No. 24 Rutgers falls short at No. 8 Minnesota 22-15

It was a close one on the road, but Rutgers fell short to top ten Minnesota 22-15.

Anthony Ashnault and Nick Suriano dominated their way to 13-0 on the season, while Nick Gravina and Matt Correnti picked up late wins, but it wasn’t enough against the Gophers.

Here are some takeaways:

Suriano took care of business

He did not get to wrestle Ethan Lizak, who was out due to sickness and/or a possible skin issue, but Suriano earned a tech fall over Skyler Petry. Thank you, next.

Ashnault earned his revenge

Tommy Thorn defeated Ashnault in their only meeting a couple of seasons ago, but Ashnault went full throttle and rolled his way to a major decision. He was up 11-3 after two periods and cruised to a dominating 14-4 victory. It’s another top 20 victory for the sixth-year senior, whom has also defeated fellow national title contender Micah Jordan of Ohio State. Ashnault is living up to his billing as a favorite to win the whole thing at 149 pounds in Pittsburgh.

Stephan Glasgow’s match was the swinger

I originally picked Glasgow to win this one and it was definitely a missed opportunity for the true freshman. Since it was a major decision, if you flip it the other way, (take four away from Minnesota and add three for a decision for Glasgow) the match is tied at 18 and would have come down to criteria. It’s a tough loss but Glasgow was not the only one to lose. It was just the best opportunity for win.

Rutgers is still Searching for that Signature Big Ten Win

Iowa was a major disappointment last season as that match was there to have at the RAC. No. 8 Minnesota on the road was a golden, forgive the pun, opportunity to jump high in the rankings and send the message that the Scarlet Knights are becoming one of the top tier teams in the Big Ten, rather than hanging out in the middle. While there was an upset of Nebraska a few years back, Rutgers is going to have to knock off one of the premiere programs such as Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, or Michigan to really earn some significant national attention as a team.

BOX SCORE:

125: No. 5/7/6 Sean Russell (UM) over Shane Metzler (RU) (MD 16-5)

133: 3/2/3 Nick Suriano (RU) over Skyler Petry (UM) (TF, 20-4)

141: No. 5/7/7 Mitch McKee (UM) over Peter Lipari (RU) (MD 13-2)

149: No. 2/2/2 Anthony Ashnault (RU) over No. 20/20/16 Tommy Thorn (UM) (MD 14-4)

157: No. 11/9/8 Steve Bleise (UM) over No. 17/15/13 John Van Brill (RU) (DEC 7-3)

165: Carson Brolsma (UM) over Stephan Glasgow (RU) (MD 11-3)

174: No. 15/17/12 Devin Skatzka (UM) over Joseph Grello (RU) (DEC 10-8)

184: No. 12/16/13 Nicholas Gravina (RU) over Brandon Krone (UM) (DEC 4-3)

197: Matthew Correnti (RU) over Rylee Streifel (UM) (DEC 3-2)

285: No. 2/4/2 Gable Steveson (UM) over Christian Colucci (RU) (TF 17-2)

NEXT:

Rutgers will take on Wisconsin at the RAC on January 11th.