University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, January 3
Coralville, IA
University of Minnesota
vs
Soldier Salute
Players Mentioned
157 lbs
/ Wrestling
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
149 lbs.
/ Wrestling
133 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
157 lbs.
/ Wrestling
197 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
149 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
149 lbs.
/ Wrestling
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Photo by: Jamie Bergeland
Wrestling Back in Action at Soldier Salute
1/2/2026 10:00:00 AM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS -- After a 27-day break from competition, No. 7/13 Minnesota is back in action this weekend at the fourth annual Soldier Salute. The two-day event takes place Saturday and Sunday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. Session 1 starts Saturday at 10 a.m., while Session 2 begins at 3:30 p.m. Sunday's Session 3 starts at 11 a.m., while the finals begin at 5 p.m. on Monday night. B1G+ will have streaming coverage, and TrackWrestling.com will have live results.
The Golden Gophers, ranked seventh in the Dec. 23 Intermat Dual Team Rankings and 13th in Intermat's Tournament Rankings, are one of 12 collegiate programs in action at the talent-laden Soldier Salute along with No. 3/4 Iowa State, No. 4/3 Iowa, No. 5/5 Oklahoma State, No. 10/23 South Dakota State, No. 15/NR North Carolina, No. 16/27 Northern Iowa, No. 17/14 Missouri, No. 28/21 Wyoming, NR/28 Navy, Bellarmine and VMI.
The Golden Gophers are scheduled to send 11 wrestlers to the Salute, including heavyweight Koy Hopke, who is 11th in the latest InterMat rankings. In addition to Hopke, Wyatt Duchateau, Jager Eisch and Rhett Koenig are scheduled to compete at 149 pounds, along with Jed Wester and Clayton Whiting at 174, Silas Dailey at 197 and Hopke and Bennett Tabor at heavyweight. Blake Beissel (125), Dawson Johnson (141) and Charles Vanier (149) are all scheduled to compete unattached for Minnesota.
Depending on who is sent by the other schools, there could be as many as 75 ranked wrestlers competing this weekend, according to Intermat's Dec. 23 rankings. Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri and Oklahoma State could all send 10 ranked wrestlers, while South Dakota State could send nine. Northern Iowa has eight ranked wrestlers on its roster, while Wyoming has seven, North Carolina has six, Navy has four and the Gophers are scheduled to send one ranked wrestler. Neither Bellarmine nor VMI have a ranked competitor.
This weekend marks the third and final major tournament of the regular season for the Gophers. The opening weekend saw the team capture four titles at the Southeast Open, while the following week featured 12 outright and shared titles at the Bison Open. In addition, Minnesota sent small contingents to the Daktronics Open on Nov. 16 and the Kent State Open on Dec. 6, winning a pair of titles at each event.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Golden Gophers, ranked seventh in the Dec. 23 Intermat Dual Team Rankings and 13th in Intermat's Tournament Rankings, are one of 12 collegiate programs in action at the talent-laden Soldier Salute along with No. 3/4 Iowa State, No. 4/3 Iowa, No. 5/5 Oklahoma State, No. 10/23 South Dakota State, No. 15/NR North Carolina, No. 16/27 Northern Iowa, No. 17/14 Missouri, No. 28/21 Wyoming, NR/28 Navy, Bellarmine and VMI.
The Golden Gophers are scheduled to send 11 wrestlers to the Salute, including heavyweight Koy Hopke, who is 11th in the latest InterMat rankings. In addition to Hopke, Wyatt Duchateau, Jager Eisch and Rhett Koenig are scheduled to compete at 149 pounds, along with Jed Wester and Clayton Whiting at 174, Silas Dailey at 197 and Hopke and Bennett Tabor at heavyweight. Blake Beissel (125), Dawson Johnson (141) and Charles Vanier (149) are all scheduled to compete unattached for Minnesota.
Depending on who is sent by the other schools, there could be as many as 75 ranked wrestlers competing this weekend, according to Intermat's Dec. 23 rankings. Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri and Oklahoma State could all send 10 ranked wrestlers, while South Dakota State could send nine. Northern Iowa has eight ranked wrestlers on its roster, while Wyoming has seven, North Carolina has six, Navy has four and the Gophers are scheduled to send one ranked wrestler. Neither Bellarmine nor VMI have a ranked competitor.
This weekend marks the third and final major tournament of the regular season for the Gophers. The opening weekend saw the team capture four titles at the Southeast Open, while the following week featured 12 outright and shared titles at the Bison Open. In addition, Minnesota sent small contingents to the Daktronics Open on Nov. 16 and the Kent State Open on Dec. 6, winning a pair of titles at each event.
IN THE RANKINGS
As noted above, the Golden Gophers enter the weekend ranked seventh in InterMat's dual team rankings and 13th in the InterMat tournament rankings. The team is also 11th in the NWCA Coaches Poll. A complete list of rankings can be found on Page 7 of the notes.
Nine Gopher wrestlers are ranked in at least two of the major polls with four appearing in all four: InterMat, Flo, Win and OpenMat. All-American Max McEnelly is the No. 3-ranked wrestler at 184 pounds in all three polls, while Jore Volk (125) appears in the top-9 of each publication, including being ranked sixth by Flo.
Redshirt senior Vance VomBaur (141) and sixth-year senior Andrew Sparks (165) are both 15th or better in all four polls with WIN giving VomBaur his highest ranking at No. 6, while Sparks peaks at No. 10 in InterMat's rankings.
Redshirt freshman heavyweight Koy Hopke and redshirt sophomore Gavin Nelson appear in three of the four polls, with neither ranked by WIN. Hopke is 12th or better in the polls his appears in with Flo putting him at No. 10. Nelson (197) is top-23 in all three he appears in, highlighted by a No. 20 ranking from InterMat and OpenMat.
Redshirt senior Drew Roberts (149), redshirt sophomore Ethan Riddle (174) and redshirt freshman Charlie Millard (157) are all ranked by both InterMat and Flo, but don't appear in rankings from WIN or OpenMat. Millard (20th) and Riddle(23rd) have the same rankings in both polls, while Roberts is 25th by InterMat and 29th by Flo.
Nine Gopher wrestlers are ranked in at least two of the major polls with four appearing in all four: InterMat, Flo, Win and OpenMat. All-American Max McEnelly is the No. 3-ranked wrestler at 184 pounds in all three polls, while Jore Volk (125) appears in the top-9 of each publication, including being ranked sixth by Flo.
Redshirt senior Vance VomBaur (141) and sixth-year senior Andrew Sparks (165) are both 15th or better in all four polls with WIN giving VomBaur his highest ranking at No. 6, while Sparks peaks at No. 10 in InterMat's rankings.
Redshirt freshman heavyweight Koy Hopke and redshirt sophomore Gavin Nelson appear in three of the four polls, with neither ranked by WIN. Hopke is 12th or better in the polls his appears in with Flo putting him at No. 10. Nelson (197) is top-23 in all three he appears in, highlighted by a No. 20 ranking from InterMat and OpenMat.
Redshirt senior Drew Roberts (149), redshirt sophomore Ethan Riddle (174) and redshirt freshman Charlie Millard (157) are all ranked by both InterMat and Flo, but don't appear in rankings from WIN or OpenMat. Millard (20th) and Riddle(23rd) have the same rankings in both polls, while Roberts is 25th by InterMat and 29th by Flo.
NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
Through last weekend's competition, Vance VomBaur (141) had six major decision victories to tie for the most in the NCAA along with Iowa State's Rocky Elam and Oregon State's Justin Rademacher. Gophers heavyweight Koy Hopke has five majors, tying for fourth nationally.
Max McEnelly (184) is tied for second in the nation with seven tech fall wins this season. Only Ohio State's Ben Davino has more with eight.
Heavyweight Bennett Tabor is tied for third in the country with five wins by fall this year. Only George Mason's Malachi Duvall (9) and Michigan State's James Campbell (6) have more.
Max McEnelly (184) is tied for second in the nation with seven tech fall wins this season. Only Ohio State's Ben Davino has more with eight.
Heavyweight Bennett Tabor is tied for third in the country with five wins by fall this year. Only George Mason's Malachi Duvall (9) and Michigan State's James Campbell (6) have more.
LAST YEAR AT THE SOLDIER SALUTE
Minnesota had five top-three finishers and came in third place as a team at last year's Soldier Salute.
Vance VomBaur (141), Andrew Sparks (165 pounds) and Bennett Tabor (285) all finished in second place, while Tommy Askey (157) and Blaine Brenner (165) both won their third-place matches to lead the way for the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota finished with 125 team points to claim third place. Iowa won the team title with 248 points, while Northern Iowa was one point ahead of the Gophers at 126 points for second place. No other team reached 100 points for the tournament.
Minnesota initially had 26 student-athletes potentially scheduled to compete at the event, but a flu bug affecting the team contributed to only 13 taking to the mats.
Vance VomBaur (141), Andrew Sparks (165 pounds) and Bennett Tabor (285) all finished in second place, while Tommy Askey (157) and Blaine Brenner (165) both won their third-place matches to lead the way for the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota finished with 125 team points to claim third place. Iowa won the team title with 248 points, while Northern Iowa was one point ahead of the Gophers at 126 points for second place. No other team reached 100 points for the tournament.
Minnesota initially had 26 student-athletes potentially scheduled to compete at the event, but a flu bug affecting the team contributed to only 13 taking to the mats.
Coach's Corner with Brandon Eggum
Wednesday, January 07
Highlights: Hopke Wins Soldier Salute
Tuesday, January 06
Coach's Corner with Brandon Eggum
Tuesday, December 23
Cinematic Recap: Gophers-Little Rock in Mequon
Thursday, December 18