Thursday, March 20
Philadelphia, PA
11:00 AM
University of Minnesota
at
NCAA Championships - Session I
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Victory No. 100 for Steveson Highlights Gophers' Opening Session at NCAAs
3/20/2025 3:48:00 PM | Wrestling
PHILADELPHIA – Minnesota wrestling opened the 2025 NCAA Championships Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia with five victories in Session I.
Those five wins, which included a pair of bonus-point victories, puts Minnesota in 10th place in the team standings with 8.5 points. Penn State leads the way with 24.5 points.
Session II is set to begin Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT. ESPN will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
The highlight of the opening session was a pin from top-seed Gable Steveson at heavyweight. Facing No. 33 Hayden Filiopvich of Purdue, Steveson posted three takedowns in the opening period before putting Filipovich's shoulders to the mat at the 1:25 mark for his 16th career pin and second at the NCAA Championships.
The victory was the 100th of Steveson's career, making him the 48th wrestler at Minnesota to join the century club. With a career record of 100-2, Steveson advances to Round 2 to face Rutgers' Yaraslau Slavikouski. They met earlier this season at Maturi Pavilion when Steveson won by fall.
Minnesota's other bonus-point victory came at 184 pounds as third-seeded Max McEnelly made his NCAA Championships debut by posting his team-leading 13th tech fall win of the year. Facing No. 30 Colin Legley of Lock Haven, McEnelly posted five takedowns in the first period, including two in the first 45 seconds. Leading 15-4 after one, he escaped in the second and then got another takedown for a 19-4 win at the 3:52 mark. McEnelly advances to the second round to take on No. 14 DJ Parker of Oklahoma.
Tommy Askey picked up the first win of the day for the Golden Gophers as he made his Minnesota debut at NCAAs. Seeded ninth at 157 pounds, Askey took care of No. 24 Dylan Evans of Pitt, 7-2. Askey had takedowns in the first and third periods, including one with eight seconds to go, to secure the win. He will face No. 7 Joey Blaze of Purdue Thursday night in the second round. The two met earlier this month at the Big Ten Championships where Blaze won in sudden victory, 4-1, in the consolation semifinals.
A reigning All-American at 141 pounds, Vance VomBaur started with a 2-0 shutout over No. 27 Greyson Clark of Purdue. After a scoreless first period, the sixth-seeded VomBaur escaped early in the second and then rode out Clark for the entire third period. That sets up a match Thursday night between VomBaur and No. 11 Dylan Cedeno of Virginia.
Competing at his fourth NCAA Championships, No. 10 Andrew Sparks won his opening match for the first time with a 4-2 victory over 23rd-seed Thomas Snipes of The Citadel. Scoreless after one, Sparks escaped and recorded a takedown in period two for the winning margin as Snipes was only able to escape and get a point from stalling. Sparks will meet No. 7 Hunter Garvin of Stanford in the Round of 16 Thursday night.
No. 19 Cooper Flynn dropped his opening match at 125 pounds in a 2-0 loss to No. 14 Spencer Moore of North Carolina. In a match with no takedowns, Moore rode out Flynn in the second period and then escaped early in the third to score his points. Flynn moves to the consolation bracket where he'll face the winner of the match between No. 30 Gylon Sims of The Citadel and Michigan State's No. 33 Caleb Weiand.
In a nearly identical match on the same mat at 133 pounds, No. 22 Tyler Wells lost to No. 11 Evan Frost of Iowa State, 2-0. Frost rode Wells for the duration of the second period and then scored in the third period via escape to prevail. Wells faces No. 27 Ethan Berginc of Army tonight in the consolations.
Like McEnelly, redshirt sophomore Clayton Whiting was also making his NCAA Championships debut. Seeded 28th, Whiting fell by tech fall to No. 5 Simon Ruiz of Cornell, 17-2. Whiting now goes to the consolation bracket where he'll face Bucknell's No. 12 seed Myles Takats. The two met in a dual in Minneapolis earlier this year with Takats taking an 11-9 decision.
The lone upset against the Golden Gophers Thursday came at 197 pounds when No. 10 Isaiah Salazar was pinned by No. 23 Seth Shumate of Ohio State. In a scoreless match, Salazar was on top in the second period when Shumate reversed into a cradle and pinned Salazar at 4:12. Salazar will look to stay alive tonight in the consolations versus No. 7 Wyatt Voelker of Northern Iowa.
Minnesota Results through Session I
125 Pounds
First Round: #14 Spence Moore (North Carolina) dec. #19 Cooper Flynn, 2-0
133 Pounds
First Round: #11 Evan Frost (Iowa State) dec. #22 Tyler Wells, 2-0
141 Pounds
First Round: #6 Vance VomBaur dec. #27 Greyson Clark (Purdue), 2-0
157 Pounds
First Round: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #24 Dylan Evans (Pitt), 7-2
165 Pounds
First Round: #10 Andrew Sparks dec. #23 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 4-2
174 Pounds
First Round: #5 Simon Ruiz (Cornell) TF #28 Clayton Whiting, 17-2 (7:00)
184 Pounds
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Colin Fegley (Lock Haven), 19-4 (3:52)
197 Pounds
First Round: #23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State) fall #10 Isaiah Salazar, 4:12
Heavyweight
First Round: #1 Gable Steveson fall #33 Hayden Filipovich (Purdue), 1:25
Those five wins, which included a pair of bonus-point victories, puts Minnesota in 10th place in the team standings with 8.5 points. Penn State leads the way with 24.5 points.
Session II is set to begin Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT. ESPN will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
The highlight of the opening session was a pin from top-seed Gable Steveson at heavyweight. Facing No. 33 Hayden Filiopvich of Purdue, Steveson posted three takedowns in the opening period before putting Filipovich's shoulders to the mat at the 1:25 mark for his 16th career pin and second at the NCAA Championships.
The victory was the 100th of Steveson's career, making him the 48th wrestler at Minnesota to join the century club. With a career record of 100-2, Steveson advances to Round 2 to face Rutgers' Yaraslau Slavikouski. They met earlier this season at Maturi Pavilion when Steveson won by fall.
Minnesota's other bonus-point victory came at 184 pounds as third-seeded Max McEnelly made his NCAA Championships debut by posting his team-leading 13th tech fall win of the year. Facing No. 30 Colin Legley of Lock Haven, McEnelly posted five takedowns in the first period, including two in the first 45 seconds. Leading 15-4 after one, he escaped in the second and then got another takedown for a 19-4 win at the 3:52 mark. McEnelly advances to the second round to take on No. 14 DJ Parker of Oklahoma.
Tommy Askey picked up the first win of the day for the Golden Gophers as he made his Minnesota debut at NCAAs. Seeded ninth at 157 pounds, Askey took care of No. 24 Dylan Evans of Pitt, 7-2. Askey had takedowns in the first and third periods, including one with eight seconds to go, to secure the win. He will face No. 7 Joey Blaze of Purdue Thursday night in the second round. The two met earlier this month at the Big Ten Championships where Blaze won in sudden victory, 4-1, in the consolation semifinals.
A reigning All-American at 141 pounds, Vance VomBaur started with a 2-0 shutout over No. 27 Greyson Clark of Purdue. After a scoreless first period, the sixth-seeded VomBaur escaped early in the second and then rode out Clark for the entire third period. That sets up a match Thursday night between VomBaur and No. 11 Dylan Cedeno of Virginia.
Competing at his fourth NCAA Championships, No. 10 Andrew Sparks won his opening match for the first time with a 4-2 victory over 23rd-seed Thomas Snipes of The Citadel. Scoreless after one, Sparks escaped and recorded a takedown in period two for the winning margin as Snipes was only able to escape and get a point from stalling. Sparks will meet No. 7 Hunter Garvin of Stanford in the Round of 16 Thursday night.
No. 19 Cooper Flynn dropped his opening match at 125 pounds in a 2-0 loss to No. 14 Spencer Moore of North Carolina. In a match with no takedowns, Moore rode out Flynn in the second period and then escaped early in the third to score his points. Flynn moves to the consolation bracket where he'll face the winner of the match between No. 30 Gylon Sims of The Citadel and Michigan State's No. 33 Caleb Weiand.
In a nearly identical match on the same mat at 133 pounds, No. 22 Tyler Wells lost to No. 11 Evan Frost of Iowa State, 2-0. Frost rode Wells for the duration of the second period and then scored in the third period via escape to prevail. Wells faces No. 27 Ethan Berginc of Army tonight in the consolations.
Like McEnelly, redshirt sophomore Clayton Whiting was also making his NCAA Championships debut. Seeded 28th, Whiting fell by tech fall to No. 5 Simon Ruiz of Cornell, 17-2. Whiting now goes to the consolation bracket where he'll face Bucknell's No. 12 seed Myles Takats. The two met in a dual in Minneapolis earlier this year with Takats taking an 11-9 decision.
The lone upset against the Golden Gophers Thursday came at 197 pounds when No. 10 Isaiah Salazar was pinned by No. 23 Seth Shumate of Ohio State. In a scoreless match, Salazar was on top in the second period when Shumate reversed into a cradle and pinned Salazar at 4:12. Salazar will look to stay alive tonight in the consolations versus No. 7 Wyatt Voelker of Northern Iowa.
Minnesota Results through Session I
125 Pounds
First Round: #14 Spence Moore (North Carolina) dec. #19 Cooper Flynn, 2-0
133 Pounds
First Round: #11 Evan Frost (Iowa State) dec. #22 Tyler Wells, 2-0
141 Pounds
First Round: #6 Vance VomBaur dec. #27 Greyson Clark (Purdue), 2-0
157 Pounds
First Round: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #24 Dylan Evans (Pitt), 7-2
165 Pounds
First Round: #10 Andrew Sparks dec. #23 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 4-2
174 Pounds
First Round: #5 Simon Ruiz (Cornell) TF #28 Clayton Whiting, 17-2 (7:00)
184 Pounds
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Colin Fegley (Lock Haven), 19-4 (3:52)
197 Pounds
First Round: #23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State) fall #10 Isaiah Salazar, 4:12
Heavyweight
First Round: #1 Gable Steveson fall #33 Hayden Filipovich (Purdue), 1:25