The Gophers on Sunday received a verbal commitment from Brady Weeks, a long snapper who is a junior at Fort Zumwalt West High School in St. Peters, Mo. Weeks is the No. 1-ranked long snapper in the Class of 2019 by Kohl's Kicking Camps.

Weeks is in line to fill a need for the Gophers in the future. Their current long snapper, Payton Jordahl, will be a senior this fall. He is the third player to verbally commit to Gophers coach P.J. Fleck's Class of 2019. On Dec. 21, Eden Prairie quarterback Cole Kramer and Owatonna athlete Jason Williamson both committed to Minnesota.

The Gophers also added a preferred walk-on to the Class of 2018 in Mounds View tight end Max Janes. The 6-3, 230-pounder had offers from Air Force, Drake, South Dakota State, Tennessee Tech and Wyoming.

Randy Johnson

U wrestlers fall to Northwestern

Ryan Deakin pinned Ben Brancale in the final match, rallying No. 20 Northwestern to a 20-18 victory over the No. 14 Gophers in a Big Ten wrestling match at Maturi Pavilion.

With Minnesota leading the Senior Day dual 18-14, Deakin, ranked No. 5 nationally at 149 pounds, got the fall in 2:45, earning six team points for the Wildcats and dropping the Gophers to 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten.

Each team won five matches, with the Gophers leading 8-0 after major decisions by Jake Short at 157 and Nick Wanzek at 165. Brandon Krone's decision at 197 upped Minnesota's lead to 11-6, but the Wildcats (8-2, 3-2) won by major decision at heavyweight and 125 to take a 14-11 lead. Mitch McKee's decision at 133 and Tommy Thorn's major decision at 141 put the Gophers back ahead 18-14 before Deakin won it.

"Overall, I think our guys wrestled OK considering we had four starters out for this dual," Gophers coach Brandon Eggum said. "I loved the way our seniors wrestled today.''

Etc.

• The Gophers men's tennis team lost 4-1 to Notre Dame in the ITA Kick-Off in Austin, Texas, missing a chance to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Matic Spec had the only singles victory for the Gophers, a 6-3, 6-1 win over Matt Gamble at No. 3.