Gopher Football
FOOTBALL
- The high school season in Minnesota kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 1 with a big rivalry game with Wayzata hosting defending big school champion Minnetonka (the game will be televised on FSN). Elk River and Gopher recruit Justin Jensen will also play on the 1st as they host Andover. On Friday, Sept. 2, Cretin will host Hastings and Gopher recruit Andy Brinkhaus and Bloomington Jefferson will play at Eastview. Here is a rundown of some big games this season featuring potential recruits:
- Sept. 9: Blake @ Breck “¦ Cretin @ Wayzata “¦ Mounds View @ Woodbury
- Sept. 16: Minnetonka @ Edina
- Sept. 23: Wayzata @ Eden Prairie
- Sept. 30: Mounds View @ Cretin “¦ Columbia Heights @ Orono “¦ DeLaSalle @ Blake
- Oct. 7: Hastings @ Mounds View “¦ Hopkins @ Minnetonka “¦ Elk River @ Blaine
- Oct. 14: DeLaSalle @ Breck “¦ Eastview @ Eden Prairie
- Oct. 19: Jefferson @ Eden Prairie
- The GopherHole.com 2005 preseason High School Football Top 30:
- Matt Carufel OL Cretin
- Jordan McMichael TE Breck
- Adam Weber QB Mounds View
- Brandon Hoey DL/OL Mounds View
- Kim Royston DB Cretin
- Sean McWhirter DE Orono
- Tommy Becker LB Wayzata
- Issac Anderson WR Blake
- Andy Brinkhaus OL BL. Jefferson
- Justin Jensen OL Elk River
- Alex Robinson WR DeLaSalle
- Bryant Williams DB Edina
- Rob Tennyson FB Holy Angels
- Maurice Turner WR Mounds View
- Jalon Hopkins RB Minnetonka
- Jamar Thompson RB Andover
- Matt Slater OL Cretin
- Evan Sanford OL Eastview
- Kyle Minnett RB R-T-R
- Xavier Rucker WR DeLaSalle
- Sam Sterner OL Waconia
- Jake Kranz QB Hastings
- Tyler Cain TE Rochester JM
- Tony Pastoors QB Totino-Grace
- Tim Bona QB Columbia Heights
- Kyle Anderson DL BL. Jefferson
- Cameron Rundles WR DeLaSalle
- Sam Buckman K Minnetonka
- Jared Stewart RB Hastings
- Marcus Sherels LB Rochester JM
- Stanford’s Jerod Arlich, the Mahtomedi FB who the Gophers recruited hard, is still in school and has no plans to leave. However his football career may be over due to injury.
- During a trip to Las Vegas this summer, a GopherHole contributor stopped by Harrah’s Sports Book and brought back some interesting odds for the upcoming football and basketball seasons:
Odds to win BCS Championship Game
| Michigan | 12-1 | USC | 2-1 | |
| Iowa | 15-1 | Texas | 12-1 | |
| Ohio State | 30-1 | Miami (FL) | 10-1 | |
| Purdue | 30-1 | Florida State | 15-1 | |
| Minnesota | 35-1 | Oklahoma | 18-1 | |
| Wisconsin | 100-1 | Tennessee | 18-1 | |
| Michigan State | 100-1 | |||
| Penn State | 175-1 |
Odds to win NCAA Basketball Championship
| Michigan State | 20-1 | Connecticut | 7-1 | |
| Illinois | 30-1 | Duke | 8-1 | |
| Wisconsin | 30-1 | Oklahoma | 10-1 | |
| Iowa | 35-1 | Villinova | 12-1 | |
| Indiana | 60-1 | Louisville | 15-1 | |
| Michigan | 100-1 | Kentucky | 18-1 | |
| Ohio State | 100-1 | |||
| Minnesota | 250-1 |
HOCKEY
- Congratulations to Gopher hockey players Natalie Darwitz & Krissy Wendell, and former Gophers Winny Brodt, Courtney Kennedy, and Kelly Stephens for making the U.S. Women’s National Hockey team. They’ll be competing in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Stephens, Darwitz, and Wendell were all members of last year’s Gopher National Championship team. Defenseman Lindsay Wall, who was the youngest member of the 2002 Olympic team, did not make the cut. Two incoming freshman for the Gophers, Melanie Gagnon and Brittony Chartier, were named to the Canadian Women’s National Under 22 Team.
- Former Gopher Johnny Pohl was traded from the St. Louis Blues to the Toronto Maple Leafs last week. Pohl played the past three years for Worchester of the American Hockey League with his best year in “˜02 when he had 26 goals.
- Another former Gopher, Erik Westrum, was recently traded from the Phoenix Coyotes to the Minnesota Wild. A seventh round draft pick by Phoenix, Westrum spent most of his career playing for the Utah Grizzlies in the America Hockey League. Westrum was called up to the Coyotes late in the “˜04 season, played in 15 games and scored his first NHL goal against the Red Wings.
- The hockey scouting service Red Line Report has put out an early list of the Top 10 prospects for the 2006 NHL Draft, and it looks to be a big year for Minnesota kids and the Gophers. Phil Kessel comes in at #1, recruit Erik Johnson is #3, former recruit Peter Mueller is #4, and recruit Kyle Okposo #8. Some people think the “˜06 class may be the best ever to come out of the state. Another potential Gopher who is likely to be a first round pick is Thief River Falls forward Michael Forney, who is playing with Sioux Falls of the USHL. As was the case with Edina’s Joe Finley, Forney’s decision will likely come down to Minnesota and North Dakota. Those two schools were also in a recruiting battle for Fergus Falls defenseman Tyson Dowzak, another likely first round draft pick, but Dowzak recently decided to pass on college as Mueller did and will play in the WHL.
- Gopher puckster, Evan Kaufmann, is healing up well from his foot injury suffered earlier this summer in a boating accident. He still is unable to skate, but is able to work out his upper body and doing his best to stay in shape. He hopes to stick with his timeline of being ready to go once practice starts this Fall.
VOLLEYBALL
- The Gopher Volleyball team, coming off back to back Final Four appearances, begins the 05 season ranked #6 despite suffering heavy losses to graduation. The Gophers did bring in four recruits that ranked among the top 30 in the country and received a gift during the summer when OH Megan Cumpston transferred to the U after two seasons at Arizona. Cumpston was also a top 30 recruit out of high school. The good news didn’t end there though as the Gophers received a very late surprise with the announcement that OH Sarah Florian would be transferring to Minnesota from USC. Florian was ranked as the #7 recruit in the nation in 2003 and helped USC reach the Final Four where she had 12 kills, 16 digs, and 3 blocks in a loss to the Gophers. Florian and Cumpston now give the Gophers 9 players who were ranked as top 40 recruits.
- The volleyball season begins with the Diet Coke Classic Sept. 2-3 with Xavier, Central Florida, and NDSU. The big match is then at 1:00 PM on Labor Day with # 1 Nebraska visiting Minnesota. The Cornhuskers showed everyone why they are #1 this weekend by winning the NACWAA College Volleyball Showcase with convincing wins over #4 Hawaii and #3 Stanford. #5 Penn State also showed why they are the coaches pick to win the Big Ten as they went 1-1 with a win over Hawaii and a five set loss to Stanford.
BASKETBALL
- The Gopher men’s basketball team is recruiting Allen Coleman, a JUCO at McLennan CC. Coleman is a lightning quick 6-foot guard heading into his second year at McLennan.
- The Big Ten Men’s basketball Foreign Tour recently finished up in Spain by the Big Ten winning 2 of their final 3 games after dropping the first two to Spanish Club teams. Minnesota sophomore center Spencer Tollackson was one of four players who averaged double figures. Complete box scores were not available:
2005 Big Ten Foreign Tour Team Statistics
School Player Pos Yr. PPG RPG ILL Calvin Brock G FR 9.8 4.2 ILL Brian Randle G SO 10.2 5.4 IOWA Mike Henderson G JR 4.0 0.0 IND Marco Killingsworth F SR 15.2 7.4 MICH Ron Coleman F SO 13.0 3.0 MSU Goran Suton C FR 8.4 7.0 MINN Spencer Tollackson C SO 10.2 4.4 NU Evan Seacat G SR 7.6 0.0 OSU Matt Terwilliger F SO 5.0 3.2 PSU Brandon Hassell F SO 7.4 4.6 PUR Matt Kiefer F SR 6.4 4.2 WIS Jason Chappell F JR 4.3 3.3 - It’s been quite a ride for Vincent Grier since joining the Golden Gophers last year and this summer was no exception. First was his MVP performance this summer in the Pulley League, then he found out that he was named to the 2005-06 Preseason Top 50 for the John R. Wooden Award, and finally, he played a big role in helping the United States win the Gold medal at the World University Games in Turkey. The U.S. went 8-0 in winning by an average of 26 points/game, including a 120-80 win over Russia in the semifinals. In the Gold Medal game, Vince had 10 pts. and 7 rebounds in helping U.S.A. to a 15 point win over the Ukraine. Vince was in double figures in 7 of the 8 games with a high of 15 vs. Russia. He shot 55% from the field (33/60) and attempted a team high 35 free throws (although he struggled some at the line, only shooting 66%). He was fourth on the team in points (11.1) and rebounds (4.6) and had an impressive 26 steals in 8 games. Overall, Sheldon Williams was the stats leader averaging 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds.
GYMNASTICS
- Former Gopher gymnast, John Rothlisberger, was recently inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. The former Gopher was a three-time Olympian competing in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. John finished seventh in the all-around in Atlanta.