The Minnesota Golden Gophers enter the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships ranked as the best team in the country, but they'll be wrestling for individual recognition this weekend. Nine of the Gophers wrestlers were placed in the brackets, three of which as top seeds, for the tournament featuring six of the nation's top eight schools in the wrestling rankings.
Zach Sanders (125 pounds), Chris Dardanes (133), Nick Dardanes (141), Dylan Ness (149), Logan Storley (174) and Tony Nelson (285) all earned first round byes and therefore won't have to compete until the second half of Saturday's first session.
As far as the remaining Gophers are concerned, Danny Zilberg will wrestle Penn State Nittany Lions representative Dylan Alton, the bracket's No. 2 seed, in the 157 pound weight class. Seventh-seeded Cody Yohn, Minnesota's representative at 165 pounds, will wrestle Indiana's Preston Keiffer. Kevin Steinhaus, despite earning the top seed in the 184 pound weight class, will wrestle Wisconsin's Timmy McCall in the opening round and Sonny Yohn, another top seed, will represent the Gophers against Iowa's Vinnie Wagner in the 197 pound bracket.
Saturday's action will conclude with semifinals and the opening rounds wrestlebacks in the second session. The matches won't be available on television until Sunday afternoon's championship matches, but stay tuned to this StoryStream for results.
For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. A full bracket can be found here.