Minnesota Headlines 2004 Southern Scuffle

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12/23/2004 11:23:00 AM

Big Ten and National Power Brings Name Recognition To Growing Tournament

By Anthony Maggio “Staff Writer
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Think of Minnesota’s wrestling team as the headliner at a huge music festival.

The Gophers are traveling to the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, North Carolina Dec. 29 and 30 as the biggest name in a tournament growing in popularity in part of the country where the sport could use a boost.

The second-year tournament takes place in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Michael B. Fleming Gymnasium on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. The tournament features 24 Division I teams, each which are allowed to enter up to 15 wrestlers in the tournament.

With Minnesota (ranked #8 in the nation in the Dec. 7 TWM team rankings), in the mix the Scuffle again has a national power headlining the tournament. The Gophers finished second in the tournament last year. Missouri, who is not in the tournament this year, won the tournament with 185 points, followed by Minnesota with 169.5 points and Edinboro with 108.5. Minnesota is the lone Big Ten team in a tournament that is becoming big – particularly among East coast teams.

“Part of being a power is your ability to go somewhere and get other people involved, “Minnesota coach J Robinson said. “It gives (the tournament) more validity, which brings more teams in and fixes the view of wrestling that all the good teams are at Midlands. “

The biggest issues involved, according to Robinson, are fan base and team budgets. If all the big names go to Midlands (the 42nd annual event takes place the same days as the Scuffle, on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.), the wrestling fan base has just one option for watching a solid tournament during the holidays. For some, the travel to Midlands just isn’t an option.

But with solid teams on the West coast competing recently in the Reno Tournament of Champions and East coast teams battling at the Scuffle, wrestling fans now have three options to attend quality tournaments in late December.

“Oklahoma State was at Reno this year, so you’ve got people traveling there, “Robinson said. “You’ve got people going to the Scuffle to see us. People can go to Midlands to see the Iowa’s and teams like that. You’ve given fans a lot of choices. “

Because of budget constraints many teams can’t get to Midlands to begin with. Between the cost of flights, lodging, and food, it’s just not feasible for many teams outside of the Midwest to get to the tournament.

The Scuffle, however, allows many teams on the East coast the option of traveling by bus. As a result the tournament becomes much more affordable. North Carolina-based teams competing include host UNC-Greensboro, Appalachin State, Davidson, Duke, Gardner Webb, North Carolina State and North Carolina. Numerous teams from Virginia (George Mason, Old Dominion, Virginia, Virginia Tech, VMI) and Pennsylvania (Edinboro, East Stroudsburg, Slippery Rock, Lock Haven) will also compete. Two teams from Maryland (Maryland, Navy), along with Kent State (Ohio), Cornell (New York), Rider (New Jersey) and The Citadel (South Carolina) will also compete.

“It’s the opposite with Reno, “Robinson said. “They’ve got Cal-Bakersfield, Oregon, Oregon State. All the schools can get there by driving. The same will happen with the Scuffle. Cornell will be there. You’re getting more and more quality teams to compete during Christmas. It’s a benefit to everybody. For (wrestling) to grow on the East coast it needs exposure. “

Coincidentally, Robinson believes his team can grow as well by heading east to the Scuffle. Especially with such a young squad, Robinson sees nothing but positives coming out of his team gaining exposure to the East coast style of wrestling. Gophers wrestlers feel the same.

“Its just good when we all travel together like that and get down there and wrestle different types of competition, “heavyweight Cole Konrad said. “It’s new to all of us, wrestling East coast guys, we don’t do it very often. “

“I think seeing different styles is important, instead of just wrestling the Big Ten, Midwest style, “165 pounder Matt Nagel added. “So when you get to NCAA’s you know more of what to expect. “

That will especially hold true for 133-pounder Mack Reiter, who is 15-1 this season. The redshirt freshman, ranked No. 6 in the country by The Wrestling Mall, is the No. 3 seed in what is the toughest weight class in the tournament. Travis Lee of Cornell, ranked No. 1 in the nation by TWM, is the top seed. Shawn Bunch of Edinboro, ranked No. 4 by TWM, is the No. 2 seed. North Carolina’s 8th-ranked Evan Sola is the No. 4 seed, while No. 16 Sam Gray of Navy is the fifth seed and No. 18 David Hoffman of Virginia Tech is the sixth seed.

Numerous other Gophers are also seeded, including:

125 “Bobbe Lowe, #1
141 “Tommy Owen, #2
149 “C.P. Schlatter, #3
157 “Nick Lentz, #4
165 “Nagel, #2
174 “Gabe Dretsch, #1
174 “Jon Duncombe, #3
174 “Josh McLay, #5
184 “Roger Kish, #1
285 “Konrad, #1

Mack Reiter is the #3 seed at 133, the toughest weight class in the Southern Scuffle

While up and down the weight classes the competition may not be as deep as Midlands, there are several scenarios developing for the Gophers. Lowe (16-0), has been outstanding this season and looks to continue that success, Owen has a chance to gain control of the 141 pound slot with Quincy Osborne injured, Lentz has a chance to claim the 157 pound slot, and the trio at 174 will work things out by getting on the mat and competing and may the best man win. Meanwhile, the tournament will be the much anticipated debut of Schlatter, the highly-touted redshirt freshman from Ohio who has missed the season to this point because of an offseaons knee injury.

“We want our guys to get a lot of matches, “Robinson said. “It’s a place for our guys to watch and wrestle guys with different strategies. Mat wrestling is more prevalent out there. Even refereeing is different. They call stalling different. All that stuff is important for getting to the national tournament. The more you can expose the better. “

Robinson hopes that the Scuffle can help his wrestlers continue their progression this season. While he said five or six guys are doing well – with Reiter, Nagel and Lowe in that bunch – Robinson expects to be strong throughout the lineup by the end of the season. He’s still tinkering a bit at the 141 and 157 spots, but other than in those spots the Gophers have been consistent.

Konrad, a returning All-American, needs to pick up the pace some according to Robinson. Konrad agrees, but said things are getting better.

“My wrestling has been coming together, “Konrad said. “Sometimes you hit a wall where you feel like you’re not getting any better even though they are. But once you break through you feel like everything’s falling into place. “

The atmosphere at the Scuffle helps make it a solid tournament, and the Gophers had a good time last season. The host school and tournament officials do their best to offer teams a taste of southern hospitality and make them feel welcome.

Matt Nagel is the #2 seed at 165 behind Edinboro’s Nate Yetzer.

“I think it’s a great tournament, “Nagel said. “It keeps us involved during the break. It’s kind of laid back. They run it really well. I really enjoy going there. “

Robinson likes the fact that tournament officials are trying something different. The tournament will also include a clinic for high school coaches and wrestlers, and a tournament for local high school teams.

“They are a little more progressive than the Midlands is, “Robinson said. “The Midlands, they do everything the same way they’ve done it the last 40 years. (The Scuffle) tries different things. It’s what the sport needs. “

Nagel said it might be beneficial for the Scuffle to change when the tournament is held in order to get even better competition involved, but Robinson disagrees.

Between dual meets, the National Duals and the Big Ten championships, Minnesota sees the same opponents a handful of times each year. While Robinson agrees that wrestling the best grapplers the country is a plus, seeing different wrestlers with different styles provides his team with a unique advantage over conference and regional opponents. Bottom line “seeing new teams is important. That’s an edge that could possibly be lost if the Scuffle didn’t compete with Midlands.

“The nation, “Robinson said, “is big enough to hold two or three quality tournaments at the same time.”