Minnesota Sports Briefs: Gophers wrestlers second at Southern Scuffle

• University of Minnesota

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(Chattanooga, TN) -- The third-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team finished second at the 23-team "Southern Scuffle" tournament in Chattanooga over the weekend.

Penn State won the tourney. Three Gophers won their weight class in the event, including Zach Sanders at 125-pounds. Sanders, of Wabasha, is now 16-0 on the season and ranked No. 1 in his division. Also winning individual trophies were Chris Dardanes of Chicago and Tony Nelson of Cambridge. The Gophers next host Ohio State for a Big Ten dual on Sunday at the U of M Sports Pavilion.

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The University of Minnesota women's basketball team raced to a dominating 84-43 win over Indiana yesterday at Williams Arena. Freshman Rachel Banham of Lakeville notched career highs in both points and rebounds in turning in her first career double-double. She scored 21 points and grabbed 11 boards. She was five-for-five from three-point range in the game. The Golden Gophers built a 31-point halftime lead, which is the largest halftime edge in program history. Minnesota led by as many as 46 points in the second half before winning by 41. The Gophers are now 9-7 overall and 1-1 in league play. Minnesota visits Northwestern on Thursday.

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The University of Minnesota Golden Gopher men's basketball team looks to bounce back from consecutive losses with a tilt tomorrow night against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Gophers fell to 12-3 following a 61-56 setback to Michigan Sunday. Iowa enters tomorrow night's contest with a 9-6 mark and a 1-1 record in conference play after beating nationally-ranked Wisconsin on Saturday.

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Michigan freshman guard Trey Burke has been named the Big Ten men's basketball co-player of the week after a career high performance against the Golden Gophers on Sunday. Burke torched Minnesota for 27 points in the 61-56 victory. He scored 13 against Penn State on Thursday. Michigan State guard Keith Appling is the co-winner of the weekly honor.

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The Minnesota Wild get their first taste of 2012 hockey tomorrow night in Vancouver against the Canucks. The reeling Wild have dropped nine-of-10 to fall to 21-13-6 on the year. The defending Western Conference champion Canucks lost to San Jose last night to fall to 24-13-3.

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A Twin Cities area high school hockey player who suffered a spinal injury in a game is scheduled for surgery this week. But it's too soon to tell if Benild-St. Margaret's sophomore Jack Jablonski will regain full control of his limbs. Doctors say the 16-year-old has gained a bit more movement but still can't move his legs, and only has partial motion in his shoulders and right arm. Jablonski's surgery will fuse the section of his spine that was damaged on Friday, when he was checked and tumbled head-first into the boards.

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