U's two individual titles not enough at Big Ten wrestling

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. - Gophers heavyweight Tony Nelson tries not to pay attention to his ever-climbing win streak.

One problem: Others won't let the sophomore do that.

Nelson earned a 2-0 decision over Iowa's Bobby Telford in the title match of the Big Ten Championships on Sunday at Purdue. It was the 20th consecutive victory for Nelson, ranked fourth in the nation.

"I try not to keep it in my mind, but people say stuff and you hear things," Nelson said, "but it's something I try not to focus on. Since Christmas break I've been on a roll, and my confidence is real high."

Sophomore Kevin Steinhaus won the 184-pound title, but not enough other matches went the Gophers' way as they fell short of the team championship.

Penn State, the defending NCAA champion and No. 1-ranked team by Intermat, won the team title for the second year in a row with 149 points. The Gophers, ranked No. 1 in the NWCA/USA Today coaches' poll, finished second with 134.

"At certain times we performed all right, but we let some opportunities get away from us, and that makes the difference in us not winning," Gophers coach J Robinson said.

"We had to win all of those four and we knew we had to win most of our matches in the wrestlebacks," Robinson said. "Then we had five in the finals and only have two champions. We have to win all of those."

Steinhaus' winning streak reached 18 matches after he defeated Nebraska's Josh Ihnen 3-1 in overtime. Each wrestler allowed one escape during regulation, both coming when the other started periods in the down position.

In overtime, Steinhaus had an arm hook on Ihnen and then shot for a takedown try. Ihnen thought he countered the takedown attempt by getting both of his arms behind Steinhaus' arms, while also getting a leg inside. Officials didn't give Ihnen the points, and Steinhaus kept scrambling, securing his decisive takedown a few seconds later.

"I was thinking 'uh-oh' big time, but luckily I got around it and was able to get a takedown," Steinhaus said. "You don't have time to get scared in that situation. You have to react, which is what I did, and I was able to come up with the leg. Not a whole lot of time for thoughts in a situation like that in overtime."

Gophers senior Zach Sanders lost a 6-1 decision to Iowa's Matt McDonough in the 125-pound title match. Sanders is 26-3, all three losses coming to McDonough.

The Gophers also got placement finishes by Nick Dardanes (fourth at 141), Cody Yohn (fifth at 165) and Chris Dardanes (sixth at 133). That gives the Gophers nine wrestlers who advanced to the NCAA Championships.