Challenge is twofold against the Gophers, Bison wrestlers can't afford psyche jobs on Friday

The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota

11/21/1996

Challenge is twofold against the Gophers, Bison wrestlers can't afford psyche jobs on Friday
By Jeff Kolpack

The University of Minnesota comes to Fargo on Friday night for what is commonly called a wrestling match. Underneath it all, there lies another contest: a mind game.

That's one of the opponents for North Dakota State when it faces the Gophers at 7:30 p.m. at the Bison Sports Arena. Getting over the mystique of competing against a top-flight NCAA Division I program would be a victory in itself.

"The biggest thing with college wrestling is mental attitude," said Bison coach Bucky Maughan. "When we wrestle a Division III or NAIA team, our kids feel they should be bigger, better. Division I kind of psyches people sometimes." Or perhaps an Olympic silver medal does. That's what Minnesota's Brandon Paulson won at the 1996 Games in Atlanta this summer. He's back on campus now after one year on the Team USA Olympic circuit. It paid off; he won the Greco-Roman medal at 114.5 pounds.

"He's come back with a whole new attitude," said Gopher assistant coach Marty Morgan. "He brought back a new type of intensity. He's strong and motivated and a team leader." The sacrificial lamb for NDSU at 118 will be a freshman -- either Ben Peake or Kyle Pieper. But the Bison appear to have a decent chance at four of the 10 weights. "We could make it interesting," Maughan said.

That should start at 126, where NDSU senior Jeff Kapusta will face Barrett Golyer. Kapusta beat Golyer 1-0 in the finals last week in the Bison Open. In fact, that's a big difference between the Gophers and the University of Iowa, of whom the Bison brought to Fargo four years ago.

The Bison have more familiarity with the talent level of the Gophers.

"This is a step down from Iowa meaning-wise," Kapusta said. "We're used to wrestling them at the Bison Open. You know how hard they work. Coming out of high school, they're whole life is centered around wrestling. These guys don't quit." The Gophers will have three North Dakota products in the starting lineup.

Jesse Krebs from Minot is at 158, Delaney Berger from Mandan will start at 167 and Brent Boeshans from Beulah will probably be the heavyweight. Berger may get the permanent starting nod while Krebs and Boeshans are regarded as being a year away.

The Gophers are expected to start one senior -- Nick Antila at 134. But it's not as if they're bringing their junior varsity team.

"We're taking it as seriously as any school," Morgan said. "A lot of our guys are young and we don't want to teach them to take anybody lightly." After four years as a lower assistant coach, Morgan is in his first year as the first assistant with Minnesota. He started his college career at NDSU, winning a Division II title his freshman year. Then he transferred to Minnesota.

"It was a stepping stone," Morgan said.

The Bison used a good performance against Iowa as a stepping stone to a third-place national finish. The Bison lost 33-7, but most of the matches went well into the third period before being decided.

"We can wrestle with 80 percent of Division I teams, usually," Maughan said.

"But with Minnesota, we're talking about one of the premier teams. This is the kind of competition we want. The way to go in is we having nothing to lose."