MINNEAPOLIS - Brent Metcalf stood in the middle of a black-and-gold swarm on the awards platform late Sunday afternoon, clutching the team trophy after the Iowa Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Championships. Just moments before, he was handed the award for Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. He was then presented with the honor for Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. Metcalf picked up enough awards to fill a small trophy case and he couldn't have been more deserving after turning in an impressive performance Sunday afternoon before 7,271 fans at Williams Arena. Metcalf dumped two-time Big Ten champion and 2006 NCAA champion Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota to the mat for a takedown with 12 seconds left to earn a dramatic 5-3 win in the 149-pound finals that clinched the team title for the Hawkeyes. Top-ranked Iowa outscored No. 8 Minnesota 127-112.5 for the team title. The Hawkeyes qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Championships on March 20-22 in St. Louis. "This is a carbon copy of a (Dan) Gable-coached team," said Iowa coach Tom Brands, who was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. "I don't say that to pat myself on the back, I say that because of the tradition going back and Gable's influence is alive. The way these guys were able to come back, it's the story, and the way Metcalf won in the finals, that's the story." The Hawkeyes won their 32nd conference title. It was Iowa's first Big Ten title since 2004 and only its second league title since 2000. Metcalf, the super sophomore from Davison, Mich., has emerged as the leader of a very strong and balanced Hawkeye team. He was Iowa's lone champion. Returning Big Ten and NCAA champion Mark Perry of Iowa placed second at 165. As impressive as Metcalf was, his teammates were almost as impressive with their work in the wrestlebacks earlier in the day. Iowa trailed Minnesota by 12.5 points entering Sunday's final session, but fought back gamely by going 12-3 in its matches Sunday. Iowa had third-place finishers in Joey Slaton (133), Jay Borschel (174), Phil Keddy (184) and Matt Fields (heavyweight). Charlie Falck finished fourth at 125 and Daniel LeClere was fifth at 141. Preseason No. 1 team Minnesota, the returning Big Ten and NCAA champion, lost all four of its finals matches in struggling to a 2-8 record Sunday. Gophers coach J Robinson was asked how hard it would have been to fathom if someone would have told him before the season his team would not crown a Big Ten individual champion. "It would've been about as hard as losing seven dual meets," said Robinson, whose team qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. "There's nothing we can do with all the injuries we've had. Those are the cards we've been dealt." Minnesota's chances in the team race were weakened considerably with All-Americans C.P. Schlatter (157) and Roger Kish (184) unable to wrestle Sunday. Both wrestlers were injured in their semifinal matches Saturday night and had to default to sixth place. Both had already qualified for the NCAA tournament. Robinson said he expects both wrestlers to be back for the NCAA tournament. Michigan finished third with 97.5 points and crowned champions in Kellen Russell (141), Eric Tannenbaum (165) and Steve Luke (174). The remaining champions included Indiana's Angel Escobedo (125), Michigan State's Franklin Gomez (133), Illinois' Mike Poeta (157), Ohio State's Mike Pucillo (184), Penn State's Phil Davis (197) and Northwestern's Dustin Fox (heavyweight). The third-seeded Escobedo racked up nearly four minutes of riding time in handing No. 1 Jayson Ness of Minnesota his first loss of the season. Escobedo, fourth in the nation last year, beat Ness 4-2 on Sunday. Ness had won 36 straight matches, including 35 this year, since Escobedo beat him in the 2007 NCAA tournament. The much-anticipated Metcalf-Schlatter match was a tough, hard-fought battle as expected. Schlatter used a slide-by maneuver to score the opening takedown nearly a minute into the match, but Metcalf was the aggressor the rest of the way as his in-your-face, pressuring style eventually took its toll on Schlatter. "Brent Metcalf did an outstanding job," Brands said. "He is a great example of what I want all our guys to aspire to. Duplicate Brent Metcalf." Metcalf tied the match when Schlatter was hit a second time for stalling before Metcalf finished a weary Schlatter off by snapping him down and scrambling behind him to score the winning points in the closing seconds. "Absolutely," Metcalf said when asked if he thought he was going to score in the closing seconds. "I had gotten to him many times, but kept finishing out of bounds. I knew it was just going to be a matter of time before I finished inside the circle. I just had to continue pressuring him and continue to be smart because he's a dangerous wrestler." Metcalf now will try to lead Iowa to its first NCAA team title since 2000. "It's another step - it's not a big step, it's a small step," Metcalf said of his team's conference title. "We didn't quite have the success we wanted to have this weekend. But we have one more chance to perform at nationals. We had guys do a good job, but we need to take another step as a team." Metcalf had a clear advantage in conditioning against Schlatter, who has missed much of the season with a hamstring injury. Schlatter, a junior, won NCAAs as a true freshman in 2006. He pieced together a 65-match winning streak before losing to eventual champion Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro in the 2007 NCAA semifinals. Metcalf lost a year of eligibility last year after transferring from Virginia Tech to Iowa. Metcalf and Schlatter met for the first time since 2005 when Schlatter won their match in the finals of the Senior High School Nationals. "Obviously, I didn't do so well, but I learned a lot," Schlatter said of Sunday's final. "There are a lot of things I have to work on in the next two weeks. I am looking forward to the next time. It was a good experience to get a feel for him before nationals. I don't think I wrestled near as well as I could have." Metcalf, as you would expect, also didn't think he wrestled as well as he could have. "It's another match, it just happens to be that it's against an NCAA champion, an All-American in Dustin Schlatter," Metcalf said. "This is the best kind of match you can have. I got taken down, almost got taken down again and wasn't able to get to the legs like I really wanted to. It's a great opportunity for me to learn and get better. It's great to have the win, but at the same time it's not how I want to win." Schlatter was asked what he thought about Metcalf continuing to wrestle after the whistle when the two competitors were ruled out of bounds. "You try not to let that get in your head," Schlatter said. "When the referee blows the whistle and then he shoots in on a double and then throws you, that's getting a little ridiculous. You don't want to get caught up in a pushing and shoving match. You try not to let it affect you." Schlatter was asked if the stalling call that tied the match was warranted. "At that point, I was a little surprised," Schlatter said. "I felt like there was a lot of action back and forth. Regardless, you shouldn't put it in the ref's hands in a close match." The Hawkeyes moved back into the lead in the team race early Sunday afternoon when Keddy used an arm bar to crank Penn State's Phil Bomberger to his back for a first-period pin in the 184-pound consolation semifinals. Iowa followed with another key win a short time later in the consolation semis when Fields managed to pull out a double-overtime win over Minnesota's Ben Berhow. Fields rode Berhow out in the first 30-second period before escaping and scoring a takedown in the second 30-second period. Iowa won another key head-to-head battle with Minnesota at 133 when Joey Slaton blanked Mack Reiter 3-0 in the third-place match. Minnesota's rough day continued shortly after the wrestling ended Sunday when No. 3 seed Tyler Safratowich, who placed eighth at 165, was not picked as one of the conference's two wild cards. Those spots went to Penn State's Mark McKnight (125) and Indiana's Kurt Kinser (149). BIG TEN FINALS RESULTS 125 POUNDS Angel Escobedo (Indiana) dec. Jayson Ness (Minnesota), 4-2 133 POUNDS Franklin Gomez (Michigan State) dec. Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois), 3-1 141 POUNDS Kellen Russell (Michigan) dec. Manuel Rivera (Minnesota), 3-2 149 POUNDS Brent Metcalf (Iowa) dec. Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota), 5-3 157 POUNDS Mike Poeta (Illinois) dec. Dan Vallimont (Penn State), 8-2 165 POUNDS Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) dec. Mark Perry (Iowa), 3-2 174 POUNDS Steve Luke (Michigan) dec. Gabe Dretsch (Minnesota), 5-3 184 POUNDS Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) dec. Tyrel Todd (Michigan), 4-3 197 POUNDS Phil Davis (Penn State) dec. Mike Tamillow (Northwestern), 3-2 HEAVYWEIGHT Dustin Fox (Ohio State) dec. J.D. Bergman (Ohio State), 2-0