# Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling

The Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling program is an intercollegiate varsity sport at the University of Minnesota. They are a member of the Big Ten Conference and NCAA. Wrestling began at Minnesota in 1910, but the first formal dual meet was not until 1921 when coach Frank Gilman led the team to a victory over Wisconsin. The Gophers have won the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships team title three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2007.
J Robinson served as head coach for the team for thirty years, leading the Golden Gophers to three national championships during his tenure, until he was fired in 2016 over his handling of a prescription drug scandal involving his wrestlers. Following Robinson's departure, three-time Golden Gopher wrestling All-American Brandon Eggum was named as head coach.

## Home meets

Home meets are held in the 5,700-seat Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis. When large crowds are expected, meets are held in Williams Arena, capacity 14,321. This often happens for matches against archrivals Iowa and Oklahoma State. Several home matches each year are televised by the Big Ten Network. The school has also used Target Center in downtown Minneapolis for some matches.

## Team championships

* NCAA Division I: 2001, 2002, 2007
* Big Ten Conference: 1910, 1912, 1913, 1941, 1957, 1959, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007
The 2001 team has two unique distinctions: All ten wrestlers in each weight class earned All-American (top eight) status and the school won the national team championship despite not having a single finalist.

## NCAA individual champions

The Gophers have had eighteen NCAA individual champions. Five of those were two-time champions.
* John Whitaker: 1937
* Dale Hanson: 1939 (Most Valuable Wrestler)
* Leonard Levy: 1941
* Verne Gagne: 1948, 1949
* Dick Mueller: 1953
* Evan Johnson: 1976
* Pat Neu: 1977
* Marty Morgan: 1991
* Tim Hartung: 1998, 1999
* Brock Lesnar: 2000
* Luke Becker: 2002
* Jared Lawrence: 2002
* Damion Hahn: 2003, 2004
* Dustin Schlatter: 2006
* Cole Konrad: 2006, 2007
* Jayson Ness: 2010
* Tony Nelson: 2012, 2013
* Gable Steveson: 2021, 2022

## Dan Hodge Trophy

* 2010 – Jayson Ness
* 2021 – Gable Steveson

## Olympians

Minnesota wrestlers in the Olympics :
| Year | Name | Country | Style | Weight Class | Place |
| 1948 London | Verne Gagne | United States | Freestyle | 87 kg | ALT |
| 1956 Melbourne | Alan Rice | United States | Greco-Roman | 62 kg | DNP |
| 1976 Montreal | Gary Alexander | United States | Greco-Roman | 62 kg | DNP |
| 1976 Montreal | James "Evan" Johnson | United States | Greco-Roman | 90 kg | 7th |
| 1976 Montreal | Dan Chandler | United States | Greco-Roman | 82 kg | DNP |
| 1980 Moscow | Dan Chandler | United States | Greco-Roman | 82 kg | Boycott |
| 1984 Los Angeles | Dan Chandler | United States | Greco-Roman | 82 kg | DNP |
| 1984 Los Angeles | Jim Martinez | United States | Greco-Roman | 68 kg | Bronze |
| 1988 Seoul | Evan Bernstein | Israel | Greco-Roman | 90 kg | DNP |
| 1996 Atlanta | Brandon Paulson | United States | Greco-Roman | 52 kg | Silver |
| 1996 Atlanta | Gordy Morgan | United States | Greco-Roman | 74 kg | 9th |
| 1996 Atlanta | David Zuniga | United States | Greco-Roman | 62 kg | 10th |
| 2000 Sydney | Garrett Lowney | United States | Greco-Roman | 97 kg | Bronze |
| 2004 Athens | Garrett Lowney | United States | Greco-Roman | 96 kg | 19th |
| 2008 Beijing | Jake Deitchler | United States | Greco-Roman | 66 kg | 12th |
| 2020 Tokyo | Gable Stevenson | United States | Freestyle | 125 kg | Gold |

## Notable Minnesota wrestlers

* Gary Alexander – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1976 Summer Olympics
* Evan Bernstein – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1988 Summer Olympics
* Dan Chandler – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1976, 1980, and 1984 Summer Olympics
* Jake Deitchler – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 2008 Summer Olympics
* Verne Gagne – two-time NCAA Champion and Olympic freestyle wrestling alternate at 1948 Summer Olympics
* James "Evan" Johnson – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1976 Summer Olympics, NCAA Champion and two-time finalist
* Cole Konrad – MMA fighter, first Bellator Heavyweight World Champion, two-time NCAA Champion and three-time finalist
* Nik Lentz – UFC fighter
* Brock Lesnar – UFC Heavyweight Champion, professional wrestler, NCAA Champion and two-time finalist
* Leonard Levy – NFL player, professional wrestler, NCAA Champion
* Garrett Lowney – Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 2000 Summer Olympics
* James Martinez – Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1984 Summer Olympics, NCAA All-American
* Gordy Morgan – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1996 Summer Olympics, NCAA All-American
* Marty Morgan – NCAA Champion and three-time All-American at Minnesota
* Brandon Paulson – Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1996 Summer Olympics, NCAA All-American
* Alan Rice – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1956 Summer Olympics
* Dustin Schlatter – NCAA Champion and three-time All-American
* Gable Steveson – Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at 2020 Summer Olympics, professional wrestler, NFL player, two-time NCAA Champion and three-time All-American, two-time Hodge Trophy winner
* Jacob Volkmann – UFC fighter, three-time NCAA All-American
* David Zuniga – Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling at 1996 Summer Olympics