The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -7).  OK, the upset in Michigan stings, and should still sting.  Nevertheless, the grapplers, currently ranked fourth in the country, beating #2 Iowa on the road 19-14 is one hell of a win.  When was the last time Minnesota beat Iowa in Iowa?  And is it possible they overlooked the Wolverines on Sunday to gear up for the Hawkeyes six days later?

Three matches proved pivotal in this upset.  Possibly the biggest one came first, at 125, when unranked Sam Brancale not only beat his opponent, third-ranked Tom Gilman, but pinned him 123 seconds into the match.  Brancale, a Redshirt Freshman, was named Big Ten Wrestler Of The Week.  While the Hawkeyes posted back-to-back decisions to time the dual at 6, the Gophers came back with two of their own, the second being a very important upset decision by 14th-ranked Dylan Ness over #2 Derek St. John at 157.  Iowa won two more decisions to knot it up at 12, but Minnesota took the next two matches, the second a major decision by #1 197-pounder Scott Schiller over 16th-ranked Nathan Burak, to seal the win.

They finish the regular season at home.  This Sunday at high noon they host Indiana.

#-2: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -1).  I wanted to go this North Star College Cup, but you know how this winter up here in Minnesota is going -- cold, then snow, then cold.  Well, there was Father's birthday Saturday, so that's why I couldn't go to the consolation and championship games.

Regardless, the inaugural cup goes to the U.  They whipped then #5 St. Cloud St. Friday 4-1.  Then, in a really good street fight, the Gophers and Minnesota-Duluth traded goals four times until the end of regulation and through overtime.  They won the shootout 2-0.  Goaltender Adam Wilcox was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and the conference's Third Star Of The Week.

They resume B1G play when they host Michigan St.  Now that I know my schedule, I will be attending the Friday night game, which will begin at 8 because the Big Ten Network is going to broadcast a hockey conference doubleheader.  Thank Buddha for content, huh?

#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5).  I hate the game night splash page, where this team, instead of its original home page, puts up a running box score.  They also add a toolbar that links to other NBA properties, such as the WNBA and the D-League.  There is a link to the ordinary home page, but for some reason it won't get me anywhere.  This is the first time that has happened, but I don't need to know how the Wolves are doing that night.  I just need to see how they did over the past week.  And after going to the ESPN team page instead, I can see that they finished their four-game road trip winning three of the games, going 2-1 this screening week.  Their loss in Portland means that they once again failed to rise above .500.

However, they might be on their way to doing that tonight (Wednesday night), as they are currently running ahead of New Orleans.  They also host Memphis before visiting Atlanta, then they host the Los Angeles Lakers.

#-4: Wild (Last Week: -6).  Not to say that this team had a bad week.  Not only did they also go 2-1, they beat two very good teams, Chicago and the team with the most points in the National Hockey League, Anaheim, and they only lost at San Jose in overtime.  (The reason I put the Mild behind the Woofs is because their victory over Chicago was at home.)  They've been on a good run as of late, even though they are still only seventh in the Western Conference.  This week: At Colorado, at Calgary, home to Tampa Bay.

#-5: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -3).  A pulsating 13-point win at Williams Arena over Wisconsin was followed up with a four-point loss in Nebraska against a Cornhuskers team that is pretty tough in front of their home crowd.  However, they probably would win that game if Andre Hollins did not sprain his left ankle after making the first shot of that victory over the Badgers.  One game this screening week: Home to Northwestern.

#-6: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -8).  Working during the day sucks.  I mean, I'm happy that I have work (and I might have more coming even though this flu billing job is coming to an end; maybe I'll blog about it?), but it makes blogging hard.  Either I have to stay up and write a bit past midnight, or I have to scramble to get the daily entry done in the evening, which I'm doing now.  That makes doing the WMNSS hard because it allows the possibility that Wednesday night games will be done before I get done ... which is the case with the U.'s loss at home to Iowa.  That follows up a 30-point loss in Penn St. that was televised on CBS, which in turn followed a 64-53 home victory over Wisconsin.

I really don't know what else to say except <sigh>.  They visit Michigan Saturday.