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Big Ten Wrestling Season in Review
April 3, 2007
Complete 2006-07 Final Release in PDF Format With a convincing win over runner-up Iowa State, Minnesota (98.0 points) captured its third NCAA Championship this season, which marked the 24th official national championship for Big Ten wrestling. With Northwestern (71.5) placing fourth in the event, the conference boasted a pair of teams in the top-five for the fourth-straight year and extended it streak of having at least one squad in the top-two to 17 straight seasons. In addition to the Golden Gophers and Wildcats, the Big Ten recorded three more teams in the top 10 in No. 6 Michigan (62.0), No. 8 Iowa (57.0) and No. 10 Ohio State (54.5). Also, four teams followed in the top 20 as Penn State (54.0) finished 11th, Wisconsin (45.5) and Indiana (41.0) were 13th and 14th, respectively, and Illinois (31.0) placed 19th. Rounding out the conference contingent was Michigan State (29th, 19.5) and Purdue (T-42nd, 8.0). Three Big Ten wrestlers claimed individual NCAA titles in Iowa's Mark Perry (165 lbs.), Northwestern's Jake Herbert (184) and Minnesota heavyweight Cole Konrad. Four other standouts -- Northwestern's Ryan Lang (141), Michigan's Josh Churella (149), Wisconsin's Craig Henning (157) and Penn State heavyweight Aaron Anspach - were runners-up in their respective weight classes. Anspach fell to Konrad in an All-Big Ten heavyweight final, which earned the Golden Gopher his second-straight championship and made him the first Big Ten heavyweight to win consecutive NCAA titles at 285 pounds since Illinois' Robert Norman accomplished the feat in 1957 and 1958. In all, Big Ten wrestling celebrated a nation-leading 31 All-America selections (43 percent) among the 72 student-athletes competing at the NCAA Championships, as well as 63 Academic All-Big Ten honorees in 2006-07 -- a 12-person increase from a season ago. Over a 16-week period, a total of 18 grapplers, including two multiple honorees, representing nine of the 10 weight classes, earned Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors. In addition, one representative from each of the 11 institutions was named an honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, which will be given at the end of the academic year.
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