Gopher Wrestling Club

Six of the nine 2020 Olympic wrestling medalists receive Living the Dream Medal Fund bonuses in private New York ceremony

USA Wrestling and the Stewards of the Living the Dream Medal Fund hosted a special function Thursday night at a private residence in New York City, paying out the first bonuses to the 2020 U.S. Olympic wrestling medalists. Six of the nine Olympic medalist wrestlers received oversized checks as part of the ceremony.

The record $950,000 overall payout is based upon the historic performance of the U.S. Olympic wrestling team at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, where the USA came home with three gold medals, two silver medals, and four bronze medals. The previous record payout during an Olympic year came in 2016 when the fund paid out $600,000 to wrestling medalists from the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The funding for the program comes from a group of individual donors who are called Stewards, along with support from USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

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Pat Smith earns World Team Spot as Competition Wraps in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. – A full weekend of wrestling wrapped up Sunday evening at the Senior World Team Trials in Pinnacle Bank Arena, as former Gopher Pat Smith highlighted the weekend by earning his third career World Team spot in the 72-kilogram Greco-Roman weight division.

Smith, who represented Minnesota Storm RTC as the top seed in his bracket, pinned Griffin Parriott in the quarterfinals and defeated Michael Hooker 4-0 in the semifinals en route to the Best-of-3 finals against Benji Peak (New York Athletic Club). In the finals, Smith continued his winning ways, sweeping the series with 3-3 and 6-4 victories to make his third World Team.

Another former Gopher, Alec Ortiz, competed in Greco-Roman at 77-kilograms as well but fell out of the tournament in the consolation semifinals.

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Webster joins Gopher Wrestling Club

MINNEAPOLIS – Former Minnesota 184-pounder Owen Webster has joined the Gopher Wrestling Club RTC, as announced by the club on Thursday morning.

Webster finished his career as a Gopher this past March as a two-time NCAA Qualifier and a three-time letterwinner in the Maroon & Gold. He posted a 48-30 career record and holds the record for the fastest pin in program history at 11 seconds.

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Steveson presented Hodge Trophy at Minnesota-Ohio State football game

2021 has been quite a year for Gable Steveson, who captured his first NCAA championship in March for Minnesota, then most recently captured an Olympic gold medal for the United States in freestyle wrestling in Tokyo … all around the age of 21.

And on Sept. 2, 2021, the heavyweight wrestler from Apple Valley, Minn., was honored by his Gopher faithful and WIN Publisher Bryan Van Kley, who presented Steveson the 2021 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented annually each year by ASICS, before over 50,000 Gopher fans during Minnesota’s nationally-televised game with Ohio State.

Steveson shared the nation’s most coveted award — named after the late Oklahoma University legend — with Iowa’s three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee.

“The atmosphere at the season-opener for the Gophers was electric with them playing the No. 4 team in the country on a prime-time television night game on Fox,” Van Kley said. “Gable did an awesome job honoring his Gopher fans and getting them into a frenzy while he accepted the Hodge, the crowd chanting ‘U-S-A, U-S-A,’ as he held the award above his head in the end zone. Continue reading at win-magazine.com →

Olympian Gable Steveson returns to jubilant Apple Valley High for a golden hometown celebration

Gophers wrestler has yet to say whether he’s returning to the U or explore other opportunities.

Olympic wrestling gold medalist Gable Steveson returned for a celebration Thursday to the Apple Valley High School gym where just three years ago he would have been sitting among the school’s 1,600 students.

Steveson, 21, spent the last two years wrestling for the University of Minnesota before becoming a bona fide global sports star in August with a come-from-behind victory in the final second of the gold medal match in Tokyo.

“Life’s been crazy for me,” the 2018 Apple Valley High graduate said in brief remarks at a 15-minute welcome home rally. “Never give up on your dreams. Your life can change in a second just like mine did. … Happy Gable Steveson Day!”

Since winning the gold, Steveson gets recognized and stopped everywhere he goes. He’s been weighing numerous lucrative opportunities, ranging from the NFL and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to staying at the U and wrestling for the Gophers, where he can now profit from his own name, image and likeness under recent NCAA rule changes.

In an interview, Steveson said he’s “90 percent” decided on his next step and will make an announcement in a week or two. But Thursday was all about soaking up the hometown love in his old gym among people who knew him before the rest of the world did. Continue reading at startribune.com →

Gold medalist Steveson having fun as he considers next move

Even an Olympic gold medalist has limits.

American wrestler Gable Steveson has been on the go since his dramatic last-second victory in the freestyle heavyweight final put him at the top of the podium in Tokyo. He blew the Gjallarhorn at a Minnesota Vikings preseason game, attended a Bellator MMA event and showed up at World Wrestling Entertainment’s SummerSlam, stepping into the ring to celebrate bringing home the gold in front of more than 50,000 adoring fans.

He’s living it up as he contemplates his next move.

“It’s very new and something different that I haven’t experienced, but I think I’m taking it very well and I’m staying the course how I should be,” he said.

Even for a 21-year-old who seemingly has the world by the tail, being Gable Steveson can be overwhelming. Reality hit when he became so busy that he opted out of the World Championships in Oslo. Continue reading at apnews.com →