The NCAA wrestling tournament finished up tonight at the Palace in Auburn Hills, MI, with the Minnesota Golden Gophers taking its third NCAA Team Championship — its first since it won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 — and Minnesota heavyweight (285-pounder) Cole Konrad winning his second consecutive title and 76th straight match. For perspective, fellow Gopher Verne Gagne won two titles — 1948 and 1949 — while Brock Lesnar only won the NCAA title once, in 2000. I wonder if this could lead to a professional shoot fight between the two heavyweights in the future…
Final team standings:
1. Minnesota (98.0 points)
2. Iowa State (88.5)
3. Missouri (80)
4. Northwestern (71.5)
5. Oklahoma State (69.9)
Here are tonight’s results, according to the Associated Press:
125 – Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) beat Sam Hazewinkel (Oklahoma)
133 – Matt Valenti (Penn) beat Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State)
141 – Derek Moore (UC-Davis) beat Ryan Lang (Northwestern)
149 – Gregory Gillespie (Edinboro) beat Josh Churella (Michigan)
157 – Trent Paulson (Iowa State) beat Craig Henning (Wisconsin)
165 – Mark Perry (Iowa) beat Johnny Hendricks (Oklahoma State)
174 – Ben Askren (Missouri) beat Keth Gavin (Pittsburgh)
184 – Jake Herbert (Northwestern) beat Jake Varner (Iowa State)
197 – Josh Glenn (American) beat Kurt Backes (Iowa State)
HWT – Cole Konrad (Minnesota) beat Aaron Anspach (Penn State)
In the 197 pound weight class, Glenn gave American its first NCAA title ever with a controversial win over Iowa State’s Backes, securing the first-place team finish for Minnesota. Konrad then took Anspach apart, pinning him in the first period for the decisive victory, putting the icing on the cake. Earlier in the night, Iowa’s Mark Perry upset Oklahoma State’s Johnny Hendricks, who was going for his third-straight 165-pound title. There are stories on the Gophers’ big win at TwinCities.com (AP story) and StarTribune.com, and NCAA’s Wrestling site has more details.
After his win, Konrad was quoted by the AP, saying: “Last year, I was happy for myself, but disappointed for the team … Now the future is bright – I’m the only one leaving.”
