Gopher Wrestling Club

Olympic champion Steveson among 30 U.S. Open champions to qualify for Final X on June 10

2020 Olympic champion Gable Steveson was among 30 wrestlers to win the 2023 Pritchard Companies U.S. Open Championships, presented by FloWrestling, and earn a spot in Final X, presented by Tezos, on June 10 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Final X will determine the 2023 U.S. Senior World Team in all three Olympic disciplines: men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. There will be 30 weight classes contested, 10 in each Olympic discipline. The top two U.S. athletes in each weight class will compete in a best-of-three series at Final X to determine who will wrestle at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

Steveson recorded a technical fall victory over two-time World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski in the 125 kg finals to advance to Final X. He will await the champion of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament being held in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 20-21.

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Ten Gophers Head to Sin City for 2023 U.S. Open Championships

MINNEAPOLIS – The past, present, and future of Minnesota wrestling will be well represented in Sin City this weekend as a total of ten Gophers will compete in the 2023 U.S. Open Championships at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev., this weekend.

The group is headlined by Gable Steveson, the former two-time NCAA heavyweight champion, who will be making his return to amateur wrestling in the 125-kilogram senior division as he kicks off his pursuit of a second Olympic gold medal.

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Former Gopher Gable Steveson Set to Return to Amateur Wrestling Competition

MINNEAPOLIS – Former Gopher heavyweight Gable Steveson has announced his return to amateur wrestling competition on Tuesday evening with his registration in the U.S. Open, which will take place later this month.

The announcement closes out a 13-month hiatus from the sport dating back to last season’s NCAA Championships, where Steveson left his wrestling shoes on the center mat, a rich tradition in wrestling signaling the end of a competitor’s career.

Steveson has hinted towards his desire to make his return to the mat in recent media appearances as the 2024 Olympic cycle draws near. FloWrestling confirmed Steveson’s return through their social channels on Tuesday evening.

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GWC Athletes Prepare For World Cup

MINNEAPOLIS – Gopher Wrestling Club athletes Daniel DeShazer and Hayden Zillmer are set to travel to Coralville, Iowa, this weekend as they prepare to compete in the 2022 World Cup as members of Team USA.

Hayden Zillmer joins the lineup at 125 kilograms alongside Nick Gwiazdowski at 125 kilograms, fresh off his appearance at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships this past summer in Belgrade, Serbia. National team member Daniel DeShazer will represent the stars and stripes at 61 kilograms, joining fellow American Seth Gross at the weight.

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USA Wrestling announces its teams for Mens and Womens Freestyle World Cup

USA Wrestling has announced its lineups for both its men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle teams which will compete at the Men’s and Women’s Freestyle World Cup at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, Dec. 10-11.

The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships, conducted by United World Wrestling. The top five teams in men’s freestyle and the top five teams in women’s freestyle from the 2022 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September have confirmed their participation. There is also an All-World Team in each discipline, featuring the top available athlete from the World Championships in each weight class that were not from a nation which qualified for the World Cup.

The U.S. World Cup teams will feature two Olympic champions, four World champions and 10 past World medalists. It will also include a number of talented young stars who are making an impact internationally.

The men’s freestyle team will feature a pair of Olympic and World champions, Jordan Burroughs at 79 kg and Kyle Snyder at 97 kg. Burroughs is a 2012 Olympic champion, a six-time World champion and has won 10 career World and Olympic medals. Burroughs is the first U.S. wrestler to win seven World and Olympic titles. Snyder is a 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time World champion and has won eight career World and Olympic medals.

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Nagao places 5th at U23 World Championships as Competition Wraps

PONTEVEDRA, Spain – A week full of action that saw a pair of Gophers competing in the U23 World Championships came to a close on Sunday morning, as Gopher freshman Aaron Nagao closed out the weekend with a fifth-place finish.

Action began on Monday morning for Greco-Roman competition, as Michial Foy was slated to compete in the 87-kilogram weight division. He opened up his first World Championships against Croatia’s Filip Smetko, falling by a score of 4-0.

The turning point in the match was Smetko’s ability to convert in par terre position, as he used a gut wrench in the first period to turn Foy following a passivity point to give Foy a three-point deficit going into the break. Following the loss, Foy would need Smetko to reach the finals in order to be pulled back in to repechage, however Smetko would drop his next match and Foy would be eliminated after going 0-1.

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Foy, Nagao to Represent Team USA at U23 World Championships

MINNEAPOLIS – A pair of current Gophers will be heading overseas in hopes of becoming a world champion, as both Michial Foy and Aaron Nagao will compete in the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain next week.

Foy, a sixth-year senior for Minnesota, will be competing on Monday morning at 87 kilograms as the Greco-Roman portion of the tournament gets underway. Foy earned his ticket to the World Championships by winning the 87-kilogram bracket at the U23 World Team Trials earlier this summer, beating opponent Vincent Baker in the Best-of-3 finals.

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