Scuffle Performance Earns Ness Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Honors
January 2, 2008
Minnesota wrestling’s
Jayson Ness has been named the Big Ten’s Wrestler of the Week, the
conference office announced today. Ness earned the honor after pinning
his way to a 125-pound individual title in six matches at last
weekend’s Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. The sophomore led the
defending national champions to a lopsided 50-point team victory at the
annual tournament, the program’s second Southern Scuffle team win in
three years.
Ranked third in the nation at 125 pounds, Ness’ eye-popping weekend
performance continued what has been an outstanding season for the
Bloomington, Minn. native. Ness notched three of his six pins in less
than two minutes before winning the championship bout over No. 13 Mike
Sees of Bloomsburg University with a fall at the 5:58 mark.
Ness currently boasts a perfect 19-0 record (already the 21st-longest
win streak in Gopher history) and has collected 15 of those wins by way
of fall. He is well on his way to establishing a new Minnesota
single-season record for pins, and has already tied his career high set
last year. Ness’ current pin tally is already the seventh-highest total
in program history, and he is on pace to shatter the all-time mark of
20 (set by current Gopher head assistant coach Marty Morgan in 1989-90).
This is the third Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honor for Ness during
his short career, as he earned the award twice last season en route to
his first All-American finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships. The
sophomore currently has a career record of 59-5, with 30 of those wins
coming by way of fall – the 11th-highest total in Minnesota history.
This is the first weekly honor for the defending national champions
during the 2007-08 season. The Gophers will resume competition Jan.
12-13 as they look to defend their 2007 National Duals title in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa.