Gophers fall to Penn St. in wrestling

The Gophers wrestling team lost 33-6 to No. 3 Penn State on Friday night at the Sports Pavilion in their Big Ten home opener. Brett Pfarr won his match 3-2 at 197 pounds and Mitch McKee won 2-1 at 133 for Minnesota's only wins.

The loss ended a 13-match unbeaten streak the Gophers had held against Penn State.

"We knew this was going to be a challenge … wrestling a great team like Penn State," Gophers coach Brandon Eggum said.

Former first-round draft pick Nick Gordon was one of 16 minor league players invited to the Twins spring training camp next month in Fort Myers, Fla.

Gordon, a 21-year-old shortstop drafted fifth overall by the Twins in the 2014 draft, has yet to play above Class A. He is the brother of Marlins infielder Dee Gordon and batted .291 with 19 stolen bases for Fort Myers last season.

Another former first-rounder, righthanded reliever Alex Wimmers, who spent last September with the Twins, will be in major league camp for the first time.

Lefthander Stephen Gonsalves, the team's minor league pitcher of the year in 2016, also will be in camp.

Phil Miller

Jessie Diggins, an Afton native, defended her title in a 5-kilometer freestyle race in the fifth stage of the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy. Her 13.6-second triumph over Krista Parmakoski of Finland came with a side order of history, as teammate Sadie Bjornsen finished third. It marked the first time two U.S. women made the podium in a World Cup distance race.

The victory kept Diggins in fifth place in the overall standings in the Tour de Ski, a seven-stage series of races held in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. If she maintains her position, she would match the best-ever showing by an American in the Tour de Ski.

"I attacked every inch of the course, skiing as fast as I could on each section,'' said Diggins, who finished in 12 minutes, 45.6 seconds. "I love this course, and it plays to my strengths, because you have to work every inch of it and never let up.''

Rachel Blount