MINNEAPOLIS — Ed Hitchcock, an agent representing former Minnesota Gophers wrestler Cole Konrad, convinced the Vikings to meet with the two-time NCAA heavyweight champion about two weeks ago.

Konrad visited Winter Park, where he talked to members of the organization and was put through a brief set of drills for offensive linemen. Things went well.

"What I heard," said Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson, "is someone from the Vikings grabbed a tackling dummy, held it up and told Cole, 'Go ahead, hit me as hard as you can.' And Cole knocked the guy right on his butt."

Konrad laughs. He says it didn't go down quite like that. But almost. "I knocked the guy back quite a ways, and the dummy flew up in the air," he said. "I think that was the deciding factor in the long run."

Konrad's two-handed jab was good enough to earn him a return trip to Winter Park. He is one of about 30 unsigned invitees who will try out during a three-day rookie minicamp that begins this afternoon.

The Vikings deferred questions about Konrad to Friday, when coach Brad Childress will address the media. But, obviously, the team is interested.

"They said they'd like to try me as a guard," said Konrad, who is 6-3, 315. "And they want me to get comfortable snapping the ball, in case they want to try me at center. I've been doing that. I'll do anything they want."

Konrad, 25, hasn't played competitive football since his high school freshman year in Turlock, Calif. But this isn't his first NFL minicamp.

In 2007, the Jets invited him and Ohio State's Tommy Rowlands, another two-time NCAA heavyweight champion, to their rookie minicamp. At the time, Rowlands and Konrad were ranked 1-2 among U.S. freestyle heavyweights.

Both were striving to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic team and had no intention of signing with the Jets for the 2007 season. But things are different now.

Konrad didn't make the Olympic team and says his competitive wrestling days ended last June. He does part-time work for Robinson at the U and has a master's degree in sports management. He has considered going to law school or finding a job in sports administration. But right now, he really wants a shot at making an NFL team.

Some teams, the Vikings included, are open-minded about unconventional prospects. Current coach Brad Childress gave receiver Todd Lowber, a collegiate high jumper with no prior football experience, a chance in 2007. Lowber didn't make the team, but has bounced around the league and currently plays for the Dolphins.

Before Childress, Vikings coach Mike Tice invited Brock Lesnar, another Gophers NCAA heavyweight champion and former WWE star, to training camp. Lesnar tried to make the team at defensive tackle, but was cut before the regular season.

Although their careers at the U didn't overlap, Konrad and Lesnar are friends. They've done some mixed martial arts training together and have talked about Lesnar's summer with the Vikings.

"Brock tried to make it as a defensive lineman, and I just feel that offensive line is more similar to wrestling," Konrad said. "There's a lot of the same hand fighting for position, using leverage and stuff like that on the offensive line. What I'm trying to do is more like what Stephen Neal did in New England."

Neal, who beat Lesnar in an NCAA heavyweight championship match during Lesnar's junior year, signed with New England in 2001. It took him three years of hard work behind the scenes, but eventually he became a valuable starter at guard.

Konrad obviously is familiar with hard work. After moving from California to Wisconsin, he won a state title at Freedom High School in 2002. He won a gold medal at the 2005 Pan-American Championships. He was 155-13 for the Gophers, including a pair of undefeated, national championship seasons in 2006 and 2007.

"I think he's good enough to make it, if they give him a real shot at it; maybe give him a year on the (practice) squad to really work at it, which he will," Robinson said. "I don't know anything about football, but I do know Cole Konrad."