McDonough, Rasing win titles, but Iowa edged for team crown

EVANSTON, Ill. - Every point counts is a sports cliche, but that reaches a whole new level when one single point determines a championship at the very end of a meet.

And, the Big Ten tournament team title wasn't claimed until the final whistle blew Sunday.

When it was all over, Penn State edged Iowa, 139-138, for the team championship at the Big Ten Wrestling Championship at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was the closest team race in the 98-year history of the Big Ten tournament, and snapped the three-year title run of the second-ranked Hawkeyes who crowned two champions in 125-pounder Matt McDonough.

A win here. A few more points there. The little things added up and made the difference.

"There's all these little things you can think of," said Iowa 133-pounder Tony Ramos said. "What it comes down to is not wrestling your best and we've got to do that."

It actually came down to Hawkeye heavyweight Blake Rasing, taking the mat for the championship bout with his team trailing by three. Rasing came through with a 5-2 win over Minnesota's Tony Nelson, giving Iowa four team points, but Penn State heavyweight Cameron Wade scored two with a 9-0 major decision over Michigan's Ben Apland. That tipped the scales in favor the Nittany Lions, who trailed until the 174-pound finals.

Rasing (17-5) was aware of the team standings, but his first priority is his personal performance. If he doesn't win, it wouldn't matter.

"You hear it but you don't really worry about it," said Rasing. "If I win my match that's the most I can do."

Rasing was locked in a 1-1 in the third before shooting in for a takedown and elevating Nelson's leg. He brought Nelson down to his back and crunched down on top of him. He was able to get two back points, but couldn't secure a fall, which would have resulted in two more team points and a fourth straight Iowa team title.

"I would have loved to," Rasing said about a pin. "It would have been different for the team. He fought off."

Third-seeded Rasing has shown an increase in offense and aggressiveness. It has put him in position to win and almost put Iowa over the top Sunday.

"He's won some big matches," Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. "That was a big match out there."

McDonough won a big match of his own, increasing Iowa's lead from nine to 13 after capturing his first Big Ten title. McDonough scored a takedown with 40 seconds remaining to defeat Brandon Precin, 3-1, for the title at 125.

“It feels good, but it's just one more big match in preparation for the ultimate goal,” McDonough said. “It just builds more confidence going into (NCAA tournament).”

Precin threatened in the final minute, getting to the legs of McDonough, who was draped over his back. McDonough scrambled, got to the side and grabbed Precin's leg, as each stood on one foot with the other's leg in the air. McDonough ended up with the takedown and a win.

McDonough, a sophomore with a 23-1 record, said his memory was fuzzy, but knew it was perfect. it still worked.

“I knew they weren't going to stop it and he wasn't going for a stalemate,” McDonough said. “So, I kept trying to score.

“You can't think. You just have to go. I got a single leg. Once I got the single leg I wasn't going to let it go.”

Precin has fared well in the top position in the past. McDonough tied the match with a third-period escape to make it 1-1. An early escape was key to set up the winning takedown.

“It's putting yourself in the right mentality, because it's a dogfight” said McDonough. “It's a guy on top that wants to hold you down and take your money. Think of it that way. It's a guy trying to beat you up and you have to get away.”

McDonough has won two out of three against second-ranked Precin, who beat McDonough in the Midlands Championships final and controlled their second match until McDonough earned a pin from a headlock. Now the focus is on trying to claim a second 125-pound title.

“Going into nationals now I have even more improvements,” McDonough said. “I've got more to work on and more to build on.”

Sandwiched between those championship wins were runner-up finishes by Derek St. John at 157 and Luke Lofthouse at 197. St. John (19-4) scored the opening takedown, but only managed an escape after that in an 8-3 loss to Penn State's No. 1 seed David Taylor, who was named both Wrestler and Freshman of the Year.

Wisconsin's Trevor Brandvold won his second straight Big Ten title with a 5-2 victory over Lofthouse (20-5).

Penn State won all five of their finals and all nine placing bouts.  The streak helped eclipse Iowa's 14 1/2-point prior to those matches. The Nittany Lions big scorers were enough to overcome a more balanced Iowa squad.

"We have some good athletes and a lot of good things going and a great staff," Penn State Coach Cael Sanderson said. "Really it's the great kids, because they're the ones who go out there."

The Hawkeyes do have positives to build on. After a 4-6 mark in the Saturday night session of the semifinals and second-round consolation, Iowa regained the team lead, going 4-1 in the consolation semifinals. Once the individual title hopes were dashed, most refocused to run through the consolation bracket. Ramos (21-4), Aaron Janssen (165) and Ethen Lofthouse (19-8 at 174) did that by placing third.

Montell Marion (9-3) placed fourth at 141 and Grant Gambrall (19-7) was sixth at 184.

Brands said the way the team battled back is what kept them in the title hunt, but a losing round however, is hard to endure to win a title.

"If you're going to win team titles and individual championships you've got to go 10-0 and that's pretty simple," Brands said. "I feel they came back strong. There are going to be a lot of guys that realized when they do some good things they can win consistently and you have to do those things even in the tight situations."

The Hawkeyes earned nine automatic bids to the NCAA Division I Championships March 17-19 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Iowa will try to win its fourth NCAA title there.

"These guys got work to do," Brands said. "We have to figure out what the seeds are and go from there."