Three Gophers swept titles across consecutive weights at the Worthington Open on Saturday and were later joined by their heavyweight teammate as each earned his first career tournament title. Starting at 141 pounds and running through 157, Ben Brancale, Carson Brolsma and Fredy Stroker all captured individual championships, then Rylee Streifel capped off the event by winning the title at 285. Four additional Minnesota wrestlers placed in the tournament.
Brancale put together a 3-0 day at 141. After a pair of decisions, he capped his tournament with an 18-2 technical fall over Joe Fischenich (Augustana) in the title bout, the first tech fall for Brancale this year. After consecutive fourth-place finishes to open his season, he has now reached back-to-back tournament finals.
At 149, Brolsma went 4-0 to join Brancale as a first-time tournament winner. Brolsma came out quickly, pinning Quentin Wren (Iowa Central) in 1:03 and bookended a pair of decisions with a tech fall over Daniel Close (Minnesota State-Mankato) in the finals. Brolsma won each of his four matches by at least seven points. The first-place performance was four spots better than his former career-best, a fifth-place showing at the Cobber Open.
Stroker capped off the run of Gophers on the top of the podium with a 3-0 march through 157. Like Brolsma, Stroker earned a quick fall in his first match, pinning Andrew White in just one minute. He added a major decision over Logan Peterson (South Dakota State) in the semis before a 7-2 decision in the final. Saturday was the first time Stroker had wrestled in a championship match this season. His previous best finish was a third-place showing at the Daktronics Open.
Click Here: new zealand rugby team jerseys
The Gophers biggest champion may have had the biggest day among the Minnesota contingent. Streifel began his tournaments with a first period pin like two of his teammates before recording back-to-back decisions to reach the final. Streifel then pinned Jeff Velez in the second period to win the championship. It was the second time Streifel reached an event final this season. He lost to All-American teammate Michael Kroells in the finals at the Daktronics Open.
A fifth Gopher, Will Balow, reached his championship match, but finished as the runner-up at 184 pounds after a 13-8 defeat. The highlight of Balow’s day came in the quarters, where he earned a first period fall. Colin Carr finished third at 165 after a 4-1 tournament. A 7-4 loss in the semis was the only blemish on a stellar day for Carr that included a pair of major decisions and a tech fall in the third-place match. Both 133-pounder Gresh Jones and 157-pounder Dalton Clark took fourth. Jones’ wins came by tech fall and pin, while Clark fought back from an opening-match defeat to reach the third-place match in his first collegiate tournament.
Five other Gophers wrestled but did not place in the event: Gannon Volk at 141; Dalton Lunde and Faris Karaborni at 184; and, Nate Rose and Chase O’Connor at 285.
GopherSports.com is your home for Gopher Wrestling news. In addition to catching up with the program on the website, be sure follow Gopher Wrestling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Worthington Open Results
Gopher Match-by-Match Results:
133
Gresh Jones (2-2, 4th Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Quarters: Gresh Jones tech fall Lane Nichols (Morningside), 15-0
Semis: Mike Rhone (St. Cloud State) dec Gresh Jones, 10-3
Cons Semis: Gresh Jones fall (1:15) Morgan Engbrecht (Augustana)
3rd Place: Henry Pohlmeyer (St. Cloud State) maj dec Gresh Jones, 8-0
141
Ben Brancale (3-0, 1st Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Quarters: Ben Brancale dec Craig De La Cruz (Unattached), 5-3
Semis: Ben Brancale dec Colby McIntire (Minnesota State-Mankato), 8-4
Finals: Ben Brancale tech fall Joe Fischenich (Augustana), 18-2
Gannon Volk
Champ Rnd 1: Gannon Volk dec Trent Butcher (Southest Minnesota State), 8-2
Quarters: Wilfred Charbono III (Morningside) med. forfeit Gannon Volk
Round of 12: Zach Scott (Rochester Community and Technical College) med. forfeit Gannon Volk
149
Carson Brolsma (4-0, 1st Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Carson Brolsma fall (1:03) Quentin Wren (Iowa Central)
Quarters: Carson Brolsma dec Nathan Ryan (Unattached), 12-5
Semis: Carson Brolsma dec Dyan Herman (Minnesota State-Mankato), 9-2
Finals: Carson Brolsma tech fall Daniel Close (Minnesota State-Mankato), 20-3
157
Fredy Stroker (3-0, 1st Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Champ Rnd 2: Bye
Quarters: Fredy Stroker fall (1:00) Andrew White (Unattached)
Semis: Fredy Stroker maj dec Logan Peterson (South Dakota State), 12-3
Finals: Fred Stroker dec Coltan Laganiere (Rochester Community and Technical College), 7-2
Dalton Clark (3-2, 4th Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Champ Rnd 2: Tyler Perry (Unattached) fall (0:10) Dalton Clark
Cons Rnd 2: Bye
Cons Rnd 3: Dalton Clark med. forfeit Cory Hasbrouck (Unattached)
Round of 12: Dalton Clark dec Jared Nickman (Minnesota West), 10-7
Cons Semis: Dalton Clark dec Coltan Laganiere (Rochester Community and Technical College), 6-4
3rd Place: Logan Peterson (South Dakota State) dec Dalton Clark, 8-4
165
Colin Carr (4-1, 3rd Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Colin Carr maj dec Nick Esping (Southwest Minnesota State), 11-1
Quarters: Colin Carr dec Skylar Weber (Briar Cliff), 12-6
Semis: Brett Bye (South Dakota State) dec Colin Carr, 7-4
Cons Semis: Colin Carr maj dec Brad Maas (Minnesota State-Mankato), 11-2
3rd Place: Colin Carr tech fall Connor Hanson (Rochester Community and Technical College), 18-3
184
Will Balow (2-1, 2nd Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Quarters: Will Balow fall (2:11) Alex Kubicek (Rochester Community and Technical College)
Semis: Will Balow med. forfeit Dalton Lunde
Finals: Martin Mueller (South Dakota State) dec Will Balow, 13-8
Dalton Lunde (2-0)
Champ Rnd 1: Dalton Lunde dec Josh Casperson (South Dakota State), 5-3
Quarters: Dalton Lunde dec Cory Flaata (St. Cloud State), 6-4
Semis: Will Balow med. forfeit Dalton Lunde
Cons Semis: Josh Casperson (South Dakota State) med. forfeit Dalton Lunde
Faris Karaborni (1-2)
Champ Rnd 1: Cole Hennen (Southwest Minnesota State) tech fall Faris Karaborni, 15-0
Cons Rnd 1: Bye
Round of 12: Faris Karaborni fall (1:06) Alex Kubicek (Rochester Community and Technical College)
Cons Semis: Cole Hennen (Southwest Minnesota State) fall (2:37) Faris Karaborni
285
Rylee Streifel (4-0, 1st Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Champ Rnd 2: Rylee Streifel fall (2:26) Guy Henson (Iowa Lakes)
Quarters: Rylee Streifel dec Gary Whitaker (Ellsworth Community College), 6-0
Semis: Rylee Streifel dec Brian Ervin (Briar Cliff), 5-
Finals: Rylee Streifel fall (4:21) Jeff Velez (Unattached)
Nate Rose (2-0)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Champ Rnd 2: Nate Rose dec Chris Zimmer (Minnesota State-Mankato), 6-4
Quarters: Nate Rose dec (SV-1) Chase Nottestad (Rochester Community and Technical College), 5-3
Semis: Jeff Velez (Unattached) med. forfeit Nate Rose
Cons Semis: Andrew Petersen (Southwest Minnesota State) med. forfeit Nate Rose
Chase O’Connor (1-2)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Champ Rnd 2: Chase O’Connor dec Quinn Bullard (Southwest Minnesota State), 5-1
Quarters: Jeff Velez (Unattached) dec Chase O’Connor, 8-3
Round of 12: Chris Zimmer (Minnesota State-Mankato) dec Chase O’Connor, 6-1
View More College News
Comments are closed