No. 24 Wrestling Opens Big Ten Action Sunday at No. 8 Minnesota

Sunday, January 6

Minneapolis, MN

3:15 PM

Rutgers University

University of Minnesota

Photo by: Sam Wasson

No. 24 Wrestling Opens Big Ten Action Sunday at No. 8 Minnesota

Jan 04 | Wrestling

Match Notes Projected Lineups TV: BTN

Scarlet Knights, Gophers square off on BTN

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 24 Rutgers wrestling starts Big Ten Conference action this weekend, as it faces No. 8 Minnesota on Sunday in Minneapolis. The match will broadcast live on BTN at 3:15 p.m. ET, with Shane Sparks and Tim Johnson on the call.

Sunday's matchup marks the first of four consecutive duals against a ranked opponent. The Scarlet Knights will also face No. 10 Wisconsin (Jan. 11), No. 3 Oklahoma St. (Jan. 13) and No. 4 Iowa (Jan. 18) during that span.

RANKED SCARLET KNIGHTS (INTERMAT/FLOWRESTLING/THE OPEN MAT)
133: 3/2/3 Nick Suriano (12-0)
149: 2/2/2 Anthony Ashnault (12-0)
157: 17/15/13 John Van Brill (11-6)
184: 12/16/13 Nicholas Gravina (1-0)

WHAT TO KNOW
• In their last dual outing, No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (149) pinned, Willie Scott (174) earned a dramatic last-second decision and No. 11 Nicholas Gravina (184) made his return to the lineup as the Scarlet Knights delivered a 28-6 victory over Rider on Dec. 16 at the RAC.
• Rutgers checks in at No. 24 in the latest NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll, released on Tuesday. As a team, RU is also ranked No. 10 by FloWrestling and TrackWrestling, No. 13/12 by The Open Mat and No. 14/20 by Intermat.
• Five individuals appear in the national rankings for Rutgers. Ashnault is the consensus No. 2 wrestler in the country at 149 pounds, while Nick Suriano (133) is as high as No. 1 nationally at 133 pounds by AWN.
• John Van Brill (157) and Nicholas Gravina (184) also appear in the national polls, with Van Brill as high as No. 13 (TOM) and Gravina as high as No. 12 (Intermat). Stephan Glasgow is No. 24 at 165 pounds according to Track.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• Minnesota enters Sunday's match ranked No. 8 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll and owns a 7-1 record. This will also be the program's first conference dual of the season.
• In their last time out, the Gophers went 3-0 at the South Beach Duals from Dec. 29-30 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., defeating Lehigh (25-9), North Carolina (29-11) and Kent State (51-0). The 51-0 rout of the Golden Flashes was the most points scored in a dual for Minnesota since Nov. 29, 2008.
• Seven Gophers appear in the latest rankings by Intermat - No. 2 Gable Steveson (HWT), No. 5 Sean Russell (125), No. 5 Mitch McKee (141), No. 8 Ethan Lizak (133), No. 11 Steve Bleise (157), No. 15 Devin Statzka (174) and No. 20 Tommy Thorn (149).
• Minnesota finished last season with an 8-6 dual record and a 4-4 mark in Big Ten action. The Gophers finished seventh at the 2018 Big Ten Championships and 17th at NCAA's. Lizak finished fourth at 125 pounds to secure All-America honors for the second consecutive season.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE GOPHERS
• In the last meeting between the schools, then-No. 18 Rutgers picked up four individual victories but dropped a 20-12 dual to then-No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 9, 2018 at the RAC.
• No. 11 Richie Lewis (165), No. 11 Eleazar DeLuca (149), No. 12 Nicholas Gravina (184) and Joe Grello (174) all collected individual victories against the Gophers.
• Lewis had the most impressive win against Minnesota last season, as he earned a 3-1 decision over No. 8 Nick Wanzek. With Wanzek up 1-0 to start the third period, Lewis escaped and landed a takedown with 19 seconds left in the match for the final decision.

SERIES VS. MINNESOTA
• Sunday's matchup will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools.
• Minnesota is 3-0 all-time against Rutgers, with wins in 2018, 2016 and 2015.

UP NEXT
Rutgers hosts No. 10 Wisconsin on Friday, Jan. 11 and No. 3 Oklahoma State on Sunday, Jan. 13 at the RAC.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers wrestling, follow the program on Twitter (@RUWrestling) and Instagram (@RUWrestling). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com. For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.