Gophers wrestling team thrashes Rutgers in matchup of high-ranked teams

The No. 7 Gophers wrestling team won six consecutive matches and defeated No. 12 Rutgers 28-9 on Sunday at Maturi Pavilion.

It was the fourth consecutive dual victory for the Gophers (8-1, 4-1 Big Ten). The Gophers and Rutgers (11-5, 3-3) are two of the eight Division I programs with a wrestler ranked nationally at each weight.

After the Scarlet Knights opened the match with a decision by Andrew Clark at 149 pounds, the Gophers won the next six matches — four by bonus points — to build a 25-3 lead.

Included in the run was a technical fall victory by Andrew Sparks at 165 pounds and major decisions by Max McEnelly (at 184) and Isaiah Salazar (at 197). The run was completed with a pin from heavyweight Gable Steveson.

McEnelly, ranked No. 4 at 184, improved to 15-0 with his team-leading 11th tech fall of the season.

The victory for Steveson, an Olympic gold medalist ranked No. 1 at heavyweight, was his 60th in a row — the third-longest run in program history behind Dustin Schlatter’s 65 and Cole Konrad’s 76. Both of those streaks took place from 2005-07.

This season, Steveson is 8-0 with six tech falls and two pins. He is 93-2 in his Gophers career, including 56-0 overall in dual meets and 41-0 in the Big Ten.

After Rutgers won at 125 and 133 to pull within 25-9, Vance VomBaur closed out the victory for the Gophers with a 12-5 decision at 141. VomBaur improved to 18-2.

The Gophers will wrestle at No. 4 Ohio State on Friday. The Gophers and Buckeyes, along with Iowa and Nebraska, are tied for second place in the Big Ten Conference standings.

Penn State, the top-ranked team in the nation, is 4-0 in conference duals after defeating No. 2 Iowa 30-8 on Saturday. Iowa defeated Maryland 34-9 on Sunday.