Again, Iowa wins Big Ten wrestling title

The Hawkeyes win their 24th straight Big Ten title, but Penn State's fourth-place finish is good enough for NCAA qualification.

Iowa extended its streak to 24 straight Big Ten titles as Minnesota, Illinois and Penn State filed behind at the 83rd Annual Big Ten Wrestling Championships on March 8-9 in Minneapolis.

The Hawkeyes dominated the competition with 140.5 points, capturing their 26th overall conference crown. Second-place Minnesota compiled 116.5.

Penn State, which followed Illinois' 105.5, finished with 89.5 points.

However, the focus for the Nittany Lion squad was that all 10 wrestlers qualified for the NCAA tournament, held this week at the University of Northern Iowa.

"The No. 1 thing was to get as many people to the nationals as possible," Lion coach John Fritz said.

Another positive aspect of the tournament was the performance of the wrestlers on each end of the lineup. Heavyweight Kerry McCoy grabbed his third Big Ten title and 118-pounder Jeremy Hunter received Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

"The people who've gotten it the last couple of years won titles," Hunter said of the award. "It's nice to be in the same category as some of those guys."

McCoy's closest bout was a 5-1 decision in the championship match against Michigan's Airron Richardson. This came after defeating Ohio State's Nick Nutter, 9-1, in the semifinal and David Pierce of Purdue, 10-3, in the quarterfinal.

"It was nice to get a third title," McCoy said. "It's a milestone."

But McCoy's center of attention all season has been the national tournament, and in celebrating his title, he has not forgotten his ultimate goal.

"It's another step toward nationals," McCoy said. "I feel that if I wrestle at nationals like I did at Big Tens no one can stop me."

Hunter has filled the void the Lions have had in recent years at the lightest weight class and proved he belongs among the nation's elite with a third-place finish. His lone loss came in the quarterfinals, a 5-3 decision, to Lindsay Durlacher of Illinois, who eventually lost in the finals to Michigan State's David Morgan.

Hunter's achievements have bumped him up to No. 8 in the Amateur Wrestling News Individual Rankings and will help him in the seeding at NCAAs.

"It's really depressing that it had to happen at this point in the season," Pritzlaff said.

He added he is not sure whether he will compete in this week's national tournament. However, he and trainer Dan Monthley will continue to rehabilitate the injury.

"Dan has been outstanding in working with him," Fritz said. "(Monday) we'll get the final analysis."

The situation is one of irony because during the season, Pritzlaff would downplay his feats, saying the regular season accomplishments did not matter, that it is the postseason tournaments that count.

Two wrestlers who made the tournament count were Biff Walizer (134 pounds) and Clint Musser (142), who each placed third. Both lost in the in the semifinal to the eventual champions in their respective weight classes.

Walizer was pinned 6:14 in the match by Iowa's Mark Ironside, who not only won the crown at 134 but captured the Outstanding Wrestler Award and was also named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. Walizer bounced back from the defeat in the consolation finals with a 5-2 victory over Tony Siebert of Illinois.

"It was a good step up," Fritz said of Walizer's performance. "I thought he wrestled as well as he has all year."

Musser lost to Roger Chandler of Indiana for the second time this season, again via a pin, this time at the 2:28 mark. Like Walizer, he came back in the consolation finals with a 4-2 win over Iowa's Kacey Gillis.

Lion 190-pounder Rob Neidlinger finished fourth for the Lions, losing to Brian Picklo of Michigan State in the semifinal, 3-1, and again in the consolation final to Iowa's Lee Fulhart, 9-1.

"Rob, late in the season, has seemed to come on," Fritz said. "He's gotten better and better."

Now is the time for the team as a whole to come on with the NCAA tournament beginning Thursday. With the Lions taking their entire starting squad, they have a legitimate chance at claiming a national title.

"Anything can happen especially with 10 guys in there," McCoy said. "I definitely think we have just as good a shot as anyone."