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2021 Big Ten Championships | March 6-7 | University Park, Pa. | Hosted by Penn State Season Career Championship Roster Class Rank Record Pins Record Pins Previous B1G Appearances (Place) 125 No. 4 Patrick McKee Sophomore #10 6-3 1 23-11 6 2020 (DNP) 133 No. 7 Boo Dryden Senior #23 5-4 1 10-9 3 2020 (DNP) 141 No. 6 Marcos Polanco R-Freshman #32 5-4 0 5-4 0 First appearance 149 No. 6 Michael Blockhus Sophomore #21 5-4 0 27-14 0 First appearance / 2020 Big XII (5th @ 141) 157 No. 3 Brayton Lee Sophomore #6 7-2 1 32-8 2 2020 (4th) 165 No. 5 Andrew Sparks Freshman #17 8-1 0 8-1 0 First appearance 174 No. 9 Jake Allar Junior #16 5-4 1 25-11 12 First appearance 184 No. 4 Owen Webster Grad. Student #10 5-2 0 43-25 6 2020 (11th) 197 No. 11 Garrett Joles Sophomore #33 3-6 0 11-19 0 First appearance HWT No. 1 Gable Steveson Junior #1 9-0 3 59-2 11 2019 (2nd) / 2020 (1st) Pre-Seeds as of March 2 2020-21 SCHEDULE/RESULTS FOR STARTERS Date Opponent Time/Results This Weekend Jan. 8 at #5 Nebraska *^ L, 14-22 Jan. 16 vs. Maryland * (at MSU) W, 48-0 The No. 11 Golden Gophers (7-2) head to University Park, Pa., for the 2021 Jan. 16 at #17 Michigan State * W, 28-6 Big Ten Championships. Competition begins on Saturday at 9am and Jan. 22 #1 IOWA *^ L, 4-35 continues through the title matches on Sunday at 3pm. BTN and BTN+ will Jan. 31 vs. #18 Purdue * (at Rutgers) W, 32-4 Jan. 31 at #17 Rutgers * W, 21-18 provide live coverage of the entire tournament. Feb. 5 #13 ILLINOIS * W, 25-13 Feb. 12 at #20 Wisconsin * W, 27-7 Championship Schedule Feb. 19 NORTHWESTERN * W, 29-10 Saturday, March 6 Mar. 6 B1G Championships ^ All Day Mar. 7 B1G Championships ^ All Day 9am Session I (First Round, Quarterfinals) BTN/BTN+ Mar. 18 NCAA Championships All Day 6:30pm Session II (Semifinals, Wrestlebacks) BTN/BTN+ Mar. 19 NCAA Championships All Day Mar. 20 NCAA Championships All Day Sunday, March 7 * Big Ten Conference dual 11am Session III (Cons. Semifinals, 7th-place) BTN+ Home Duals in BOLD 3pm Session IV (1st-, 3rd- and 5th-place) BTN/BTN+ ^ Broadcast on Big Ten Network B1G Championships (Penn State) BTN coverage can also be found on the Fox Sports app and FoxSports.com NCAA Championships (St. Louis, Mo.) FOLLOW THE #GOPHERS MEDIA INFORMATION /gopherwrestling Wrestling Contact John Romo Email [email protected] @gopherwrestling Cell 612-875-0076 @gopherwrestling Wrestling Contact Logan Sass Email [email protected] gophersports.com Cell 507-226-2852 MINNESOTA WRESTLING TEAM NOTES Regular Season Rewind CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY With a mix of veterans and newcomers, the Gopher wrestling team Big Ten Title History capped a successful regular season with five straight wins and 7-2 The Golden Gophers are seeking the record. It was the team’s school record 15th straight season with a program’s 13th Big Ten title, which would winning dual record. Gable Steveson led the Gophers with a perfect match Indiana for third-most in conference 9-0 record, while true freshman Andrew Sparks finished with an 8-1 history. Iowa has won 36 championships, mark. Minnesota and Ohio State were the only league schools to compete in all nine matches. followed by Illinois with 17. Minnesota ranks third with 94 individual titles, behind Iowa First Time for Everything (203) and Illinois (77). Five of Minnesota’s 10 wrestlers – Marcos Polanco, Michael Block- The Golden Gophers broke a 40-year hus, Andrew Sparks, Jake Allar and Garrett Joles will compete in title drought with its 1999 championship. their first Big Ten Championship. That is the most championship Minnesota added titles in 2001-02-03-06-07. debuts for the Gophers since 2016. Before transferring from Northern Iowa, Blockhus finished fifth at 141 pounds at the 2020 Big Big Ten Titles since 1999 12 Championships. 1. Iowa 7 2t. Minnesota 6 2020 Rewind 2t. Penn State 6 Gable Steveson won his first league title as the Golden Gophers 4. Ohio State 3 placed eighth at the Big Ten Championship in Piscataway, N.J., in 5. Illinois 1 March 2020. Steveson defeated top-seed Mason Parris of Michigan, 8-6, in the finals. In his first conference tournament, Happy Valley History Brayton Lee placed fourth at 149 pounds. This is the third time Penn State has hosted the Big Ten Championships since joining the conference in 1993. In 1998, Minnesota Trackwrestling NWCA RANKINGS finished third behind Iowa and Penn State, (Feb. 23, 2021) (Feb. 23, 2021) while Tim Hartung won the second of his **Tournament Rankings** **Dual Rankings** three individual titles. In 2009, the Gophers Rank Team Record Rank Team Record placed fifth as Tyler Safratowich led the way 1 Iowa 5-0 1 Iowa 5-0 with a third-place showing at 157 pounds. 2 Penn State 5-0 2 Penn State 5-0 3 Nebraska 7-1 3 Virginia Tech 9-0 Heavyweight U 4 Virginia Tech 9-0 4 Michigan 5-1 The Golden Gophers have dominated the 5 North Carolina State 6-1 5 Missouri 10-0 heavyweight division the past two decades 6t Oklahoma State 10-0 6 Oklahoma State 10-0 with Gable Steveson continuing that tradition. 6t Missouri 10-0 7 North Carolina State 6-1 Including his 2020 crown, Minnesota has won 8 Arizona State 6-0 8 Nebraska 7-1 10 heavyweight titles since 1999. 9 Michigan 5-1 9t Minnesota 7-2 10 Ohio State 5-4 9t Arizona State 6-0 Heavyweight Champions since 1999 11 Minnesota 7-2 11 Illinois 5-3 Gable Steveson (2020) 12 Iowa State 9-3 12 Ohio State 5-4 Tony Nelson (2012-13) 13 Iowa State 9-3 13 North Carolina 5-2 Cole Konrad (2005-06-07) 14 North Carolina 5-2 14t Central Michigan 5-2 Garrett Lowney (2001) 14t Pittsburgh 3-4 15 Northern Iowa 4-4 Brock Lesnar (1999-2000) 16t Illinois 5-3 16 Pittsburgh 3-4 16t Rutgers 0-4 17 Navy 5-1 18 Northwestern 2-6 18 Purdue 3-5 Heavyweight Titles since 1999 19 Michigan State 2-5 19 Oklahoma 5-5 Minnesota 10 20 Stanford 5-3 20 Virginia 3-3 Ohio State 5 21 Wyoming 3-3 21 Central Michigan 5-2 Iowa 4 22 Utah Valley 2-4 22 Campbell 8-1 Northwestern 2 23 Rider 4-1 23 Michigan State 2-5 Penn State 1 24 Binghamton 3-1 24 Rider 4-1 25 Northern Iowa 4-4 25 Wyoming 3-3 MINNESOTA WRESTLING 2020-21 Dual Match Starters QUICK HITTERS 125: Patrick McKee (Sophomore) Date 125 133 141 149 157 165 174 184 197 HWT St. Michael, Minn. Nebraska (1/8) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Webster Joles Steveson > 8 of 9 matches against ranked Maryland (1/16) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Webster Joles Steveson opponents (5-3) Mich. State (1/16) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Webster Joles Steveson > Defeated three top-six ranked wrestlers Iowa (1/22) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Salazar Joles Steveson > Named B1G Wrestler of the Week (Jan. Rutgers (1/31) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Webster Joles Steveson 19) Purdue (1/31) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Webster Joles Steveson > Went 0-2 at 2020 B1G Championships Illinois (2/5) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Webster Joles Steveson > Brother, Mitch, was two-time All-Ameri- Wisconsin (2/12) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Webster Joles Steveson can with Gophers > Three-time Minnesota state champion N'Western (2/21) McKee Dryden Polanco Blockhus Lee Sparks Allar Salazar Joles Steveson Championship Experience 133: Boo Dryden (Senior) Top-ranked Iowa's lineup enters the tournament with a combined 18 Big Ten Haysville, Kan. Championship appearances, followed by Michigan and Nebraska with 14. The > Transferred from NE Oklahoma A&M Gopher contingent is tied for the third fewest with 6 (Steveson with 2 / midway through 2019-20 season McKee, Dryden, Lee and Webster with 1). > Finished 5-4 at 133 pounds in 2021 > Upset No. 15 Alex Thomsen, 9-2, of Cumulative Big Ten Championship Appearances by Entrants Nebraska in season opener 1. Iowa 18 > Went 1-2 at 2020 B1G Championships 2t. Michigan 14 > 2019 NJCAA National Champion 2t. Nebraska 14 4t. Michigan State 12 141: Marcos Polanco (RS Freshman) 4t. Purdue 12 West Covina, Calif. 6t. Northwestern 9 > Finished 5-4 as first-time starter 6t. Ohio State 9 > All 4 losses to top 13 ranked wrestlers 6t. Rutgers 9 > Wrestled just six times during redshirt 9. Illinois 8 season in 2019-20 (2-4) 10. Penn State 7 > Three-time California state qualifier 11t. Wisconsin 6 11t. Minnesota 6 149: Michael Blockhus (Sophomore) 13. Maryland 5 Cresco, Iowa 14. Indiana 4 > Transfer from Northern Iowa > Finished 5-4 as starter at 149 pounds Making Their Debut > Upset No. 12 Yahya Thomas, 3-2, of Four schools will have six of its entrants making their first Big Ten Champion- Northwestern in last match ship appearance, while the Gopher lineup will feature five first-timers (most > Honorable mention All-American last since 2016). Top-ranked Iowa boasts the fewest with just two first-timers. season at UNI > Finished fifth at 141 pounds at the 2020 First Time Participants Big 12 Championships 1t.