Big Ten Championships
March 8-9 (Sat-Sun) at Minneapolis, MN
Tournament Notes
Session I - Saturday 11:00 am
The first big upset of the tournament was unseeded Jeff Wimberley of
Michigan State pinning #2 Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin at 141 pounds in
the first round. Also losing was #7 Ryan Lang of Northwestern to
unseeded Kurt Kinser of Indiana 6-4 OT at 149 pounds.
In the Gopher's first action of the day, Tyler Safratowich defeated
Luke Manuel of Purdue by a 13-5 major decision. Next up, Roger Kish.
#4 Roger Kish advances at 184 pounds with a 4-2 OT win against unseeded
Trevor Branvold of Wisconsin. Kish took injury time during the match
and does not appear to be 100%, but he was able to get a takedown in
overtime to gut it out.
#8 Ben Berhow lost to unseeded Nathan Everhart of Indiana at
heavyweight in the first round. It was the Gopher's first loss of the
tournament.
#1 Jayson Ness got a takedown at the buzzer to secure a 10-2 major decision against #8 Collin Cudd of Wisconsin at 125 pounds.
#5 Mack Reiter electrified the crowd with a third period fall off a
bear hug against #4 Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin at 133 pounds. The match
was tied 2-2 at the time.
#6 Manuel Rivera advances to the semifinals with a 6-2 decision over #3
Jeff Jaggers of Ohio State at 141 pounds. Rivera will face #7 Keth
Sulzer in the semifinals.
#2 Dustin Schlatter defeated unseeded Kurt Kinser of Indiana 8-1 at 149
pounds. Schlatter will face #6 Jake Patacsil of Purdue in the
semifinals. Patacsil upset #3 Josh Churella of Michigan 7-6 with a
late-match two-point nearfall.
#4 C.P. Schlatter picked up a 4-2 win against #5 Craig Henning of
Wisconsin at 157 pounds. Schlatter will face top-seed Mike Poeta of
Illinois in the semifinals.
#6 Matt Coughlin of Indiana upset #3 Tyler Safratowich 6-5 at 165 pounds.
#3 Gabe Dretsch defeated unseeded Trevor Perry of Indiana 4-1 at 174 pounds.
#4 Roger Kish picked up a 5-4 win over #5 Philip Bomberger of Penn State at 184 pounds to advance to the semifinals.
#6 Justin Bronson lost to #3 Patrick Bond of Illinois at 197 pounds.
The worst a semifinalist can finish is sixth, so with seven
semifinalist, Minnesota has qualified seven to the NCAA tournament
after the first session. Qualifiers: Ness, Reiter, Rivera,
Schlatter, Schlatter, Dretsch, and Kish. The other three are still able
to qualify in the consolation bracket. Iowa has eight semifinalists at
this point. There is only one head-to-head semifinal between the
Gophers and Hawkeyes - #3 Dretsch vs #2 Borschel at 174 pounds.
Team Scores (In Championship/Consolation)
1. Iowa 74.0 (8/2)
2. Minnesota 64.0 (7/3)
3. Illinois 50.0 (5/5)
4. Michigan 46.0 (5/5)
5. Northwestern 39.5 (4/6)
6. Penn State 39.0 (3/7)
7. Wisconsin 29.0 (2/8)
8. Indiana 28.0 (2/8)
9. Ohio State 17.0 (2/8)
10. Michigan State 12.0 (1/9)
11. Purdue 11.5 (1/9)
#3 Tyler Safratowich had a scare when he found himself on his back in
the first period, but he was able to come back and get a fall in the
third period against unseeded Dominic Marella of Northwestern at 165
pounds.
2007 NCAA finalist Craig Henning of Wisconsin lost in overtime to
Nicholas Bertucci of Purdue in the consolation round and is eliminated.
#8 Ben Berhow picked up a minor upset against #7 John Laboranti of Penn
State at heavyweight to stay alive in the consolation bracket. Berhow
will next face #6 Christopher Kasten of Penn State.
#1 Jayson Ness topped #5 Gabriel Flores of Illinois 7-5 in the 125
pound semifinals, but Flores gave him a scare as he nearly had Ness
pinned in the third period. Ness was able to fight off his back and
hang on for the win. Ness will face #3 Angel Escobedo of Indiana who
defeated #2 Charlie Falck of Iowa in the other semifinal.
With time running out in the third period and up 2-1, #1 James Kennedy
of Illinois added a takedown to defeat #5 Mack Reiter 5-1.
#6 Manuel Rivera used a third period takedown and riding time to win
3-2 against #7 Keith Sulzer of Northwestern. Rivera advances to the
finals against #1 Kellen Russell of Michigan with whom he has split
with this season.
#2 Dustin Schlatter got two takedowns and two two-nearfall to defeat #3
Josh Patacsil of Purdue in the 149 pound semifinals. The win sets up
the anticipated match-up between Schlatter and Brent Metcalf of Iowa in
the finals. #1 Metcalf defeated #4 Bubba Jenkins of Penn State in the
other semifinal.
#1 Michael Poeta of Ilinois won by injury default against #4 C.P.
Schlatter in their 157 pound semifinal. The match was tied 1-1 in the
third period when Poeta got a shoelace takedown on the edge of the mat.
Schlatter appeared to have injurred a leg then. After injury time he
continued for a while, but had to throw in the towel.
#7 Dave Rella of Penn State held off #3 Tyler Safratowich 5-4 in the
165 pound consolations. Safratowich will wrestle for seventh place
tomorrow.
#3 Gabe Dretsch got a third period double-leg takedown to defeat #2 Jay
Borschel of Iowa 6-4 in their 174 pound semifinal. Dretsch will face #1
Steve Luke of Michigan in tomorrow's 174 pound finals.
#4 Roger Kish injury defaulted to #1 Mike Pucillo of Ohio State. Early
into the first period something appeared to happen to Kish's arm. He
took injury time and at the end of the time was unable to continue.
#6 Justin Bronson dropped a 7-0 decision to unseeded Joe Fagiano of
Indiana at 197 pounds. Bronson will wrestle for seventh place tomorrow.
#8 Ben Berhow got a takedown with 15 seconds left to seal a 4-1 victory
over #6 Christopher Kasten of Purdue. The win will qualify him for the
NCAA Tournament. Berhow can now place as high as third but no lower
than sixth tomorrow.
Team Standings After Session II
1. Minnesota 106
2. Iowa 93.5
3. Illinois 79.0
4. Michigan 78.0
5. Ohio State 76.5
6. Penn State 68.0
7. Indiana 66.5
8. Wisconsin 66.0
9. Northwestern 65.0
10. Purdue 39.5
11. Michigan State 30.0
#5 Mack Reiter jumped out to a 6-0 lead against #6 Andrae Hernandez of
Indiana with a takedown and two two-point nearfall. After giving up a
reversal, Reiter finished with a 6-2 win in the 133 pound consolation
semifinals and will wrestle Iowa's #2 Joey Slaton for third.
Iowa's #2 Charlie Falck defeated #8 Collin Cudd of Wisconsin 7-2 in the
125 pound consolation semifinals. Falck will face Illinois' #5 Gabriel
Flores for third.
#4 C.P.
Schlatter injury defaulted to #3 Brandon Becker of Indiana in the 157 pound consolation semifinals.
#4 Roger Kish injury defaulted to unseeded Trevor Brandvold of Wisconsin in the 184 pound consolation semifinals.
Heavyweight consolation semifinals: After a 1-1 regulation tie, #4 Matt
Fields of Iowa rode #8 Ben Berhow for the entire first overtime :30
period. He added an escape and a takedown in the second :30 overtime
period to win 4-1 3XOT. Berhow will face #5 John Wise of Illinois
in the heavyweight fifth place match.
#3 Kyle Massey of Wisconsin decisioned #5 John Wise of Illinois 3-0 in the heavyweight consolation semifinals.
Unseeded Jake Donar of Wisconsin pinned #3 Tyler Safratowich in the
third period of the 165 pound seventh place match. Donar was up 7-3 at
the time of the fall.
#6 Justin Bronson won on a defensivie fall against unseeded John
Weakley of Ohio State for 197 pound seventh place. Weakley was getting
nearfall points against Bronson at the time but he was flat on his back
and the ref called it.
#3 Angel Escobedo of Indiana defeated #1 Jayson Ness 4-2 for first at
125 pounds. Escobedo got a reversal in the second period and rode Ness
the rest of the way. The loss for Ness was his first of the season.
#5 Gabriel Flores of Illinois defeated #2 Charlie Falck of Iowa for third place at 125 pounds.
#2 Joey Slaton of Iowa defeated #5 Mack Reiter 3-0 for third place at 133 pounds.
#1 Kellen Russell of Michigan defeated #6 Manuel Rivera 3-2 for first place at 141 pounds.
#1 Brent Metcalf of Iowa defeated #2 Dustin Schlatter 5-3 for first at
149 pounds. Each wrestler had one takedown but Metcalf had more gas in
his tank in the end.
#4 C.P. Schlatter injury defaulted to #6 Jeff Marsh of Michigan in the 157 pound fifth place match.
#1 Steve Luke of Michigan managed two takedowns against #3 Gabe Dretsch to pull off a 5-3 victory in the 174 pound title match.
#4 Roger Kish injury defaulted to #5 Philip Bomberger of Penn State in the 184 pound fifth place match.
#5 John Wise of Illinois defeated #8 Ben Berhow 4-1 for fifth place at heavyweight.
#4 Matt Fields of Iowa defeated #3 Kyle Massey of Wisconsin 3-1 OT for third place at heavyweight.
Final Team Standings (Champs/Qualifiers)
1. Iowa 127.0 (1/9)
2. Minnesota 112.5 (0/9)
3. Michigan 97.5 (3/6)
4. Illinois 94.0 (1/7)
5. Ohio State 92.5 (1/7)
6. Wisconsin 85.5 (0/8)
7. Penn State 84.5 (1/7)
t8. Indiana 80.0 (1/8)
t8. Northwestern 80.0 (1/6)
10. Purdue 51.5 (0/4)
11. Michigan State 34.0 (1/1)
Wildcards
Mark McNight, Penn State, 125
Kurt Kinser, Indiana, 149
Big Ten Awards:
Wrestler of the Year: Brent Metcalf, Iowa
Wrestler of the Championships: Brent Metcalf, Iowa
Freshman of the Year: Kellen Russell, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Tom Brands, Iowa
