IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Even before the first match was wrestled at the 80th Big Ten championships on March 4-5, Penn State's hopes of dethroning Iowa were all but erased.

Senior All-American Shawn Nelson, one of the favorites at 118 pounds, failed to make weight, thereby ending his wrestling career because Big Tens act as a qualifier for nationals. The Lions' other nine wrestlers, however, did not dwell on losing Neslon and claimed a solid third-place finish, scoring 85.75 points and trailing only Iowa's 118 and Minnesota's 104.25.

"They didn't let the problem of (Nelson) not making weight bother them," Coach John Fritz said. "With young kids, you don't know how it's going to affect them. They took it in a positive way and fought hard."

Three Lions wrestlers -- more than any other school -- came away with Big Ten titles. Sophomores Cary Kolat (134) and Kerry McCoy (hwt) captured their first titles, and sophomore Sanshiro Abe (126) won his second championship.

Three other Lion wrestlers finished in the top six and earned trips to the NCAA Championships, that begin on Thursday in Chapel Hill, N.C. John Hughes (third at 142), Russ Hughes (fifth at 150) and Brian Matusic (fifth at 167) extended their seasons with good showings at Big Tens.

The Lions' performance during the finals gives them high hopes for nationals, as every Lion wrestler won his final bout.

"To go out winning is what we want to do," Fritz said. "That's a real positive going into the national tournament."

Abe started the finals right for the Lions when he used three takedowns to beat Iowa's Jeff McGuiness 8-4 in front of 11,748 frenzied Hawkeye fans. Abe, however, was not bothered by the partisan crowd.

"I wrestled a dual meet here and I kind of like it," Abe said.

Just 1 minute, 40 seconds after Abe won his title, Kolat got Northwestern's Anthony Pariano in his patented front headlock, put him on his back and pinned him in typical Kolat-fashion.

"Actually I'm kind of tired of using (the front headlock)," Kolat said. "I'm afraid people will think that's all I've got. I've got a lot more stuff."

Kolat used the experience of losing in last year's final to help him this year, when he was named outstanding wrestler of the championship and named Big Ten wrestler-of-the-year.

"I felt I shouldn't have lost last year," Kolat said. "It was just a shame, looking back I could have had four Big Ten and four NCAA titles. Now I'll have to settle three and three."

McCoy kept his record perfect when he won the conference's most difficult weight class with a 3-1 overtime win over Minnesota's Billy Pierce.

"(McCoy) didn't have his best match," Fritz said. "When you can have a flat match and still win in a situation like this, it's very important."

McCoy fought off a Pierce double-leg attack and countered for a takedown of his own at the edge of the mat.

"I was thinking, 'Get his hands off my legs as quickly as possible,' " McCoy said. "Luckily I came around behind him and got the two (points)."

Note:

-- Penn State wasn't the only team to lose a 118 pounder. Favorite Oklahoma State lost Joey Wildasin, who quit the team the week before the Big Eight Tournament.