Overall Record: 32-4 Dual Meet Record: 15-2 Big Ten Record: 7-1 Pins: 3 Major Decisions: 6 Technical Falls: 5
All-American • became the seventh four-time All-American in Golden Gopher history with his third place finish at the NCAA championships • finished his career ranked sixth on the all-time wins list with a record of 134-27-1 • recorded his third 30-win season • named team MVP for second straight season •had six wins by a major decision • three falls • five tech falls • Bison Open Champion • Southern Scuffle Champion • scored a 6-4 overtime win over Cornell's Frank Perrelli in his final match, at the NCAA championships • took second at the Big Ten championships with a 2-1 record •took first at the Bison Open, defeating NDSU's Trent Sprenkle by a 16-7 major decision for the title • won 6-3 at the over #8 Frank Perrelli of Cornell in his first dual of the season • defeated #18 Nico Megaludis of Penn State in a 6-2 dual victory • defeated North Dakota State's #7 Trent Sprenkle by a 4-2 in • defeated #19 Joe Roth of Central Michigan via technical fall (24-9) • beat Oklahoma State's #13 Ladd Rupp in a 15-7 major decision • crowned Southern Scuffle Champion after defeating #3 Alan Waters of Missouri 1-0 victory • defeated #15 Johnni Dijulius of Ohio State by a 20-10 major decision • rallied from a 9-0 deficit to top Illinois' #5 Jesse Delgado for a 14-13 dec • had a 20 match win streak during the season • was ranked as high as No.1 in the nation during the season • named to the Big Ten All-Academic Team • named upperclassmen academic award winner •earned his fourth varsity letter.
2010-11 • JUNIOR SEASON:
Overall Record: 34-6 Dual Meet Record: 18-2 Big Ten Record: 7-1 Pins: 7 Major Decisions: 11 Technical Falls: 4
All-American, placed fifth at the NCCA championships • third place at the Big Ten Tournament • named Most Valuable Wrestler • currently sits 34th on Minnesota's career wins list with 102 • went 34-6 overall on the season, tying Kevin Steinhaus for second most wins on the team behind Mike Thorn (39) • finished 18-2 in duals meets and posted a team best 7-1 record in the Big Ten • recorded seven pins and had 11 major decisions with four technical falls • finished third at the Big Ten championships after a 22-7 tech fall first round victory of Ohio State's Bo Touris, pinned Indiana's Justin Brooks in the quarterfinals at 2:37 and lost in the semifinals to Northwestern's Brandon Precin who would finish second • came back in the consolation round to pin Thomas Kelliher of Wisconsin at 3:29, before earning a 12-4 major decision against Michigan's Sean Boyle in the third palce match • defeated Brad Pataky of Penn State (10-8) on Feb. 13 in the Gophers 18-18 tie against the Nittany Lions • pinned Michigan's Sean Boyle at 4:46 on Feb. 11 • added his 10th major decision of the season when he scored an 18-4 win over Ohio State's Bo Touris on Feb. 5 in Columbus • posted a 4-0 record at the National Duals with 16-8 major decision over Northern Illinois Nick Smith, recorded an 11-5 decision over Allen Bartelli of Boise State, scored a 4-3 decision over Cornel's Frank Perrelli and finished with a 12-4 major decision over Wisconsin's Thomas Kelliher to cap off the weekend • went 4-0 at the Bison Open to earn top honors after scoring a fall at 4:56 over Southwest Minnesota State's Seifemichael Kenea in the first round before rallying off two-straight technical falls over Mary's Matt Garcia (25-10) and Minnesota State-Moorhead's Corey Ulmer (23-5) to advance to championship match against North Dakota State's Trent Sprinkle where he won a 10-6 decision to pick up his first title of the season • Big Ten All-Academic Team • picked up his third letter.
2009-10 • SOPHOMORE SEASON:
Overall Record: 29-7 Dual Meet Record: 11-3 Big Ten Record: 4-1 Pins: 6 Major Decisions: 4 Technical Falls: 2 All-American, fifth place the NCAA Tournament • Third place at the Big Ten Tournament •winner of the Most Dedicated award • went 29-7 on the season, tying Mike Thorn with the third most wins behind only Jayson Ness and Scott Glasser (31) • went 11-1 in dual meets and 4-1 in the Big Ten • one of six wrestlers with 10 or more dual meet wins and one of eight with 20 or more wins • charted six falls, for major decisions and two tech falls • went 7-7 against ranked opponents • opened season with 11 straight wins • went 6-2 at the NCAA Championships, recovering from a first round loss to fifth, his best career finish • at the NCAA Tournament, opened with 7-17 loss to No. 14 Jarrod Garnett, beat Aaron Kalil of Navy 11-5, beat Frank Lomas of Cal State Bakersfield 8-6, beat No. 15 Jason Lara of Oregon State 6-4, beat Fred Santaite of Boston University 9-4, beat No. 19 Nikko Triggas of Ohio State 8-3, fell 3-10 to No. 1 Angel Escobedo to fall to the fifth place match and earned fifth place with a 6-2 win over No. 20 Cashe Quiroga of Purdue • went 3-1 and took third at the Big Ten Championships, losing only to Big Ten runner-up Matt McDouough • opened Big Ten Tournament with a 6-1 win over Nikko Triggas in the quarterfinals, lost 0-8 to No. 3 Matt McDounough of Iowa in the semifinals, beat No. 18 Cashe Quiroga of Purdue and beat No. 12 Brad Patacky of Penn State 13-11 SV in the third place match • lost to No. 4 Matt McDonough of Iowa 2-13 on 2/14 • beat Cashe Quiroga of Purdue 10-6 on 1/31 • beat Drew Hammen of Wisconsin 17-3 on 1/29 • beat Sean Boyle of Michigan 14-5 on 1/23 • pinned Brennan Lyon of Michigan State in 3:59 on 1/22 • went 3-1 at the National Duals, winning by forfeit against Missouri and beating Matt Steinrager of Central Michigan 5-2 and Nikko Triggas of Ohio State 10-3, losing only to No. 4 Matt McDonough of Iowa 4-6 • lost 4-8 to No. 13 Andrew Long of Iowa State on 1/3 • placed third at the Southern Scuffle with a 5-1 mark, beating Frank Lomas of Cal State Bakersfield in the third place match, and losing only to champion and No. 1 ranked Angel Escobedo of Indiana, 2-8 • beat Tony Mustari of Northern Colorado 10-6 on 12/13 • tech falled David Klingsheim of Nebraska 23-8 in 6:23 on 12/10 • beat No. 7 Chris Notte of Oklahoma State 11-5 on 12/4 • tech falled Tyler Iwamura of Cal State Bakersfield 21-5 in 6:04 on 11/28 • opened season with a Bison Open Championship, going 4-0 and beating Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State 17-7 in the Championship match•winner over James Nicholson of Old Dominion in the NWCA All-Star Classic • earned second letter.
2008-09 • REDSHIRT FRESHMAN SEASON: Overall Record: 39-10 Dual Meet Record: 19-4 Big Ten Record: 5-3 Pins: 6 Major Decisions: 9 Technical Falls: 5 Earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships • named to the Amateur Wrestling News All-Rookie Team • named Most Outstanding Freshman and Most Exciting Wrestler by his teammates • placed sixth at 125 lbs. after going 4-3 at the NCAA's • won his first two matches at the National Championships before falling in the quarterfinals, but rebounded to defeat #5 Charlie Falck of Iowa and earn a major decision over #18 Nicholas Bedelyon of Kent State • fell in the fifth place match to #3 Angel Escobedo of Indiana • placed fifth in the Big Ten at 125 lbs., going 4-2 at the meet • beat B.J. Futrell of Illinois in the fifth place match • led Minnesota in victories, going 39-10 on the season • went 9-10 against ranked opponents • wrestled all matches at 125 lbs. • one of three Golden Gopher wrestlers (Ness, Safratowich) to appear in all 23 dual meets • tied teammate Jayson Ness in dual meet victories with a 19-4 record • earned 79 team points in dual meets while only surrendering 13 • went 5-3 in Big Ten Duals • won six total matches by fall, the sixth best mark on the team, and never lost by fall • tied with Tyler Safratowich with a team-high five wins by technical fall and never lost my tech fall • won a team-high nine matches by major decision • opened the 2008-09 campaign with a season high 15 straight wins, and strung together another streak of 12 straight later in the season • began season with a title in the Bison open, going undefeated through the tournament including major decisions in the semifinal and championship matches • champion at the Kaufman/Brand Elite on Nov. 23, finishing 3-0 • notched three wins at the Northern Quad as the Golden Gophers swept, including a fall (Portland State) and a technical fall (North Dakota State) • tabbed runner-up honors at the Las Vegas Invite on Dec. 6, going 4-1 in the meet • won his first match of the Invite by major decision • won by technical fall on Dec. 21 at Nebraska • in the New Years Day match with Oklahoma State, earned a 7-6 decision over #14 Obenson Blanc • went 3-0, including a fall and major decision, as Minnesota swept through the Lone Star Duals on Jan 3. • collected wins in all five matches at the National Duals on Jan. 10 & 11, including two falls and one major decision • the only Golden Gopher to win all five matches, and one of five to appear in all five matches • earned a major decision on Jan. 23 as Minnesota beat Arizona State • earned his first Big Ten win with a major decision against Michigan State on Jan. 25 as Minnesota won 30-6 • notched a 13-7 decision against #5 Ohio State on Feb. 1 to bring Minnesota within one at 15-16, before they won 18-16 • won an 11-6 decision over Michigan's #17 Mike Watts on Feb. 6 • dropped a close 7-8 decision to #3 Brandon Precin of #16 Northwestern on Feb. 8 • began the meet with a win, earning a 10-4 decision against Wisconsin on Feb. 13 • started the meet with #1 Iowa on Feb. 15 with a 5-4 decision over Charlie Falck • dropped a close 2-3 decision to #10 Tyler Clark of #4 Iowa State on Feb. 20 • in the regular season finale lost a 7-8 decision to #5 Angel Escopedo of 18th ranked Indiana• named a U of MMaroonScholar Athlete • earned first letter.
2007-08 • REDSHIRTED: Began his Gopher wrestling career by winning his first 26 matches of his redshirt season • Recorded seven pins among his 26 triumphs • Competed in seven events as a redshirt, winning six titles • Recorded pair of major decisions on his way to championship honors at Daktronics Open (11/3) • Named co-champion of Bison Open after 3-0 performance that included two major decision and a pin (11/10) • Recorded two more major decisions on his way to a title at Kaufman-Brand Open (11/17) • Notched another pin and a techincal fall during 5-0 showing to capture Husky Open title (12/8) • Two more major decisions and two pins gave Sanders Flash Flanigan title (1/5) • Pinned MSU-Mankato's Andy Forstner in title match of Worthington Open to polish off 3-0 weekend (1/20) • Finished season with second place performance at North Country Open (2/9).
HIGH SCHOOL: Wabasha, Minn. native attended Wabasha-Kellogg High School • national winner of Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award as top high school wrestler in country • top-ranked recruit at 119 pounds by a number of publications and was ranked 15th overall by InterMat • five-time state champion • compiled a career record of 223-5 • won the Class A 119-pound title in 2007, the 112-pound title as a junior and sophomore and the 103-pound title as a freshman and eighth grader • ended high school career with three undefeated seasons • Cadet and Junior Freestyle national champion • placed second at 2007 U.S. Wrestling Junior Greco-Roman Nationals and third at Freestyle Nationals • 2007 NHSCA senior champion at 119 pounds • ASICS First Team All-American in 2006 and 2007 • named Mr. Minnesota of Wrestling in 2007 by the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association • also lettered twice in both cross country and baseball in high school • had a 3.58 GPA.
PERSONAL: Son of Ron and Liz Sanders•has a brotherEric and a sister Katie• enjoys hunting, fishing and traveling • brother Eric wrestled at North Dakota State, while father Ron wrestled at UM-Morris • born April 27, 1988• majoring business marketing education.
