Gophers take second with 139.0 team points
After two days of hard-fought competition, the University of Minnesota capped off the 2013 Big Ten Wrestling Championships with a second place finish. The team gathered a total of 139.0 team points, while Penn State took their third consecutive title with a 151 collective mark.
The Golden Gophers also captured two individual titles in Tony Nelson and Dylan Ness. Nelson scored his second championship at heavyweight, while Ness picked up his first at 149 lbs. J Robinson was named Co-Coach of the Year along with Penn State Head Coach Cael Sanderson.
Facing Nebraska’s Jake Sueflohn in the finals, Ness not only captured the title, he did it in style with a pin at the 3:27 mark. Ness muscled out of a bind and flipped Sueflohn onto his back to put an exclamation point on the crown.
Nelson made his mark earning his second heavyweight title in as many years. He ran through Northwestern’s Mike McMullan in the championship round, winning 4-1 by way of a takedown and riding time.
Scott Schiller and Kevin Steinhaus each closed out the tournament with a runner-up claim, losing in the finals to Nittany Lions. Steinhaus fell short of consecutive titles, losing in the final bout to Penn State’s Ed Ruth by a score of 5-3. Schiller followed at 197 lbs. with another close call, losing to Penn State’s Quentin Wright 5-3.
The remainder of the Gopher wrestlers finished out the competition on a high note as well. All weight classes placed in the top seven, most placing above their tournament seed.
Nick Dardanes and Cody Yohn both placed third in their respective brackets. Dardanes plowed through Purdue’s Brandon Nelsen for a 13-3 major. Tied 1-1 for the majority of the match, Yohn tallied a late takedown and a three-point near fall for the 6-1 victory.
Chris Dardanes finished fourth, Danny Zilverberg fifth, David Thorn sixth, and Logan Storley seventh. All 10 qualified for the NCAA national championships, a first for the Gopher team since 2005.