Ness leads Minnesota to third straight National Duals title

COLUMBUS, Ohio — No Division I college wrestler remained as hot at Minnesota’s Dylan Ness, who pinned two out of three foes this past Sunday and Monday and led the top-ranked Gophers to a third straight NWCA National Duals Championship in St. John Arena.

The 157-pound junior, who recently defeated both Iowa’s defending champion Derek St. John and Penn State’s Dylan Alton, added Cornell’s sixth-ranked Brian Realbuto to his string of impressive victories. Ness pinned the Big Red wrestler in 1:13 as the Gophers won four of the first five bouts to lead 17-3 and eventually won 24-15. Earlier, Ness pinned North Dakota State’s Nicholas Olejnik, while also defeating Ohio State’s Randall Languis, 8-4, in Minnesota’s semifinal win over the Buckeyes.

Ness (18-4), a two-time All-American and 2012 NCAA finalist, had struggled a bit before his current six-match winning streak, especially at the Southern Scuffle, Jan. 1-2, in Chattanooga, Tenn., where the Gopher was pinned by Kent State’s Ian Miller and lost a 17-2 technical fall against Oregon State’s Scott Sakaguchi.

“Dylan is always a work in progress,” said Minnesota coach J Robinson. “What Dylan needs to do is bring things together … and he’s doing that. He’s becoming more consistent. When he brings that consistency, he is a hard guy to beat.”

The Gophers were so dominant in this year’s tournament that two-time defending champion Anthony Nelson did not have to wrestle as all three dual victories were sewn up before the heavyweight matches, where his a Gopher reserve wrestled.

Meanwhile, the host school Ohio State claimed a third-place finish on their home mat with a 23-16 victory over Oklahoma. The hottest Buckeye this past weekend was 197-pound Nick Heflin, who defeated Minnesota’s top-ranked Scott Schiller and Wisconsin’s fifth-ranked Travis Rutt in consecutive victories.

NWCA National Duals

Feb. 17, 2014 • Columbus, Ohio

Championship Dual

Minnesota 24, Cornell 15

125            Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec Samuel Brancale, 12-5

133            David Thorn (Minnesota) major dec. Mark Grey, 11-3

141            Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) major dec. Logan David, 16-6

149            Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. Chris Villalonga, 5-4 sv

157            Dylan Ness (Minnesota) pinned Brian Realbuto, 1:13

165            Dylan Palacio (Cornell) pinned Daniel Zilverberg, 7:43

174            Logan Storley (Minnesota) dec. Craig Eifert, 8-2

184            Gabriel Dean (Cornell) dec. Kevin Steinhaus, 3-2 tb2

197            Scott Schiller (Minnesota) major dec. Jace Bennett, 11-1

285            Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell) dec. Michael Kroells, 7-6

Third-Place Dual

Ohio State 23, Oklahoma 16

125            Nick Roberts (Ohio State) pinned Sean Williams, 4:17

133            Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State) dec. Cody Brewer, 6-3

141            Logan Stieber (Ohio State) won by TF over Nick Lester, 18-3

149            Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) major dec. Ian Paddock, 13-3

157            Randall Languis (Ohio State) dec. Dryden Dennis, 6-1

165            Clark Glass (Oklahoma) dec. Joe Grandominico, 6-1

174            Mark Martin (Ohio State) dec. Derek Geiges, 3-0

184            Andrew Howe (Oklahoma) major dec. Josh Fox, 22-8

197            Nick Heflin (Ohio State) dec. Travis Rutt, 6-3

285            Zach Merrill (Oklahoma) won by TF over Kosta Karageorge, 15-0