 in the latest national wrestling polls, face two of the three teams above them this weekend. They meet No. 1 Iowa at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the friendly confines of Williams Arena and then wrestle at No. 3 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., on Sunday.

Here are Friday’s probable matchups with comments:

125 pounds

Sophomore Jayson Ness, Gophers, 25-0, 17 pins (most in Division I), rated No. 1 vs. junior Charlie Falck, Iowa, 24-1, rated No. 3. Falck wrestled for Class 3A power Apple Valley in high school. … Ness is 3-0 vs. Falck in college.

133

Senior Mack Reiter, Gophers, 16-2, rated No. 5, vs. sophomore Joe Slaton, Iowa, 23-2, rated No. 3.

141

Senior Manny Rivera, Gophers, 25-2, rated No. 3,vs. sophomore Dan LeClere, Iowa, 19-6, rated No. 9

149

Junior Dustin Schlatter, Gophers, 13-1 and rated No. 2 or unrated Luke Mellmer (8-14) vs. sophomore Brent Metcalf, Iowa, 23-1 and rated No. 1

157

Senior C.P. Schlatter, Gophers, 21-2 and rated No. 7 vs. sophomore Ryan Morningstar, Iowa, 17-6, rated No. 15

165

Junior Tyler Safratowich, Gophers, 19-7 and unrated, vs. redshirt freshman Aaron Janssen, 6-4 and unrated

174

Senior Gabe Dretsch, Gophers, 21-7 and rated No. 11, vs. sophomore Jay Borschel, Iowa,22-4 and rated No. 2

184

Senior Roger Kish, Gophers, 8-3 and rated No. 5, vs. sophomore Phil Keddy, Iowa, 19-6 and rated No. 8

197

Senior Justin Bronson, Gophers, 14-12 and unrated, or sophomore Chris McPhail, 3-2 and unrated, vs. sophomore Chad Beatty, 7-7 and unrated

Hwt.

Redshirt freshman Ben Berhow, Gophers, 12-10 and unrated, or junior Yura Malamura, 10-8 and unrated, vs. senior Matt Fields, Iowa, 20-5 and rated No. 5

The Gophers expect to win this match. Looking strictly at the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA national ratings, the Gophers are favored in four matches, Iowa in four. And, at two other weights, neither has a wrestler rated in the top 20.

So this could be a pretty even match. How healthy Kish and, if he wrestles, Dustin Schlatter are could also be a big factor.What do more enlightened wrestling minds than mine think?

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 12:14 am and is filed under Gophers wrestling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.