Northwestern
Big Ten Championships
Tsirtsis, McMullan Top Podium at 2015 B1G Championships
3/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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Big Ten Championships • Northwestern: 72.0 points, 9th/14 place St. John Arena • Columbus, Ohio Tsirtsis Highlights|McMullan Highlights 2015 Big Ten Championships Brackets  |
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2015 Big Ten Championships Home
2015 Big Ten Championships Brackets
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Northwestern claimed two Big Ten champions Sunday afternoon as Jason Tsirtsis and Mike McMullan each won thrilling one-point decisions to claim their spots on top of the podium.
Tsirtsis and McMullan become the 40th and 41st Northwestern wrestlers, respectively, to win a conference championship.
"It is rewarding to watch them achieve their goals," head coach Drew Pariano said. "They are setting themselves up well for NCAAs. I am just really happy for Mike and Jason."
Tsirtsis won his second consecutive title at 149 lbs. with a 2-1 decision over Iowa's Brandon Sorensen. The match was wrestled just as tight as the first meeting between the two, but the outcome was very different the second time around.
Watch No. 2 Tsirtsis beat No. 1 Sorensen
"I feel good. I got to avenge that loss from earlier this season," Tsirtsis said following his Big Ten title. "The job is not done, though. The ultimate goal comes in two weeks."
The Northwestern sophomore started the second period down following a scoreless first and escaped with ease to take a 1-0 lead that lasted into the third and final period. Tsirtsis erased Sorensen's minimal riding time and built up well over a minute of his own by breaking down the Iowa freshman time and time again. Sorensen escaped with just seconds remaining, but it did not matter with riding time providing the winning point for Tsirtsis.
McMullan took on Iowa's Bobby Telford for the eighth time in his career and picked up his fifth and most important win over the Iowa senior. McMullan fell behind 3-0 early in the second period but battled back to tie it up, and then quickly escaped after starting down to begin the third period.
McMullan fended off Telford for the remainder of the match to hold onto his 4-3 lead and claim his first Big Ten title.
"I am so excited. I have put in so much work," McMullan said. "To do this at this time in my career is pretty special."
Watch No. 3 McMullan beat No. 4 Telford
2015 marks the third consecutive year that a Northwestern wrestler has stood atop the podium as a Big Ten champion. Tsirtsis is the first repeat champion since Jake Herbert went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.
The 2015 Big Ten Championships marks the first time since 2007 that Northwestern has claimed multiple conference champions. Jake Herbert, Ryan Lang and Mike Tamilow all won titles for the Wildcats in that season.
Northwestern placed ninth with 72 team points, the most since the Wildcats scored 75 in 2012.
Pierce Harger finished fourth in his final go-round at the Big Ten Championships. Harger started his day with a 9-0 major decision over Michigan's No. 12 Garrett Sutton to earn a spot in the third-place match at 165 lbs. There, he met Indiana's Taylor Walsh for the third time this season. Walsh was able to hold off Harger late in the third period for a 6-2 win.
Jameson Oster placed at Big Tens for the first time with a win by forfeit in the 141 lbs. seventh-place match. He was slated to take on No. 13 seed Jesse Thielke of Wisconsin. Oster was headed to the NCAA championships regardless of the outcome of his match Sunday, but a seventh-place finish will help him earn a better seed in the national tournament.
Garrison White also placed at the Big Ten Championships for the first time in his Northwestern career. His Saturday win over Purdue's Luke Welch clinched a spot on the 125 lbs. podium, where he stood eighth at the end of the championships.
Dominick Malone finished 11th at 133 lbs. after a win by forfeit. Malone had already clinched one of the Big Ten's 12 automatic bids to the NCAA championships. Mitch Sliga was 12th at 184. The Big Ten had 10 bids to give out at that weight, but Sliga will have a shot at an at-large bid.
This is the fifth consecutive season that Northwestern has qualified five or more wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and the third time in the previous four that the Wildcats have sent six to the national tournament.
The six Northwestern NCAA automatic qualifiers will head to St. Louis for the NCAA Championships, which run from Thursday, March 19 to Saturday, March 21.
Finals
149: No. 2 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. No. 1 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa), 2-1
285: No. 3 Mike McMullan (NU) dec. No. 4 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 4-3
3rd Place
165: No. 3 Taylor Walsh (IND) dec. No. 4 Pierce Harger (NU), 6-2
7th Place
125: No. 7 Ethan Lizak (MINN) maj. dec. Garrison White (NU), 11-0
141: No. 7 Jameson Oster (NU) Win by Forfeit
197: No. 9 Braden Atwood (PUR) Med. For. No. 7 Alex Polizzi (NU)
Consolation
133: No. 12 Dominick Malone (NU) Win by Forfeit
165: No. 4 Pierce Harger (NU) maj. dec. No. 12 Garrett Sutton (MICH), 9-0 (RT: 4:56)
184: No. 13 Anthony Pafumi (RUT) dec. No. 12 Mitch Sliga (NU), 4-3
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