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Konrad earns top seed at the Big Ten Championships
February 28, 2005
The Big Ten Conference announced the seeds for this weekend's Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, March 5-6. The Golden Gophers had eight of their 10 wrestlers seeded, highlighted by sophomore Cole Konrad who earned the top seed at heavyweight.
Ranked second in the nation, Konrad finished the regular season with a 33-2 record, including an 8-0 record in Big Ten dual meets. Currently on a 21-match winning streak, Konrad took third place at the 2004 Big Ten Championships as a freshman and earned his first All-American citation with a fourth-place finish at nationals.
Also considered a favorite for a league title, redshirt freshman Mack Reiter earned the second seed at 133 pounds. Ranked third in the nation, Reiter is 32-5 this season, including a 6-2 Big Ten record. Illinois' Mark Jayne is the top seed at 133 pounds, despite the fact Reiter is the only wrestler in the nation to beat him this season. Reiter earned a 7-4 decision in their first meeting at the National Duals, and then pinned Jayne in just 2:49 in their last matchup on Feb. 20.
Other Golden Gophers that earned seeds include junior Matt Nagel. He is seeded third at 165 pounds, behind second-ranked Ryan Churella of Michigan and fourth-ranked Mark Perry of Iowa. Senior All-American Bobbe Lowe is ranked sixth in the country at 125 pounds, but enters the Big Ten Championships as the fifth seed. He is 29-5 on the season, including a 4-3 mark in the league. Six of the eight seeds at 125 pounds are ranked in the top 20 in the country.
In addition to Reiter, four other redshirt freshman from Minnesota's top-ranked 2003 recruiting class also earned seeds. A potential spoiler at 184 pounds, Roger Kish earned a sixth seed despite wrestling in just two Big Ten dual meets. He was sidelined for six league duals with a skin infection, but returned for Minnesota's final two matches. He was the top recruit in the nation in 2003 and is currently ranked sixth in the nation.
Gabriel Dretsch is seeded sixth at 174 pounds, while Matt Koz is eighth at 197 pounds. Koz pinned the sixth seed, Willie Breyer of Michigan, and earned a last-second 6-5 decision over the seventh-seed, Ryan Flaherty of Wisconsin, earlier this season. C.P. Schlatter is seeded seventh at 157 pounds. Ranked as high as 11th in the nation at 149 pounds, he moved up to 157 at the end of January. He also missed a pair of Big Ten matches with a skin infection, but returned to the lineup for the final two dual meets of
the regular season.
The Golden Gophers have two wrestlers that were not seeded, but they are no stranger to success at the Big Ten Championships. At 141 pounds, junior Tommy Owen will look to match his success when he placed fifth at last year's event and qualified for his first NCAA Championship. Quincy Osborn will wrestle for just the second time at 149 pounds after wrestling all year at 141. He also reached his first NCAA Championship last season after
placing sixth at Big Tens at 133 pounds.
Minnesota enters this weekend looking for its fifth Big Ten Championship in the last seven years. The Golden Gophers won their first title in 40 years in 1999 and then won three straight league crowns from 2001-03. The other two years in that stretch resulted in runner-up finishes, including last season in Columbus, Ohio.
The Golden Gophers have crowned a total of 17 individual Big Ten Champions since 1999. Iowa also has 17 individual champions during that span, while the next closest is Illinois with seven.