College Post Season Coverage

EAST LANGING, Mich. - Nothing was going to stop the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers from rolling to their second straight Big Ten title.

Not even the Big Ten's dress code for finals participants.

Minnesota lost five team points for wearing its traditional gold finals singlets, and wearing maroon in its other matches, during Sunday afternoon's final session.

But it didn't matter as the Gophers outclassed a tournament field that was filled with talented wrestlers and teams.

Minnesota crowned four champions and outscored second-place Wisconsin by 56.5 points in storming to its second straight league title and sixth in the past nine years with a dominating performance Sunday at Michigan State's Breslin Center.

Minnesota senior Cole Konrad won his third straight league title at heavyweight en route to being named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. Teammate Jayson Ness was named Freshman of the Year after breezing to the 125-pound title. Gophers coach J Robinson was named Coach of the Year.

Minnesota brothers Dustin (149) and C.P. Schlatter (157) also repeated as Big Ten champions. The Gophers qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Championships, set for March 15-17 in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Gophers will be seeking their third NCAA title of the decade after winning titles in 2001 and 2002.

"We had a lot of good performances, but we didn't reach all of our goals and I think that will motivate some of our guys even more going into nationals," Robinson said. "We know we can still improve and get better, and we have some time to work on a few things before we get to the national tournament."

Northwestern's Jake Herbert (184) was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. He was one of three champions for the Wildcats. Northwestern's Ryan Lang (141) and Mike Tamillow (197) also struck gold Sunday. Northwestern crowned three league champions for the first time since 1931. Herbert won the Big Ten at 174 in 2006.

Wisconsin scored 99.5 points and qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAAs. Third-place Iowa finished with 91 points and will send eight wrestlers to nationals. Penn State was fourth with 90.5 points and seven qualifiers, followed by Indiana (86 points, 8 qualifiers), Northwestern (84, 6), Illinois (83.5, 8), Michigan (79.5, 5) and Ohio State (68.5, 6).

Michigan State's Nick Simmons (133) won his third league title. He won at 133 after capturing conference titles at 125 in 2005 and 2006.

Other league champions included Mark Perry of Iowa at 165 and Steve Luke of Michigan at 174. Perry gave Iowa its first Big Ten champion since 2004. Perry, a junior, was second in the Big Ten the previous two seasons.

The finals were held in conjunction with third- and fifth-place matches and Gopher wrestlers not competing in the finals wore maroon singlets. The Minnesota finalists were in gold. The rules state everyone must wear the same color, so Minnesota was given two warnings after its first two finalists competed in gold singlets. The Gophers then had one, two and two points deducted after its last three finalists took the mat.

The top seven finishers in the Big Ten tournament in each weight class, plus two wild cards overall, advance to the NCAA Championships.

Wisconsin did not crown a champion, but came on strong after being in ninth place after Saturday's first session. The Badgers' second-place finish tied its best-ever team performance at the Big Ten meet, and is the highest league finish for the Badgers under Coach Barry Davis. Not bad for a team with only one finalist.

Wisconsin had one wrestler place second, two take third, one place fourth, two take fifth, two place sixth and one finish eighth.

Badger wrestlers knocked off three wrestlers seeded No. 1, including two ranked No.1 nationally, in the Big Ten tournament. Kyle Ruschell beat No. 1 Manuel Rivera of Minnesota in the 141 semifinals, Craig Henning beat No. 1 Mike Poeta of Illinois in the third-place match at 157 and Dallas Herbst beat No. 1 Phil Davis of Penn State for third place at 197.

"After the first session, we went back to the hotel and brought everybody in and talked to them real calmly about what we needed to," Davis said. "I told the guys, 'Hey, we had a real good dual-meet season, but we got to step up now at tournament time and this is the time to do it.'

"During the season, we lost to Northwestern in a dual but came back to beat Iowa the next night. I told the guys we had come back before and we could do it again. We took it one match at a time and just kind of took off. Collin Cudd, our 125-pounder, kicked it off last night with a win and it just kind of snowballed from there."

Wisconsin's Zach Tanelli (133) grabbed one of the league's two wild-card spots. Indiana's Marc Bennett (184) was awarded the other wild card from the Big Ten.

Konrad extended his winning streak to 71 straight matches, making quick work of Penn State's Aaron Anspach in the finals. Konrad, ranked No. 1 nationally and the reigning NCAA champion, pinned the second-seeded Anspach with a minute left in the first period. Konrad, the lone senior in Minnesota's starting lineup, hasn't lost a college match since the 2005 NCAA finals.

"This is just a great team to be on - we have an awesome group of guys and we're all real close," Konrad said. "We hang out together year-round and we're all real good friends. It really is kind of like a family. We push each other hard and we know we let each other down if we lose."

Top-ranked Dustin Schlatter, a sophomore, extended his winning streak to 62 in a row. The reigning NCAA champion edged No. 2 seed Josh Churella of Michigan 3-2 in the 149 finals. Schlatter is now 74-1 in his career. He scored an early takedown and picked up a riding-time point to earn the win.

"When you wrestle a guy like that, every point counts," Dustin Schlatter said. "I wanted to score right away so the match would open up more. The last time I wrestled him almost nothing happened - very little in the way of shots. I tried to change the complexion of the match this time. I thought scoring in the first 30 seconds would be ideal and I was able to do that."

C.P. Schlatter emerged as the champion in a loaded 157 class after edging two-time All-American Brandon Becker of Indiana 1-0 in the finals. The fourth-seeded Schlatter knocked off top-ranked Mike Poeta of Illinois in the semifinals. Poeta finished fourth. Schlatter rode Becker out in the second period for the match's only point.

Schlatter is eager to atone for last year's NCAA Championships when he failed to place after winning the Big Tens in 2006.

"I felt a big accomplishment after winning Big Tens last year and I kind of let down a little bit going into nationals," C.P. Schlatter said. "I had some great matches against some good guys this year, but now I know this is just a stepping stone to where I want to be. I just need to stay consistent and focused, and wrestle like I did this weekend."

The lanky, 5-foot-8 Ness was in full attack mode early, taking down and nearly pinning No. 2 seed Charlie Falck of Iowa early in the finals match at 125. The gifted Gopher freshman kept the pressure on from there, notching a 12-1 major decision.

"I just need to stay in good position on my feet," Ness said. "I'm pretty good on top, and can ride guys and turn them. I have long arms and try to use my leverage to my advantage. My confidence just keeps building. Our coaches are getting us to peak at the right time and I just listen to what they tell me and it's paid off."

In a matchup of wrestlers ranked 1-2 nationally, the top-ranked Herbert looked sharp in posting a methodical 8-1 win over second-ranked Roger Kish of Minnesota. Herbert came at Kish with an array of leg attacks, knocking off the returning Big Ten champ at 184 for the second time this season. Herbert clinched the win by scoring a pair of third-period takedowns.

"This match was just as hard as the first one," Herbert said. "Kish is a go-getter, he's a good wrestler and he's a student of the sport. He's made a couple adjustments and was in on my legs a lot more often. But I'm studying too and trying to figure out how to counteract what he's doing out there."

Herbert, a junior, placed second at the 2006 NCAAs.

"I've been working my whole life for this," Herbert said of his goal of being an NCAA champion. "I'm at the same place I was last year and now I've got to go and get it done. Winning the next five matches in a row is what matters. We're really excited about what our team can do. We think we have four guys who are capable of getting to the finals and winning national titles."

The top-seeded Simmons gave the home crowd something to cheer about when he edged surprise finalist Andrae Hernandez of Indiana 6-4 in the 133 finals. Simmons held off a number of shot attempts by Hernandez, the No. 6 seed.

"I enjoyed wrestling in front of my home fans," Simmons said. "This was a good warmup for nationals. I have some work to do to get ready to wrestle at nationals in The Palace in a couple weeks." 

Top-ranked Ryan Lang, out for much of the season with an infection in his knee, looked sharp in earning a 5-2 finals win over No. 5 seed Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin. Lang shot in on a double-leg takedown midway through the first period to seize control.

"It's been tough, having to sit out for over a month," Lang said. "It's great to be back out on the mat competing again. This was a real good test for me going into the NCAAs. I just won Big Tens, but I have plenty more left in me for nationals."

The unorthodox Perry avenged a regular-season loss with a 5-2 win over No. 1 seed Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan in a battle of All-Americans at 165. Tannenbaum was in deep on a number of shots, but Perry continually fought him off in a series of wild scrambles. Perry also kept Tannenbaum on the mat and picked up a point of riding time.

"I've been trying to improve my strength because I felt like I declined a lot and I was feeling weaker," Perry said. "I've been putting in a lot of extra workouts in the morning to get stronger."

Perry changed his strategy for the rematch with Tannenbaum.

"I made him beat me at what I'm good at - scrambling and riding," Perry said. "Pretty much every match I've lost in the past is because I was worried about what my opponents were doing. (Coach Tom) Brands pretty much slapped me upside the head after I lost at Michigan and said, 'You're too damn good to be changing your style for somebody else.' For them to beat me at the national tournament, they're going to have to wrestle my style.

"I can perform a lot better than I did here at this tournament. I would give myself a B or B-, at best, in this tournament. I did not perform that well, but this is a stepping stone."

Michigan's third-seeded Steve Luke, who like Tannenbaum bumped up two weight classes this season, knocked off No. 1 seed James Yonushonis of Penn State 5-2 in the 174 finals. Luke missed time late in the season with a knee injury before returning recently.

"I feel great at 174," Luke said. "Last year, I was always worried about my weight. This year, I really don't cut any weight at all. I have so much more energy now. I got kind of burned out last year. I have a totally different outlook this year. I'm doing better in wrestling and doing a lot better in school."

The second-seeded Tamillow gave Northwestern its third title with a 11-5 win over No. 4 seed J.D. Bergman of Ohio State in the 197 finals. Bergman had knocked off top-ranked Phil Davis of Penn State in the semifinals. Davis finished fourth.

Tamillow gained control early with a takedown and turned Bergman for a three-point near fall at the halfway mark of the opening period.

"I always love watching Jake (Herbert) wrestle right before me," Tamillow said. "I've picked up a lot from him - he's just a great wrestler. Working out with someone like Jake and (heavyweight) Dustin Fox has made a world of difference for me."

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP BOUTS

125
(1) Jayson Ness (Minnesota) dec. (2) Charlie Falck (Iowa), 12-1

133
(1) Nick Simmons (Michigan State) dec. (6) Andrae Hernandez (Indiana), 6-4

141
(2) Ryan Lang (Northwestern) dec. (5) Kyle Ruschell (Wisconsin), 5-2

149
(1) Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) dec. (2) Josh Churella (Michigan), 3-2

157
(4) C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota) dec. (2) Brandon Becker (Indiana), 1-0

165
(2) Mark Perry (Iowa) dec. Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan), 5-2

174
(3) Steve Luke (Michigan) dec. (1) James Yonushonis (Penn State), 5-2

184
(1) Jake Herbert (Northwestern) dec. (2) Roger Kish (Minnesota), 8-1

197	
(2) Mike Tamillow (Northwestern) dec. (4) J.D. Bergman (Ohio State), 11-5

HWT
(1) Cole Konrad (Minnesota) pinned (2) Aaron Anspach (Penn State), 2:00