Gophers sophomore Gable Steveson, the nation's No. 1-ranked heavyweight wrestler, defeated No. 3 Tony Gassioppi of Iowa 7-5 on Saturday night in a Big Ten dual meet in Iowa City. But despite his win, the No. 1 Hawkeyes easily won the match 35-6 over No. 7 Minnesota to clinch the conference regular-season title. Iowa is 12-0 overall, 9-0 in the conference.

Ahead by only one point in his match, Steveson charged his opponent and got a takedown with 27 seconds left to take a 7-4 lead. He is 11-0 this season, Cassioppi 15-2.

Owen Webster had the only other win for Minnesota (9-7, 4-4), beating Cash Wilcke 3-2 at 184 pounds.

Two Gophers, Mitch McKee at 141 pounds and Ryan Thomas at 157, lost in overtime, and Brayton Lee at 149 by one point.

U baseball rally falls short

The Gophers baseball team scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning but lost 8-6 to Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon in the Angels College Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Freshman Drew Stahl had a two-run single for Minnesota (1-1) in the ninth. The other runs came home on a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. Justin Lutes was 4-for-4 for Pepperdine (2-0), with two RBI and three runs.

U diver Bacon takes silver

Gophers diver Sarah Bacon finished in second place in the women's 3-meter springboard on Friday at the FINA Grand Prix in Madrid with a score of 297.60. She finished behind synchronized diving teammate Kassidy Cook (308.10).

Gophers lose in softball

Virginia Tech edged the No. 14 Gophers softball team 2-1 on the second day of the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational in Florida. Senior righthander Amber Fiser took the loss. She gave up eight hits, struck out 11 and walked two in six innings.

Minnesota (4-4) scored its run in the sixth inning on Natalie DenHartog's double and Emily Hansen's single.

The Hokies (6-2) scored in the third on back-to-back homers.

U men's gymnasts second

The Gophers men's gymnastics team posted its best score of the season, 404.700, to finish second in a three-team meet with Nebraska (409.150) and Army (389.150) in Lincoln, Neb.

Freshman Donte McKinney of Minneota earned his second high bar title (14.100) in as many weeks, junior Colton Dee grabbed the gold on rings (14.050).

Coach wins 600th game

Lakeville North coach John Oxton became the 12th boys' basketball coach in state history to reach 600 career victories when the Panthers beat Eagan 72-69 on Saturday. Oxton, in his 36th season, has a career record of 600-311.

Etc.

• The Gophers men's tennis team beat Cal-Santa Barbara 7-0 to improve to 6-2. At No. 1 singles, senior Stefan Milicevic upset Joseph Guillin, ranked No. 8 nationally, 7-6, 7-6.

• Top-ranked Simley beat No. 2 Kasson-Mantorville 46-19 to win the Class 2A, Section 1 title at Mayo Civic Center.

• Sophomore Nick Pierre had a hat trick to lead Class 2A, No. 8 Hill-Murray to a 4-3 upset of No. 4 Moorhead 4-3 in a boys' hockey game at the Cullen Hockey Center in Moorhead. Matthew Fleischhacker scored the winner with 9:12 left in the third period.