College Post Season Coverage

EAST LANGING, Mich. - The team race, as expected, appears to be for second place.

But the individual battles are as fierce, hotly contested and competitive as ever through the first two rounds of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships.

Top-ranked Minnesota piled up 66 points and advanced seven wrestlers into the semifinals in Saturday's first session at Michigan State's Breslin Center. The Gophers are seeking their second straight league crown and sixth in the past nine seasons.

The race for second couldn't be much closer. Michigan and Illinois share second with 44 points apiece, followed closely by Iowa (42), Northwestern (39) and Ohio State (38). Iowa advanced five wrestlers into Saturday night's semifinals while Michigan, Illinois and Northwestern each placed four in the semis.

The top seven finishers in the Big Ten tournament in each weight class, plus two wild cards overall, advance to the NCAA Championships on March 15-17 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich.

An action-packed quarterfinal round saw a pair of past Big Ten champions fall into the wrestlebacks. Iowa junior Alex Tsirtsis scored a second-period reversal before holding off defending Big Ten champion Andy Simmons 2-1 in the 141-pound quarterfinals. Tsirtsis was 0-2 against Simmons. Both wrestlers are returning All-Americans.

Minnesota's dominating start also included a surprise setback at 133 where 2005 Big Ten champion Mack Reiter of the Gophers fell to Indiana's Andrae Hernandez 5-2 in the quarterfinals. Reiter is the No. 3 seed and Hernandez is No. 6. Reiter, a two-time All-American, missed the first three months of the season with a knee injury. He returned to the mat a month ago.

Minnesota's trio of unbeaten wrestlers - reigning NCAA champions Cole Konrad (heavyweight) and Dustin Schlatter (149), along with NCAA qualifier Manuel Rivera (141) - each kept their winning streaks alive by moving into the semis.

Konrad has now won 69 straight matches, Schlatter 60 and Rivera 36. The top-seeded Rivera survived a tough quarterfinal test by holding off No. 8 Justin Chrzanowski of Michigan by a 10-8 score. Konrad and Schlatter are ranked No. 1 nationally.

The four other Big Ten wrestlers who are ranked No. 1 nationally - Northwestern's Ryan Lang (141) and Jake Herbert (184), Illinois' Mike Poeta (157) and Penn State's Phil Davis (197) - each advanced to the semis on Saturday. Herbert and Davis are defending league champions.

Big Ten champion Nick Simmons (133) avenged his only loss of the season, outlasting Ohio State's T.J. Enright 2-1 in double-overtime. Enright was in deep on a pair of late shots, but was unable to gain the takedown. Neither wrestler scored in the first minute of overtime. Simmons escaped in the first 30-second tiebreaker and then rode Enright out in the second 30-second period.

World Team members on the sidelines

Three members of the 2006 U.S. World freestyle team were in the Breslin Center on Saturday.

World silver medalist Mike Zadick (Iowa), World bronze medalist Donny Pritzlaff (Wisconsin) and World Team member Andy Hrovat (Michigan) are serving as assistant coaches for their alma maters.

Finals set for Sunday afternoon

The finals of the Big Ten Championships are scheduled for 1 p.m. The matches for third place and fifth place also will be contested at that time.

Seventh-place matches are slated for 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Breslin Center.

Saturday night's Big Ten semifinal pairings

125
(1) Jayson Ness (Minnesota) vs. (5) Gabe Flores (Illinois)
(3) Angel Escobedo (Indiana) vs. (2) Charlie Falck (Iowa)

133
(1) Nick Simmons (Michigan State) vs. (5) Jake Strayer (Penn State)
(6) Andrae Hernandez (Indiana) vs. (2) Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois)

141
(1) Manuel Rivera (Minnesota) vs. (5) Kyle Ruschell (Wisconsin)
(6) Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) vs. (2) Ryan Lang (Northwestern)

149
(1) Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) vs. (5) Tyler Turner (Wisconsin)
(3) Lance Palmer (Ohio State) vs. (2) Josh Churella (Michigan)

157
(1) Mike Poeta (Illinois) vs. (4) C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota)
(3) Craig Henning (Wisconsin) vs. (2) Brandon Becker (Indiana)

165
(1) Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) vs. (5) Chris Vondruska (Ohio State)
(6) Justin Fraga (Purdue) vs. (2) Mark Perry (Iowa)

174
(1) James Yonushonis (Penn State) vs. (4) Gabriel Dretsch (Minnesota)
(3) Steve Luke (Michigan) vs. (2) Eric Luedke (Iowa)

184
(1) Jake Herbert (Northwestern) vs. (4) Tyrel Todd (Michigan)
(3) Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) vs. (2) Roger Kish (Minnesota)

197
(1) Phil Davis (Penn State) vs. (4) J.D. Bergman (Ohio State)
(3) Patrick Bond (Illinois) vs. (2) Mike Tamillow (Northwestern)

HWT
(1) Cole Konrad (Minnesota) vs. (4) Matt Fields (Iowa)
(3) Dustin Fox (Northwestern) vs. (2) Aaron Anspach (Penn State)