The Univ. of Minnesota wrestling team enters the 2002 NCAA Div. I Championships as the qualified favorite. J. Robinson's top ranked Gophers had a masterful Big Ten Conference Tournament performance en route their second consecutive Team Title. It was the first time the maroon and gold repeated as Big Ten Conference Champions since their 1912 and 1913 titles. As the Gophers begin to eye a repeat of their 2001 National Championship performance, the ultimate goal of being called a "dynasty" comes into focus.      While other top-ranked teams were hoping to see a chink in the armor of the Minnesota wrestling team, little comfort was gained after the conference tournaments were completed. The Gophers easily outdistanced a surging Iowa squad, scoring a 174 points to Iowa's 129.      The Gophers will return a full 10-athlete squad to the national tournament for the second straight year. With five individual Conference champs, the Gophers will likely see high seeds and positive draws in many of their opening matches. The Gophers five individual champs are also an experienced and talented group.      LeRoy Vega is the spark plug for the Gophers. As the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the country by Amateur Wrestling News, Vega represents a potential NCAA finalist. Last season the Gophers won the National Title without a finalist in the lineup. Vega earned his first Conference Title as a senior by defeating  seventh ranked Luke Eustice of Iowa, 7-4.      Last season, Vega took third at the NCAA Championships. It was the third All-American performance that Vega earned as a Gopher.  Another All-American honor in Albany will make the Portage, Ind. native only the second four-time All-American in Minnesota wrestling history.      At 133 pounds, a transfer from Division II power North Dakota State University named Ryan Lewis captured the crown by downing Ohio State's Jeff Ratliff 5-2 in the Big Ten finals.  Lewis a big-move wrestler with a repertoire of upper-body throws. He could be a dangerous wrestler for the Gophers in their trip to New York. Lewis holds Amateur Wrestling News' No. 1 spot and looks to bring home his first Div. I All-American honors as a Junior. The Uintah High School graduate from Vernal, Utah looks to continue his undefeated seasonHe is is on path to meet up with Johnny Thompson from Oklahoma State last season's runner-up at 133 pounds.  Lewis defeated Thompson in an early season dual.      The third Gopher Big Ten champion came at 157 pounds with AWN's third-ranked Luke Becker scoring a 5-3 decision over Ryan Bertin of Michigan. Becker is rated behind No. 1 Bryan Snyder of Nebraska and No. 2 Yoshi Nakamura of Penn. At the National Duals, Becker defeated Nakamura. Becker, a native of Cambridge Minn., looks to cap his junior campaign with another All-American performance. Last season Becker earned fourth place after taking sixth as a freshman. Becker is another of the Gophers looking to join the ranks of the four time All-American crew.     Damion Hahn was the fourth Gopher champion at the Big Tens when he defeated Andy Hrovat, a senior from Michiga, by the score of 8-4.  Hahn, just a sophomore, dethroned AWN's No. 1 rated Hrovat, scoring three takedowns in their match. Hahn is currently rated No. 4 by AWN. Last season Hahn, a highly touted recruit from Lakewoodn N.J., placed fifth in the NCAA Tournament. Hahn suffered an opening round loss as the fifth seed in last year's tournament, before wrestling back to All-Amercian honors.      The final Gopher to bring home the conference gold was 197 pounder, Owen Elzen, a senior from Eyota, Minn. Elzen looks to bring home his second All-American honors in Albany.  At the Big Tens, Elzen entered the tournament as the second seed, but in the finals he jumped to an early lead over Nick Preston of Ohio State.  Elzen was able to hold off a late run by Preston in route to a tight 9-8 victory.      Elzen's perseverance last season was a rallying point for the Gophers championship drive. In his junior campaign, he wrestled much of the season with a torn ACL injury and still managed a third-place performance at the NCAA Championships in Iowa City. Last season Elzen was knocked out of title contention, suffering a loss to eventual champion Mark Munoz of Oklahoma State in the semifinals. Elzen is rated third by AWN behind No. 1 John Trenge of Lehigh, and undefeated No. 1 Cael Sanderson of Iowa State.      The five Minnesota champions were joined by two silver medals.  Chad Erikson at 141 pounds, and Jared Lawrence at 149 pounds lost their championship matches to rival Hawkeye wrestlers.     Erikson, a senior from Apple Valley Minn., was turned away from the championship step by the No. 6 seed Luke Moffit of Iowa. Moffitt rallied to gold with a 4:31 stunning pin of Erikson, last season's eighth place All-American.  Erikson currently holds the No. 7 position in AWN's National ratings.      At 149 pounds, Jared Lawrence suffered a bitter defeat to top rated Mike Zadick of Iowa. The undefeated Hawkeye senior was awarded a controversial late takedown for a 4-3 victory.  Minnesota Coach J. Robinson filed a formal protest but was turned down because the takedown was a judgment call.      Lawrence, a junior from Sandpoint, Idaho, has a pair of sixth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships as a freshman and a sophomore.  Lawrence looks to contend for a National title, holding AWN's third position behind No. 1 Zadick and No. 2 Jamarr Billman of Lock Haven.      Two Gophers finished third in the Big Tens: Jacob Volkman at 174 pounds, and Garrett Lowney at heavyweight.      Volkman, a sophomore who is eighth-rated by AWN,scored a  major decision over Rashad Evans of Michigan State University, 13-1. Volkman came out of obscurity near the end of his freshman season by placing fourth at the Big Tens and topping it off with a fourth-place finish at the National Tournament.      Last season in the consolation semifinals,Volkman slipped past Tyrone Lewis of Oklahoma State by a 5-2 margin, before losing to Otto Olson of Michigan for third place in a tight 3-2 match. Lewis is second -rated at 165 pounds this season while Olson, a senior, is viewed as the No. 1 rated 174 pounder by AWN.     Few heavyweights are as widely recognized nationally as Freedom. Wis. native Garrett Lowney, who captured a bronze medal for the U.S. in Greco-Roman in the 2000 Olympics. Lowney is still looking to make a name for himself on collegiate circuit.      Last season, Lowney entered the NCAA's as the No. 1 seeded wrestler before falling to John Lockhart of Illinois, the eventual champ, in the semifinals. Lowney went on to win the Bronze Medal in his freshman campaign at Minnesota by pinning Oklahoma's giant freshman, Leonce Crump, in :42 seconds in the third-place match.    Lowney, No. 4 rated by AWN, defeated Matt Brink of Michigan by taking him down 19 seconds into sudden-victory overtime to win, 3-1.  Brink earned All-American honors last season by taking seventh in the heavyweight field. Lowney and Brink will join a crowded heavyweight field that includes No. 1 freshman Steve Mocco, last season's runner-up and current No. 2 Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State, Crump, who is now rated No. 3, and Lockhart , currently the No. 5-rated wrestler.     The lone wrestler for the Gophers in the fifth-place matches at the Big Tens was redshirt freshman Nate Baker of Lakefield, Minn. Baker filled out the Gophers NCAA lineup by defeating Charles Martelli of Michigan in his final match. Baker, who entered the tournament as the eighth seed, was a successful wrestler in his redshirt year, compiling a 21-3 record.     The returning National Champion Minnesota Gophers are in position to repeat its first place performance this season in Albany. An experienced crew of wrestlers, led by their five Big Ten gold medalists, are trying to take the word dynasty away from the Hawkeye state to confines further north. It may take years of successive title victories for a Gopher dynasty to be established, but for now, Minnesota has a loaded team ready to travel to Albany to start a streak of its own.