U in ninth as five earn All-America status

PHILADELPHIA — The Gophers won't be in the hunt for the NCAA wrestling championship.

Nor will they have anyone wrestling for an individual championship.

But they will return home with five All-Americas -- four of whom have eligibility remaining -- after a strong consolation showing during Friday's action.

Entering Saturday's placement matches, Penn State leads the tournament with 92.5 points, followed by Cornell (75), Iowa (74) and Oklahoma State (65.5). The Gophers are in ninth at 49.5, with fifth through ninth separated by 6.5 points.

Gophers senior 141-pounder Mike Thorn advanced to the semifinals before falling 9-3 to Cal Poly's Boris Novachkov, the No. 3 seed. Earlier, Thorn, seeded second, pinned Missouri's Todd Schavrien in 2:03 in the quarterfinals. Thorn will face Illinois' James Kennedy, with the winner wrestling for third place.

Joining Thorn as All-Americas for the Gophers are junior Zach Sanders at 125, freshman Kevin Steinhaus at 184, junior Sonny Yohn at 197 and freshman Tony Nelson at heavyweight. Sanders, who like Thorn is in the consolation semifinals, can finish as high as third. Steinhaus, Yohn and Nelson will wrestle for seventh.

Sanders lost 5-3 to Utah Valley's Ben Kjar in the quarterfinals before securing a place-winning finish with a 6-5 victory over Virginia's Matthew Snyder. Sanders will meet Northwestern's Brandon Precin for the right to wrestle for third.

Steinhaus won three consolation matches, highlighted by a 7-1 victory over Oklahoma State's Chris Perry, before he lost 11-9 to Wyoming's Joe LeBlanc. Steinhaus will face Wisconsin's Travis Rutt for seventh.

Yohn won three consolation matches, with a 2-0 decision over Pittsburgh's Zac Thomusseit securing a placement. He lost 3-2 to Stanford's Zack Geisen in the consolation quarterfinals. Yohn will wrestle Indiana's Matt Powless for seventh.

Nelson used a 3-2 overtime victory over Oklahoma's Nathan Fernandez to earn All-America status but then lost 2-1 in a tiebreaker to Maryland's Spencer Myers in the consolation quarterfinals. Nelson will face Arizona State's Levi Cooper for seventh.