Minnesota’s fourth-ranked wrestling Gophers breezed through the 2024 segment of their schedule, winning four duals by a combined 148-6 count and earning 15 individual titles in three tournaments.

And for a holiday gift that kept on giving, they even overcame an all-encompassing, late-December flu bug after three weeks off from dual-meet competition. As the Gophers prepare to week-by-week unwrap a significantly more challenging itinerary in 2025, coach Brandon Eggum believes his well-balanced team is poised to meet the rigors that a Big Ten schedule routinely offers.

Eggum and the Gophers will board a bus on Friday morning for a seven-hour trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, where the fifth-ranked Cornhuskers await with a similarly balanced squad for a 4:30 p.m. EST match on the Big Ten Network.

“We got through that sickness and some of that stuff and now our guys are in a good spot, so I think we're as ready as we can be,” Eggum said. “That looks like it should be a great dual, like half the match is potential top-10 bouts.”

It’s as close to half as it can be, with four actual top-10 bouts and one #4 vs. #11, starting with Minnesota’s #6 Cooper Flynn against the Huskers’ #5 Caleb Smith at 125. 

“That would be a key in starting the dual, winning those pivotal matches, because momentum is big in duals,” Eggum said.

“Cooper’s done a really good job starting duals for us and if we can get a win right off the bat, that puts us in a really, really good spot. Those first three matches are going to be important. They all are, but those are going to be the ones that really set the tone.”

Other possible momentum-shifters come at 141, 157, 165 and 184. Two that stand out are at 141, when the Gophers’ #7 Vance Vombaur meets #5 Brock Hardy, and 184, when Minnesota’s #4 Max McEnelly faces #7 Silas Allred.

“There's a lot to be excited about with these Big Ten duals,” Eggum said. “I don't know if it matters if you wrestle them early or in the middle or at the end of the Big Ten, they're always important matches. Head-to-head will play a big role in Big Ten seeding. Obviously, it's exciting to get the wins, because the momentum helps with everything else you're trying to accomplish as well … just keeping guys positive and believing in themselves.”

The Gophers have an attractive home schedule that begins Jan. 17 with Michigan, and is followed by Rutgers, Purdue and Iowa.

 “Right off the bat, these two (Nebraska and Michigan) will be two great tasks for our guys,” Eggum said. “We’re excited for the match-ups, and we're ready for them.

“You do see a lot of upsets at this time of the year, and I think some of that is coming off of Christmas. It's managing weight and some of those things. So we have to do all the little things right that will play a role — not just winning, but staying healthy and all that.”

Minnesota is taking a 10-match winning streak to Lincoln with a feeling that this year’s balance up and down the lineup is different from the past two seasons when the Gophers went 12-3/5-3 and 11-2/6-2 but faded a bit in the postseason for a variety of reasons.

“We’ve started our duals really well and everybody’s competing and scoring bonus points,” Eggum said. “You kind of have a different sense right now, just the vibe from the guys is really positive … just a lot of belief. We are tough at every single weight, we are a problem at every single weight, so as long as we go out and do our jobs and we’re being aggressive, I know we can win the duals.”

Eggum said even Gable Steveson, the Olympic champion heavyweight who opted to return to the Gophers’ lineup this season, can feel that vibe. 

“He (Steveson) talks about the difference that he sees in this team as well,” Eggum said. “I think when you hear from a peer and a guy like Gable, who's the best in the world, I think that helps build confidence. 

“You have veterans like Isaiah Salazar (197) and a young guy like Max (McEnelly) saying the same things. I think everybody in between just feels like there's a lot of very positive talk and a lot of belief that these guys have in themselves. Fortunately, we've been healthy and we have rolled pretty well so far, so I think those things make it easy to believe when things are going well,” Eggum added.

Granted, it’s early, but there is still a lot on the line.

“What I see is all 10 guys are coming out and they're wrestling well, but we have a lot of guys that are ranked highly,” Eggum said. “Even where some of these guys are at, I just think we have the ability to take another step up here. 

“I think these first two duals will do a lot for us if we go out and we compete well. If they take care of their job here, after Nebraska and Michigan, if we wrestle well, it can really put them in a spot to even be seeded better at the Big Ten tournament.”