Gopher Wrestling: Border Battle Cup Update (What's Wrong In Robinsonville?)

Yes, the Gopher men's basketball team dropped another 20 Border Battle Cup points to Wisconsin this weekend. Nobody is surprised; nobody expected Minnesota to win, and they did not.

But Sunday, the Badger grapplers came into Williams Arena - and upset the vaunted Gopher wrestling team. Hey, J Robinson - what's the deal here?

133-pounder (and fifth-ranked) Mack Reiter was upset by #11 Zach Tanelli. 141-pounder Manuel Rivera always seems to lose in big matches, and Sunday was no different, as the #3-ranked Rivera went down 6-1 to #6 Kyle Ruschel. Freshman Luke Mellmer had to fill in at 157 this weekend for the injured CP Schlatter, but one imagines that CP won't have to worry about losing his spot; Mellmer got pinned on Friday, then got his butt kicked 15-0 on Sunday.

And when Yura Malamura lasted a grand total of 63 seconds before getting pinned at 197, all Wisconsin needed was a victory at heavyweight to seal the deal. Nobody expected Ben Berhow to pull the upset for Minnesota against #4 Kyle Massey; he didn't, losing 6-2. Both teams won five matches, but the difference was Malamura's getting pinned and Mellmer's goose egg.

Jayson Ness (125) and Dustin Schlatter (149) won major decisions for the Gophers, but their dominance was virtually the only bright spot for the defending national champions. One year after absolutely blowing away the conference - their closest Big Ten match in 2006-07 was a 28-12 win - Minnesota has lost three times in the league, twice to lower-ranked opponents.

You might assume, then, this is a rebuilding year for the Gophers. You would be absolutely wrong. Of the ten guys who wrestled (or should have wrestled) one year ago in Madison, nine - all but all-everything heavyweight Cole Konrad - returned this year.

I know that dual meets don't matter in the grand scheme of things; neither the conference title nor the NCAA Championship is decided in dual format. But take Reiter - he's 3-4 in the conference this year. If he had won every match in which he was the higher-ranked wrestler, both he and the Gophers would be 6-1 this season. Instead, Minnesota is 4-3.

What's going on with the Gopher wrestlers? They're supposed to be the one team Gopher fans can count on!

Anyway, Wisconsin took all 60 Border Battle Cup points up for grabs over the weekend - 20 they were supposed to get, 40 they were not. The score is now WISCONSIN 225, MINNESOTA 115, and right now it looks like we're heading for a Badger blowout. The Gophers have won exactly one game in the winter sports season, in women's basketball, and trail 95-25 so far in 2008.

Next weekend is one of the biggest of the year in the competition; 100 points are on the line - 20 in men's hockey (Fri-Sat, in Minneapolis), 20 in women's hockey (Sat-Sun, in Minneapolis), 20 in women's basketball (Sat, in Minneapolis), and 40 in women's swimming and diving (at the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, OH).

On its face, it looks like a split might be in the offing. Which has seemed like a good bet at all times so far this season, so I have no doubt that it'll be a Wisconsin sweep.