By Kyle Klingman, W.I.N. Writer

Last year, there was only one senior on Minnesota’s junior-laden team which won the school’s third NCAA wrestling title.

That lone senior was heavyweight Cole Konrad, a two-time NCAA champion who never let his team down during his final two years of competition. Ending his career on a 76-match winning streak — his 50th career pin, against Penn State’s Aaron Anspach in the NCAA finals, clinched the team title for the Gophers — Konrad went down in history as the Golden Gophers’ ultimate closer.

But with Konrad gone, leadership responsibilities and consistent winning fall squarely on the shoulders of Minnesota’s top ranked 2003 recruiting class. That was the year that Minnesota head coach J Robinson sought the best prep wrestlers in the nation, and put together one of the most geographically diverse recruiting classes in program history.

Mack Reiter of Iowa, Manuel Rivera of California, C.P Schlatter of Ohio, Gabe Dretsch of Minnesota, and Roger Kish of Michigan all converged in Minneapolis, Minn., with team titles and individual glory in mind.

They took care of the team title part last year. After suffering an early-season dual meet loss to Hofstra and placing second to Missouri at the Southern Scuffle, the Golden Gophers won out. Robinson’s crew took home all the important hardware, including the National Duals, Big Ten and NCAA tournament titles.

Still, something is noticeably missing from the resumes of each of this year’s seniors: none have won an individual NCAA title.

From a credential standpoint, Roger Kish has fared best on the team. The 184-pound senior failed to place at the NCAA tournament as a freshman, but placed second in 2006 and third last year. He is also the only member of the 2003 recruiting class to reach the NCAA finals.

But he understands that each senior on the team is striving for something more this year.

“I think it’s a big part of what we’re going after this year,” said Kish. “We just won the team title this past year and we all fell short of our personal goals. As one of the top recruiting classes when we came in, we were all expected to do a little better individually. We had higher expectations for ourselves and I’m sure the coaching staff did as well. It’s something we want for ourselves and the coaches as well.”

Robinson, whose 2001 and 2002 teams also won NCAA team championships, wants his seniors to reach their individual goals too. Because he knows this is the last chance they’ll ever get to win an NCAA title.

“All of our seniors have the same motivation in that none of them are NCAA champions and I think that’s a great motivator,” said Robinson. “You can’t say, ‘Next year I’ll get it,’ because they don’t have another year to get it. Like the quote says, ‘Pressure is a privilege’ and usually in those situations they come through.”

Not only is Robinson hoping his seniors obtain high spots atop the medal stand, but he’s also expecting each to be an effective leader. And with a diverse group of seniors, leadership will be dispersed in a variety of ways.

“We have three or four leaders on the team,” said Robinson. “We have Schlatter, we have Reiter, we have Manny and we’ve got Kish. They all kind of lead in different ways. I think that’s what you’re trying to get out of your captains or your leaders. You want a broad base so everybody can relate to somebody.

“Last year we just had one. Konrad was head and shoulders above. This year we have different kinds of leaders — and each one is good at something different.

“C.P. is always there. For Manny, it’s the way he wrestles. Kish is good at going around and motivating guys in tight situations. Reiter is good at being enthusiastic all the time. Each guy is different but they provide leadership in different ways.”

Each of Minnesota’s seniors may be different but they all have one goal in mind this season: win as a team and as an individual. And it’s the last chance they will ever have to do both.

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