For the first time since 2015, a non-heavyweight Minnesota wrestler has won a Big Ten championship.
On Sunday, the Golden Gophers' Isaiah Salazar, the conference's top seed at 184 pounds defeated Penn State's Bernie Truax 8-1 in sudden victory to earn his first Big Ten title.
Salazar becomes the first Golden Gopher wrestler at 184 to win a conference championship since 2012 and the first non-heavyweight since Chris Dadanes did so iin 2015 at 133 pounds.
Other results from Sunday's final sessions include Patrick McKee finishing second at 125 pounds to Penn State's Braeden Davis and Andrew Sparks finsihing sixth at 174 pounds.
Currently, seven Golden Gophers have clinched automatic qualifiers for the NCAAs later this month in Kansas City. Joining Salazar, McKee, and Sparks in Kansas City will be Vance Vombaur (141), Drew Roberts (149), Blaine Brenner (165), and Garrett Joles (197).
With the victory, Salazar improves his season record to 21-1. He also defeated Michigan's Jaden Bullock and Northwestern's Troy Fisher en route to his Big Ten individual title.
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- SUBSCRIBE TO LOGoldenGophers
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @SeanW_Rivals, @RivalsDylanCC, @GopherKaneRob, @LOGoldenGophers,
- SUBSCRIBE to Gophers Nation
