After Northern Colorado jumped to Division I athletics last summer, up from the small-school Division II ranks, the school entered a world of major sports programs, multimillion dollar budgets, microscopic attention and big, bruising monsters.
Those monsters have rarely been to UNC, but they are due in Greeley tonight.
The third-ranked Minnesota wrestling team, ranked No. 1 as recent as this week, will visit Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion tonight for a 7 p.m. dual match, the Bears’ season opener.
It will be Northern Colorado’s toughest D-I opponent in 43 years.
“This is huge,” said Bears coach Jack Maughan, now in his 20th season. “This is the reason why UNC made the move to Division I, so we can compete against these types of schools. To kick our regular season off with an opponent like this is exciting.”
In the 1962-63 season, the last time Northern Colorado hosted the nation’s No. 1-ranked wrestling team, the Bears pulled off a shocking tie with Oklahoma State. It was the only match OSU didn’t win that season.
If the Bears are to pull off another upset, they will need to topple defending national champions in the Gophers’ Dustin Schlatter at 149 pounds, and heavyweight Cole Konrad, who went 41-0 last season with 21 wins over ranked opponents. Schlatter and Konrad are two of five Minnesota wrestlers ranked No. 2 or better nationally.
“We haven’t faced this kind of competition yet,” Maughan said. “I guess we’ll find out where we’re at. This is a good gauge to where we’re at and where we need to get.”
UNC counters with standouts Reece Hopkin, the 10th-ranked heavyweight in the country before the season, Kyle Kaiser at 133 pounds and redshirt freshman Tony Mustari, a former state champion at Greeley Central High School, at 125 pounds
“Colorado is a great wrestling state,” Maughan said. “We’re excited for our future. Now our best wrestlers don’t have to leave the state to wrestle D-I. We can be a top team, with just residents from our state.”
AROUND TOWN
Fact: Mike Shanahan, after a 19-10 loss in Kansas City on Thanksgiving Day, refused to talk about his quarterback brouhaha and ducked more questions than Tony Snow. Theory: It was Shanahan who last week floated a rumor that rookie Jay Cutler might replace Jake Plummer at quarterback, in order to motivate the beleaguered veteran. But, after the move backfired and Plummer played poorly against the Chiefs, Shanny was stuck with a QB controversy and couldn’t go back on his rumor. Fact or not, the Broncos have a mess on their hands. And their Sunday night matchup with Seattle at Invesco Field will be the most important game between the former AFC West rivals since 1988, when the Seahawks topped the Broncos 42-14 to decide the division title. Sunday’s game starts at 6:15 p.m. and airs on KUSA-9.
WEAK IN REVIEW
To those of you who think Gary Barnett got a raw deal in Boulder, notice what Alabama did to Mike Shula. The Crimson Tide on Monday canned the head coach – a former star quarterback at Alabama and the son of Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history – after Shula led the Tide to a 6-6 season. Nevermind the team went 10-2 last season and won the Cotton Bowl. Just think of the buyout Alabama owes Shula, after he signed a six-year extension in the summer.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Thanks be given to Joe Glenn and the Wyoming football team. If it weren’t for the Cowboys, every area Division I team would have finished the 2006 season with a losing record. Wyoming (6-6) kept the Front Range from being known as the Down Range. Colorado finished 2-10 and Northern Colorado ended a dismal 1-10. Colorado State (4-7) ends Saturday at San Diego State. And Air Force (4-7) closes at Texas Christian.
THE COUCH
On: No Front Range team will figure in Championship Saturday, but two familiar faces will be on the sidelines in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Georgia Tech’s Chan Gailey and Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe were once assistants at Air Force and will face off as head helmers for an 11 a.m. game on KMGH-Channel 7. That game will be followed by the SEC championship between Florida and Arkansas at 4 p.m. (KCNC-4) and the Big 12 title game, with Oklahoma and Nebraska, at 6 p.m. (KMGH-7).
Off: Plans to dam portions of the Cache La Poudre have friends of the river up in arms – anglers, kayakers and sporting types of all kinds included. Some were upset enough to compile a book on the subject titled “Pulse of the River: Colorado Writers Speak for the Endangered Cache La Poudre.” The book’s release will be the subject of a “Save the Poudre Party” today at 7 p.m. at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, with a short documentary and live music filling out the free program. Find more information at savethepoudre.org or pulseoftheriver.org.
