No. 4 Minnesota Wins Big Ten Title With 26-7 Victory Over No. 7 Nebraska
The No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers were crowned Big Ten Dual champions this afternoon after smashing No. 7 Nebraska 26-7 inside the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota won eight matches in front of 3,663 fans and finished up the Big Ten portion of their schedule.
With the win today Minnesota improves to 10-3 on the season and 7-1 in the Big Ten. Nebraska falls to 14-3 and 5-3 in the Big Ten.
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| Nebraska at Minnesota 2012 |
Logan Storley picked up the Gophers first win on the afternoon. Storley was in a dogfight until the end, but was able to pull away with the 5-2 decision. The Roslyn, S.D. native was honored before the dual an was presented with the Junior Hodge trophy, that is given to the nation’s top high school wrestler in the country.
Kevin Steinhaus would take the mat next for Minnesota in the afternoon’s highlighted match. Steinhaus ranked No.8 scored a takedown with one second left to seal the 3-2 decision over Nebraska’s No.7 Josh Ihnen. Steinhaus was down in the closing seconds, but was able to control the Huskers Josh Ihnen and score a late takedown.
Sonny Yohn would then score a 6-1 decision over Spencer Johnson and Tony Nelson continued his hot streak after picking up an overtime win over Tucker Lane. Lane shot a single leg midway through the extra session, but Nelson was able to block it and turn it into his own takedown, to win the match 3-1 and put the Gophers on top 12-3 at halftime.
After the intermission Zach Sanders took care of Nebraska’s Shawn Nagel, beating him by a 24-13 major dec. Sanders is now 21-1 on the season is climbing up the all-time wins list for the Gophers.
Both the Daradanes brothers (Chris and Nick) would pick up solid wins for Minnesota. Nick Dardanes scored a 15-6 major decision over the Huskers Ridge Kiley and Chris picked up a 3-2 victory over Jake Sueflohn.
The final points for Minnesota were from Dylan Ness, who pulled out a 9-4 decision over the Huskers Brandon Wilbourn.
Minnesota will next travel out east for the NWCA National Duals Regional Final. The Gophers will wrestle on in Piscataway, N.J. on Saturday afternoon. The time and opponent will be announced later this week.
NOTE: Minnesota won the Big Ten Dual Championship this afternoon with its 26-7 win over No. 7 Nebraska….former NCAA heavyweight, WWE and UFC champion Brock Lesnar presented freshman Logan Storley with the Junior Hodge Trophy prior to today’s dual….Tony Nelson has now won 13 straight matches for the Gophers.
Minnesota 26 Nebraska 7
165 #6 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) decision Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota) 6-3
174 #6 Logan Storley (Minnesota) decision Tyler Koehn (Nebraska) 5-2
184 #8 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) decision #7 Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) 3-2
197 #6 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) decision Spencer Johnson (Nebraska) 6-1
285 #4 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) decision #9 Tucker Lane (Nebraska) 3-1 OT
125 #2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) major decision Shawn Nagel (Nebraska) 24-13
133 #7 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) major decision #18 Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) 15-6
141 #11 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) decision #5 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) 3-2
149 #10 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) decision Skylar Galloway (Nebraska) 9-4
157 #7 James Green (Nebraska) major decision Bart Reiter (Minnesota) 11-3