Jordan Burroughs poses with his $50,000 checks during intermission at the Nebraska vs. Iowa dual meet Friday night. Darren Miller/University of Iowa photo

LINCOLN, Neb. – 2011 World champion Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids) received his oversized $50,000 check during the intermission at the No. 7 Nebraska vs. No. 2 Iowa collegiate dual meet on Friday.

Burroughs, the first two-time NCAA champion for Nebraska, won the gold medal at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men’s freestyle at the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey in September.

Burroughs received the check from his coach Mark Manning, who not only coached him during his outstanding college career, but was also in his corner for each of his victories at the World Championships in Istanbul.

The Living The Dream Medal Fund was established to substantially increase the financial rewards for U.S. wrestlers who win Olympic and World medals during this four-year Olympic cycle.

Any U.S. wrestler who wins a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England will receive a quarter-million dollars ($250,000). Silver medalists in London will earn $50,000 and bronze medalists in London will receive $25,000. The payout for a World Championships medal in 2009, 2010 and 2011 will be $50,000 for a gold, $25,000 for a silver and $15,000 for a bronze.

The USA had four medalists at the 2011 World Championships. Burroughs won a gold medal, and bronze medals went to men’s freestyle wrestler Jake Varner (96 kg) and women’s freestyle wrestlers Adeline Gray (67 kg) and Ali Bernard (72 kg). Varner received his check during the halftime of the Penn State vs. Iowa dual meet in November.

In the dual meet, Iowa won seven-of-10 bouts to top Nebraska, 24-9. The win was the 900th dual victory in school history and marked Iowa’s 38th consecutive conference win. The loss was Nebraska’s first of the year. The match was wrestled in front of near-sellout crowd of 3,526 fans at the Coliseum

#2 University of Iowa 24, #7 Nebraska University 9  
At Lincoln, Neb., January 13
197 lbs. – #19 Grant Gambrall (Iowa) dec. James Nakashima (N), 3-1 SV; TS 3-0
285 lbs. – #9 Tucker Lane (N) dec. #8 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 4-1; TS 3-3
125 lbs. - #2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) pinned Shawn Nagel (N), 4:50; TS 9-3
133 lbs. - #2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. #18 Ridge Kiley (N), 10-3; TS 12-3
141 lbs. – #3 Montell Marion (Iowa) dec. #6 Jake Sueflohn (N), 9-6; TS 15-3
149 lbs. - Mike Kelly (Iowa) dec. Brandon Wilbourn (N), 7-3; TS 18-3
157 lbs. – #10 James Green (N) dec. Nick Moore (Iowa), 12-7; TS 18-6
165 lbs. - #9 Mike Evans (Iowa) dec. #3 Robert Kokesh (N), 7-3: TS 21-6
174 lbs. – #11 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. Tyler Koehn (N), 8-1; TS 24-6
184 lbs. – #7 Josh Ihnen (N) dec. Vinnie Wagner (Iowa), 10-5 TS 24-9