Gophers welcome No. 18 Northwestern to the Sports Pavilion, a venue at which the Wildcats have not won since 1990

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After a trip to Las Vegas and a week away from competition for final exams, No. 1 Minnesota will resume its dual schedule on Thursday when it hosts No. 18 Northwestern. The top-ranked Gophers are 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference, while the dual will be the Big Ten opener for the 8-1 Wildcats.

Thursday’s match will be the fourth consecutive home dual for Minnesota after opening its dual season with a pair of road victories against Air Force and Wyoming. The Gophers began this stretch of home meets with victories against Grand Canyon (36-8) and Michigan State (36-3) on back-to-back nights, the latter of which is Minnesota’s lone Big Ten dual to-date. The following weekend, Minnesota defeated No. 8 Oklahoma State, 19-15. In its five duals so far this season, Minnesota has won by an average score of 30-9. Since beating Oklahoma State, Minnesota also competed in the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, where the Gophers claimed the team title over a 39-team field that included 11 ranked squads. No. 2 Chris Dardanes (133) and No. 1 Dylan Ness (157) each brought home individual titles from the event. While eight Gophers are ranked nationally heading into Thursday’s meet, Dardanes and Ness are the only two with unblemished records this season, currently 11-0 and 14-0, respectively.

Northwestern began its season with four consecutive victories, up-ending Stanford on the road and then sweeping the Eastern Michigan Duals. The Wildcats suffered their only loss of the season at home against No. 11 Lehigh on Nov. 30 (30-10). While Minnesota was competing in Las Vegas, Northwestern was hosting the Windy City Duals in Evanston. The Wildcats swept that event, piling up four victories against Cal Poly (38-12), Drexel (28-15), Davidson (47-6) and Princeton (21-18). Four Wildcats grapplers will arrive in Minneapolis nationally ranked and, like the Gophers, two will put undefeated records on the line.

Last year, Minnesota returned from Evanston victorious after defeating Northwestern 26-12, taking six of the dual’s 10 matches. This year’s Wildcat lineup will look somewhat familiar to the Gophers, with six wrestlers who started last year’s meet expected to compete at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota’s lineup won’t look nearly as recognizable to Northwestern, with three returning starters and only No. 2 Scott Schiller wrestling at the same weight as last year.

Schiller’s probable opponent is No. 8 Alex Polizzi, one of three ranked-versus-ranked matches expected on Thursday. Last year, Schiller pinned Polizzi at 4:05, scoring six points to clinch the victory for the Gophers. The pair also faced off at the Big Ten Championships, where Schiller earned a 6-1 decision. During their collegiate careers, Schiller is 3-0 versus Polizzi.

Two Gophers will have the opportunity to challenge the top-ranked wrestler at their weights on Thursday night. Jake Short will take the mat against the defending Big Ten and National Champion at 149, No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis, who is currently 11-0 on the season. At 285, No. 12 Michael Kroells will take on three-time All-American, No. 1 Mike McMullen, who is 6-0 this year. Another marquee match pits No. 18 Nick Wanzek against No. 8 Pierce Harger. All three of these matches will be the first meeting between the competing wrestlers.

The Gophers have won the last 12 duals in this series, last falling to Northwestern 25-19 in January, 1996. Minnesota has been particularly inhospitable hosts to the Wildcats over the past 40 years, compiling a 16-1 home record since 1973-74, including the last eight matchups dating back to 1990. Minnesota leads the all-time series 41-17-1.

Fans attending Thursday night’s dual, which begins at 7 p.m. CT, are encouraged to bring donations for Toys for Tots and St. Joseph’s Home for Children. Unwrapped toys and monetary donations will be accepted at the main entrance to the Sports Pavilion and will go to help children in need this holiday season.

Thursday’s dual will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, the first of three regular season appearances for the Gophers on the network this season. The match will also be available to stream online via the BTN2Go app. As always, updates throughout the match will be provided on the Gopher Wrestling Twitter feed, and a full recap will be posted on GopherSports.com following the event.

Minnesota Match Notes (NU) 

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