Gopher wrestling squad finishes 2nd in NCAA tournament

OKLAHOMA STATE, Okla. -- The University of Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team capped off their 2013-14 season

with a second-place finish with 104 team points at the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Penn State University clinched their fourth consecutive NCAA championship with two wins in the final round and eneded the three day event with 109.5 team points.

Despite having two Gophers in the final round of competition, the Maroon and Gold would not have a national champion in 2014.

Redshirt senior and four-time All-American Tony Nelson fell to Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State, 4-2. Nelson had defeated Gwiazdowski earlier this season at the Southern Scuffle but was unable to overcome two third period takedowns to win his third national championship. Nelson finishes his last season as a Gopher with an overall record of 33-5. Throughout his time with the Minnesota wrestling program, Nelson won three Big Ten heavyweight titles and two national championships.

Redshirt junior and three-time All-American Dylan Ness made his way to the finals in surprising fashion. Ness, who began the tournament as an underdog for a championship run as the ninth seed, upset top-seeded James Green of Nebraska and the fourth-seeded Ian Miller of Kent State University en route to a championship appearance. He tallied three pins on the tournament while finishing the season with twelve. He would ultimately fall to Oklahoma State University's Alex Dieringer who was the No. 3 seed, 12-4.

The second-place finish for the Golden Gophers marks the ninth time the Gophers have finished in the top ten in the last ten years.

Minnesota boasts seven All-Americans in 2014 as Nelson, Ness, David Thorn, Danny Zilverberg, Logan Storley, Kevin Steinhaus and Scott Schiller all came away with top eight finishes.

NCAA Championships Final Team Standings
1. Penn State 109.5
2. Minnesota 104
3. Oklahoma State 96.5
4. Iowa 78.5
5. Edinboro 62
6. Ohio State 57
7. Cornell 53
8. Virginia Tech 49
9. Northwestern 46
10. Oklahoma 45