CHAMPAIGN, IL - Defending Big Ten Champions and currently top-ranked Minnesota Gophers jumped out to a 37-point lead with 144 points after the first day of competition at the 2002 Big Ten Championships. The competition got underway at noon on Saturday March 9 from Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill.    The Gophers managed a one-point lead after the first session despite third-seeded Jacob Volkmann's giving up an overtime pin to sixth-seeded Brady Reinke of Wisconsin. The Gophers expanded their lead over the Hawkeyes with key wins in semifinal matches against the Hawkeyes. At 133 pounds top seeded Ryan Lewis (Minn) pinned Hawkeye Cliff Moore, while another Gopher top seed, Luke Becker handed fifth-seeded Hawkeye Matt Anderson a 9-1 major decision.    Other Gophers securing positions in the finals were #1 seed L Leroy Vega won a 4-3 decision over fifth-seeded Twan Pham of Illinois. #4 seed Chad Erickson upset top seeded Scott Moore of Penn St pinning him in 5:47. Second-seeded Jared Lawrence won an 8-3 decision over #3 seed Mike Kulczycki of Michigan. Third-seeded Damion Hahn sqeaked past second-seeded Viktor Sveda of Indiana, 4-3, and second-seeded Owen Elzen won a sound 6-1 decision over #3 seed Kyle Smith of Michigan.    With top ranked wrestlers from the highest ranked wrestling programs competing, upsets abound in quarterfinal action. Hawkeye early upsets helped lift the third-ranked Hawks to second in the team standings with 107 points. At 125 pounds Seventh-seeded Luke Eustice of Iowa pulled a major quarterfinal upset over second-seeded Chris Fleeger of Purdue, winning 2-1, while sixth-seeded Luke Moffitt at 141 pounds won a sound 9-2 decision over third-seeded Grant Hoerr of Wisconsin. Eustice would go on to soundly defeat third-seeded AJ Grant of Michigan in the semifinals, and is set to face top-seeded Leroy Vega of Minnesota in the finals. Moffitt also would pull another huge upset escaping with 1 second left in double overtime to win his semifinals match against #2 seed Robert Sessley of Ohio State.    A handful of Hawkeyes also earned finals positions with semifinal wins. Top-seeded Mike Zadick won a 7-4 decision over #4 Keaton Anderson of Ohio State. Second-seeded Tyler Nixt won 10-7 over #6 Brady Reinke of Wisconsin, and top-seeded Steve Mocco won by medical forfeit.    Host Illinois felt the sweet victory and the agony of defeat with a couple early upsets. Sixth-seeded Chad Hay of Illinois handed third-seeded Foley Dowd of Michigan a 4-1 loss, while sixth-seeded Gray Maynard of Michigan State scored an overtime fall over third-seeded Griff Powell of Illinois. Hay and Maynard would both fall in the semifinals, leaving just one Illinois wrestler to represent the host school in the finals. Top-seeded Matt Lackey won a major decision over fifth-seeded Oscar Santiago of Purdue in the semis to secure the Illini's only final position.    Finding themselves third in team standings were the Ohio State Buckeyes, which qualified four finalists. At 133 pounds, #7 seed Jeff Ratliff won an 8-4 decision over #6 Chad Hay of Illinois, second-seeded John Clark defeated #3 Doc Vecchio of Penn State, 6-2. Top-seeded Nick Preston handed a 12-4 major decision to #4 seed Pat DeGain of Indiana, and at heavyweight, second-seeded Tommy Rowlands won 5-3 over #3 Garrett Lowney of Minnesota.    Another round of wrestlebacks will start Sunday at 11 a.m. CT, followed by the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th place matches. The finals matchups are as follows:      Finals Matchups  125 - #1 Leroy Vega (Minn) vs. #7 Luke Eustice (Iowa)   133 - #1 Ryan Lewis (Minn) vs. #7 Jeff Ratliff (Oh St)  141 - #4 Chad Erickson (Minn) vs. #6 Luke Moffitt (Iowa)  149 - #1 Mike Zadick (Iowa) vs. #2 Jared Lawrence (Minn)  157 - #1 Luke Becker (Minn) vs. #2 Ryan Bertin (Mich)  165 - #1 Matt Lackey (Illinois) vs. #2 John Clark (Oh St)  174 - #1 Otto Olson (Mich) vs. #2 Tyler Nixt (Iowa)  184 - #1 Andy Hrovat (Mich) vs. #3 Damion Hahn (Minn)   197 - #1 Nick Preston (Oh St) vs. #2 Owen Elzen (Minn)   285 - #1 Steve Mocco (Iowa) vs. #2 Tommy Rowlands (Oh St)    Team Scores through semifinals:  1. Minnesota, 144 - 7 finalists  2. Iowa, 107 - 5 finalists  3. Ohio State, 105.5 - 4 finalists  4. Michigan, 91.5 - 3 finalists  5. Illinois, 77 - 1 finalist  6. Penn State, 55.5 - 0 finalists  7. Michigan State, 46.6 - 0 finalists   8. Wisconsin, 43.5 - 0 finalists   9. Purdue, 39.5 - 0 finalists   10. Indiana, 33.5 - 0 finalists  11. Northwestern, 12 - 0 finalists