After being there last night, here are some observations...If anyone would like more detail, please feel free to ask.

197 - Bronson looked really tough in the first period and I thought BRester looked more than a bit winded. Bronson got taken down to his back twice, once in the closing seconds of the match and that gave up the major. That was disappointing, but he did not give up the fall and I really did think for a while that he might just out condition Brester for the upset. that was fleeting however. While he is bigger, I think its fair to call him Dretch Jr., his stance, body type, and appearance is almost identicle.

HWT- We have been very spoiled for the last four years watching Cole. He really was something special and that legacy is a very heafty load for any Gopher heavyweight to shoulder. That being said, I think Berhow will be good inthe future. He show signs of aggressiveness and technique that, once polished, will make him a force to be reckoned with. May's experience was the difference in this one, but I think in a rematch Berhow takes it.

125-big disappointment in not having a match...but contrary to popular thought on this board I really don't think Ness would have one. From what I've seen of Donahoe so far this year, he appears to be a man on a mission. Don't misinterperate that I think Ness won't ever beat him, because I do hope he does and I know he is more than capable of doing it. I just think that at this point in the season Donahoe is a bit ahead. We'll see if his injury makes any difference.

133 - To plagarize LoSt, "reiter did his best impression of Jordan's Bicycle" for the entire first period after the collision. I missed the collision because I was busy trying to text someone the aforementioned line. That 3rd period was Awesome however. Mack came on strong and Kenny totally Gassed. I've been tough on Reiter so far this season because he really hasn't shown the spark that he has in years past. This match totally changed my opinion and that last period looked like the Mack we all know and love.

141- Manny is a Killer. I'll be very sad to see him gone next year and I feel very glad that I've gotten the opportunity to watch a Diamond in the rough develop into what he is now.

Quick thought regarding the referee....I couldn't tell if he was a total homer or if he was just lazy. It looked like he was allergic to counting nearfall and it appeared that there were a lot of call that could have been interperated as questionable. I'm not complaining because they went toward my team....but if I were a Husker fan...I would be screaming.

149- Dustin wrestled solid and Burroughs RAN away the entire time. I ahven't seen anything like that in a long time. It must be exptremely frusterating to go out onto the mat and know that every match is a) going to go the distance, and b) that your opponent is not going to do anything. I've been hard on dustin too because he hasn't shown me a whole lot of offense, but after last night my paradigm has shifted. He is remarkably mentally tough to be able to go an win like that against such blatant stalling. Burroughs wrestled most of the match just out of bounds.

157- Why was there no match? CP looked upset about that too.

165- One of the most exciting matches I've seen this season. When Glasser matures and gets some experience under his belt, watch out. HE's dynamite on his feet and agressive like no one else on the team. It would not surprise me to see him AA this year (long shot) and I think we might see the second cloming of jacob volkmann before he is done. Dwyer wrestled a great match, was very tough on top and his experience is what won the match. I don't know that he should be ranked as high as he is, but he was deffinitley a bright spot for the huskers.

174- Gabe dretch wrestles the way the Tazmainian Devil would wrestle. he spun around in a circle so many times it became pretty silly. "Wild Thing" is about the most appropriate entrance music as one could pick for him. He is also really, really big. If he can minimalize his mistakes and possibly calm down a bit....he's a threat to beat anybody.

184- Vince Jones is absolutley huge. It looked to me like he was a bit intimidated bny kish at first, and Kish came out and capitalized on that. Roger looked good, but he was extremely lucky to get pulled out of the cradle in the third period by the referee. I'm still unclear why they stopped it, but it was tight and he probably would have gone over. That being said, I don't think Kish lets that happen again and besides that, or a big move, which Jones is capable of doing, he won't be in danger olosing to vince.

I do not like the Big 5/12 as a matter of principal...I'm really loyal to the big 10 like I am the NL or the NFC north. That being said....Nebraska is going to scare some people this year and they will be very dangerous NEXT year. I can't understand why a traditional power like Nebraska would not be able to fill a full line up...that was disappointing. Without the forefits I still think MN would have won, but it might have been a nail biter.

I didn't quite understand why Nebraska didn't throw in their #2 guys at 133 and 157. I am sure they have them. Maybe they just didn't want to send the lambs to slaughter? I dunno.

Originally Posted by architeuthis

After being there last night, here are some observations...If anyone would like more detail, please feel free to ask.


197 - Bronson looked really tough in the first period and I thought BRester looked more than a bit winded. Bronson got taken down to his back twice, once in the closing seconds of the match and that gave up the major. That was disappointing, but he did not give up the fall and I really did think for a while that he might just out condition Brester for the upset. that was fleeting however. While he is bigger, I think its fair to call him Dretch Jr., his stance, body type, and appearance is almost identicle.

HWT- We have been very spoiled for the last four years watching Cole. He really was something special and that legacy is a very heafty load for any Gopher heavyweight to shoulder. That being said, I think Berhow will be good inthe future. He show signs of aggressiveness and technique that, once polished, will make him a force to be reckoned with. May's experience was the difference in this one, but I think in a rematch Berhow takes it.

125-big disappointment in not having a match...but contrary to popular thought on this board I really don't think Ness would have one. From what I've seen of Donahoe so far this year, he appears to be a man on a mission. Don't misinterperate that I think Ness won't ever beat him, because I do hope he does and I know he is more than capable of doing it. I just think that at this point in the season Donahoe is a bit ahead. We'll see if his injury makes any difference.

133 - To plagarize LoSt, "reiter did his best impression of Jordan's Bicycle" for the entire first period after the collision. I missed the collision because I was busy trying to text someone the aforementioned line. That 3rd period was Awesome however. Mack came on strong and Kenny totally Gassed. I've been tough on Reiter so far this season because he really hasn't shown the spark that he has in years past. This match totally changed my opinion and that last period looked like the Mack we all know and love.

141- Manny is a Killer. I'll be very sad to see him gone next year and I feel very glad that I've gotten the opportunity to watch a Diamond in the rough develop into what he is now.

Quick thought regarding the referee....I couldn't tell if he was a total homer or if he was just lazy. It looked like he was allergic to counting nearfall and it appeared that there were a lot of call that could have been interperated as questionable. I'm not complaining because they went toward my team....but if I were a Husker fan...I would be screaming.

149- Dustin wrestled solid and Burroughs RAN away the entire time. I ahven't seen anything like that in a long time. It must be exptremely frusterating to go out onto the mat and know that every match is a) going to go the distance, and b) that your opponent is not going to do anything. I've been hard on dustin too because he hasn't shown me a whole lot of offense, but after last night my paradigm has shifted. He is remarkably mentally tough to be able to go an win like that against such blatant stalling. Burroughs wrestled most of the match just out of bounds.

157- Why was there no match? CP looked upset about that too.

165- One of the most exciting matches I've seen this season. When Glasser matures and gets some experience under his belt, watch out. HE's dynamite on his feet and agressive like no one else on the team. It would not surprise me to see him AA this year (long shot) and I think we might see the second cloming of jacob volkmann before he is done. Dwyer wrestled a great match, was very tough on top and his experience is what won the match. I don't know that he should be ranked as high as he is, but he was deffinitley a bright spot for the huskers.

174- Gabe dretch wrestles the way the Tazmainian Devil would wrestle. he spun around in a circle so many times it became pretty silly. "Wild Thing" is about the most appropriate entrance music as one could pick for him. He is also really, really big. If he can minimalize his mistakes and possibly calm down a bit....he's a threat to beat anybody.

184- Vince Jones is absolutley huge. It looked to me like he was a bit intimidated bny kish at first, and Kish came out and capitalized on that. Roger looked good, but he was extremely lucky to get pulled out of the cradle in the third period by the referee. I'm still unclear why they stopped it, but it was tight and he probably would have gone over. That being said, I don't think Kish lets that happen again and besides that, or a big move, which Jones is capable of doing, he won't be in danger olosing to vince.

I do not like the Big 5/12 as a matter of principal...I'm really loyal to the big 10 like I am the NL or the NFC north. That being said....Nebraska is going to scare some people this year and they will be very dangerous NEXT year. I can't understand why a traditional power like Nebraska would not be able to fill a full line up...that was disappointing. Without the forefits I still think MN would have won, but it might have been a nail biter.

I would have to agree on most everything. I personally recall Roger breaking that cradle lock (but I could be mistaken). Regardless, he was in an odd perdicament with having choice in the third and 58 seconds of riding time. Tough choice if you are good on your feet like Roger is and going for bonus pts. We see how that ended up.

Since you were also in attendance, could you help me with a couple things.
1) What was the deal with the whistle in Mack's match when he yanked his arm out from top position? It looked like Jordan bit him?
2) How many times did Gabe have a takedown all but done only to bail out 1/2 to 3/4's of the way through the move? Seemed like several....
3) I agree that the ref was not the greatest, but there were a few folks in the crowd far more willing to let him know how he was doing than I was. He missed a couple potential pinfalls (That goes out to JB) in Manny's match and could have legitimately called a 3rd stalling at the end of Reiter / Jordan. Oh well, all in all he could have been worse.
4) Does anyone know how Malamura and Bronson compare in the room? We're giving homeboy a scholarship package...why not get him out on the mat again to see if things have improved. I am sorry, but until Bronson scores an takedown that he generated himself...I think we need to look into other option.

Kudos to Nebraska on the guys they had out on the mat. That said, I too was disappointed that they didn't have some backups to compete.

Gopherfaninmn,

1. I like to sit up in the balcony, so I wasn't exactly close to the mat...at first I thought he bit him to, but upon second glance, from my view point...I thought it was more of a jammed finger or something to that effect. the Referee made no indication that it was a bite.

2. A lot of the Gophers were that way. Dretch did it often, but he appeared to be more interested in spinning in circles. Bronson did it too, as did rivera once or twice. Dretch tends to do that though in the last few years I've been watching him. He wither gets something funky and catches the opponent by surprise, or what you witnessed happens.

3. Like I said, I don't know if the ref was a homer...obviously not because there were a lot of backpoints for the gophers missed...or just lazy, because he didn't want to get on the mat and count. From my vantage point I don't Think that Manny had him pinned. It was close a few times, but I didn't happen to think the pin was there.

4. If you had a chance to see the Northern Quad, you probably would have seen what I saw....that Yura mala...mala...not gonna wrestle here anymore (office space joke) hasn't really done anything different then the last time we saw him. I hate to be down on a student athlete, but Bronson showed me some things at that same meet that would tell me he should be starting. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Kuhlman have another crack at 197. I do think that with a bit more experience Bronson will be adequate. Plus to have seen him mature sincehe was a freshman to now has a lot of value in my eyes. I say let him dukle it out for a while and see what happens.

Goferphan,

My apperciation for bronson is summed up by TLV. THats exactly the view point I have of him. He is merely servicable and I think he has taken his lumps enough to get a starting nod in a weightclass that is weak at best until Eidenschenk comes back.

In terms of experience, I mean that he hasn't seen the "limelight" of starting on a national championship team. Am I being optimistic by saying that experience will help? Yes. would I rather see him out there than Malamura? Yes. Bronson is not in a situation like Fulsaas, who had 4 years to gain experience. Does he have experience being on a college team? Yes. Does he have experience wrestling when it counts? No, thats my point.

Calling Malamura a student athlete is fair. HE was a Juco Champ and he wrestled for the Gophers. Neither of which I did. I say that because I don't want to speak poorly about someone who busts his hump in that room and is still on the team (see Charles Lloyd, similar situation, similar problems, not in the room any longer). The moral of this story is that I can sit here all day and rip him from watching him all of last year and once this year. but I'm not going to because he's there working hard and I'm not. I don't think that owuld be fair.