WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Fifth-seeded Mario Gonzalez of Illinois pulled off the biggest upset of Sunday’s Big Ten wrestling championships when he recorded a 10-4 decision over Indiana’s second-seeded Matt Powless to take the 197-pound title.
The outcome was in complete contrast to a Jan. 29 dual meet at Indiana in which Powless overwhelmed the redshirt sophomore from West Aurora with an 11-3 major decision.
This time Gonzalez seized the initiative, recording the first four points in the first period and amassing 79 seconds of riding time. Poweless closed within two points with 24 seconds left in the second period, but 13 seconds later Gonzalez got the points back on a takedown to go into the final period leading 8-4.
“It was huge to get those points early,” Gonzalez said. “I know I got into his head right out of the gate.”
The only lower seed to win a championship was Iowa’s sixth-seeded 157-pounder Derek St. John, who edged Northwestern’s top-seeded Jason Welch 4-3 on a one-point takedown in the waning seconds after Welch had tied the score on an escape with 40 seconds remaining.
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Although it was Welch’s first loss in 24 matches this year, it couldn’t be categorized as a major upset because St. John had defeated him in all three of their previous encounters.
“I was focused and until late in the second period it was going the way I planned,” Welch said. “Then I got a little unfocused at the end. I should have been more defensive.”
Boasting three individual champions — 149-pound Frank Molinaro, 165-pound David Taylor and 174-pound Ed Ruth — Penn State repeated as team champion with 149 points. Minnesota, which shared the regular-season title with the Nittany Lions, was second with 134 followed by Iowa (126), Illinois (105.5), Ohio State (91) and Northwestern (75).
Michigan’s Kellen Russell won his fourth Big Ten title in the 141-pound class with a 7-2 decision against Iowa’s Montell Marion.
Seventy-four of the wrestlers in the tournament automatically qualified for the March 15-17 NCAA tournament in St. Louis. The Illini qualified seven wrestlers and Northwestern six.
“I thought we wrestled really well,” Illinois coach Jim Heffernan said.
Northwestern coach Drew Pariano said, “I’m satisfied we qualified guys, but the last rounds were not what we wanted.”