On Thursday, the NCAA Wrestling Championships begin in Philadelphia, with nine Minnesota Golden Gophers hoping to reach All-American status or, even better, win a national championship this year.

Below, Gophers Nation breaks down each first-round matchup featuring the Gophers and provides our predictions.

Redshirt junior Cooper Flynn earned a trip to the NCAA Championships last year and is back this year as a top-20 seed. He enters the weekend with a 14-6 record and will take on North Carolina's Spencer Moore, the No. 14 seed, who holds a 16-7 record. Moore lost his last two matches at the ACC Championships, including one to Keyveon Roller, a lower-rated 125-pound wrestler than Flynn. However, Flynn is not in great form, having lost four of his last six matchups. That being said, we’re predicting an upset in this one.

PREDICTION: Flynn 8-6

Tyler Wells faces a tough road to All-American status, starting with Iowa State's Evan Frost, who enters the weekend with a 19-4 record. That being said, Frost has lost two of his last three matches, not including a medical forfeit in his favor at the Big 12 Championships. Wells has struggled mightily as of late, losing five of his last seven matchups, not including two forfeits at the Big Ten Championships.

PREDICTION: Frost 14-3

VomBauer had an impressive run as the No. 26 seed in last year’s NCAA Championships, earning All-American honors. He knows not to take Purdue’s Greyson Clark lightly in this matchup. Clark enters the NCAA Championships with a 14-11 record this season and is 2-2 in his last four matchups. This will be the first meeting between the two 141-pounders.

PREDICTION: VomBauer 15-5

After a strong NCAA Championships appearance last year, with wins over Jacori Teemer (Iowa) and Ethen Miller (Maryland), Askey looks for an even better result this year, starting with a first-round matchup against Pittsburgh’s Dylan Evans. Evans, the No. 24 seed at 157, is 21-7 this year but enters the tournament on a two-match losing streak. Prior to those losses, he had won 12 of his last 13.

PREDICTION: Askey 13-2

Sparks will look to improve on a 2023-24 campaign that saw him finish 24th at the NCAA Championships. After a 23-7 regular season—by far the best of his career—he’ll start his NCAA Championships bid against The Citadel’s Thomas Snipes. Snipes has won 12 straight matches dating back to January 12, including a win over App State's top-ranked Will Miller in the SoCon Championships. Sparks will have to be ready to go in this one.

PREDICTION: Sparks 5-3

Clayton Whiting faces a tough first-round matchup against Cornell’s Simon Ruiz, who enters the NCAA Championships with a 22-5 record. Ruiz was recently upset by Bucknell’s Myles Takats but has suffered only one loss since the beginning of January. Whiting has struggled against higher-tier wrestlers this year, but if he can keep it close heading into the third period, he could potentially pull off an upset.

PREDICTION: Ruiz 8-3

McEnelly will be searching for his first national championship as a freshman while also aiming for All-American status. He opens his pursuit for greatness with a first-round matchup against Lock Haven’s Colin Fegley. Fegley is a solid wrestler at 184 but has yet to face someone of McEnelly’s caliber.

PREDICTION: McEnelly 15-3

Salazar is looking to earn All-American status for the second straight year while also chasing his first national championship. He’ll face Ohio State’s Seth Shumate in the first round. Shumate has lost three of his last four, including a 13-0 defeat to Salazar at the Big Ten Championships.

PREDICTION: Salazar 13-3

Eyeing his third national championship and entering the NCAA Championships undefeated at 14-0, Steveson will take on either No. 32 seed Stephan Monchery of Appalachian State (19-9) or No. 33 seed Hayden Flipovich of Purdue (12-16) in the first round.

PREDICTION: Fall in under 90 seconds

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