Nelson defends heavyweight title as U finishes third

DES MOINES – Tony Nelson made it to the top. So did his coach.

Nelson won his second consecutive heavyweight national title Saturday, defeating Northwestern's Michael McMullan 6-2 at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Des Moines.

Nelson, who also defeated McMullan in the Big Ten tournament final, took the lead in the first period with a takedown on the edge of the mat. Nelson kept his left foot in bounds while the rest of him, and all of McMullan, was over the boundary. A 3-2 lead became 5-2 with 1:11 left in the third when Nelson countered a McMullan shot.

"I was just trying to get heavy on his head and make him take a bad shot. I got him to go underneath for a low-ankle [shot], and I was able to spin in behind and that put it away," Nelson said.

Nelson, a junior, became the fifth two-time Gophers national champ, and afterward admitted to thinking ahead to No. 3.

"After I won my first one, even before, it's been my goal to be the first three-time champion at Minnesota," Nelson said.

Coach J Robinson followed Nelson, with ever-growing distance, to the elevated mat. Robinson, hobbled for much of the season because of an infection in his artificial left knee, made his way up the stairs; crutches, foot, foot; crutches, foot, foot.

The Gophers took third in the team race as Penn State held off Oklahoma State for its third consecutive national championship. Minnesota placed eight wrestlers into the top eight, each earning All-America status.

"You can't say it's a great tournament because if it was we'd have had nine or 10 All-Americans," Robinson said.

The most positive surprise for the Gophers was the effort of 125-pounder David Thorn, a junior, who came into the meet with a 13-11 record. Fresh off taking sixth at the Big Ten meet, Thorn completed a 5-2 run at the national meet to finish seventh.

His final match Saturday ended with a first-period pin of Wyoming's Tyler Cox.

"I was glad to get off the mat right away," Thorn said.

Senior Cody Yohn also earned seventh at 165 with an 8-5 overtime victory against Nick Sulzer of Virginia.

Sophomore Logan Storley took fourth place — two spots higher than he finished last year — at 174 after a 3-1 overtime loss to Robert Kokesh of Nebraska, and Scott Schiller knocked off Iowa State's Kyven Gadson 6-2 to take fifth at 197.

Dylan Ness and Chris Dardanes also became All-Americans though each finished lower than they had a year ago. Ness, second in 2012, took fourth at 149, while Chris Dardanes lost twice Saturday to end up sixth at 133. A year ago he was fourth.