Padden Claims Big 12 Wrestling Gold
By BRIAN ORTMEIER / Daily Nebraskan
March 06, 2006
AMES, Iowa – For the second year in a row, Nebraska’s B.J. Padden wrestled his way into the Big 12 Championship final and walked away with gold.
Padden cruised through his semifinal match against Missouri’s Jeff Foust, 10-2, to return and defend his Big 12 Championship versus Oklahoma State rival Jake Rosholt in the 197-pound championship match.
The match was scoreless heading into the second period as both wrestlers countered each other’s attacks.
“It was kind of hard to get an offense going against him and vice versa, I think because we’ve wrestled so many times,” Padden said. “It’s just like guys you wrestle with in the practice room.”
Padden started the second period in the top position and rode Rosholt out the entire frame to gain a one-point bonus for having two minutes of riding time.
Rosholt cut free Padden from the bottom position to kick off the third period, giving the NU senior a one-point escape and a 2-0 lead. Padden blocked Rosholt’s attempts of scoring throughout and scored the decisive takedown at the end of the match for a 4-0 victory.
“It’s a good feeling,” Padden said. “It’s nice because it’s my senior year and everything going out with a win here. A lot of my family and friends came, with it being my senior year and all. It’s definitely like winning it all over again, but the second time feels better than the first.”
Padden’s win marks his third consecutive victory this year over Rosholt, the defending national champion at 197 pounds. Padden also defeated Rosholt on his way to victory in last year’s Big 12 final.
“B.J. is just a great competitor,” NU Coach Mark Manning said. “He’s a great testimony and example of a guy who’s made himself a better wrestler.
“Five years ago he wasn’t highly recruited and nobody knew about B.J. Padden. Everyone knew about Jake Rosholt. (Padden) is way better than he was a year ago, and his focus is on winning a National Championship.”
Nine Cornhuskers, including Padden, punched their ticket for the NCAA Tournament, seven by placing in the top three in their division and two by wildcard.
Senior Jacob Klein advanced to the Big 12 final at 174 pounds but fell short of gold in a 17-6 loss to Missouri’s top-ranked and undefeated Ben Askren.
The semifinals were not kind to the Huskers as they went only 2-8, but things turned around when consolation rounds began.
Freshmen Paul Donahoe, Patrick Aleksanyan and Robert Sanders along with sophomore Jon May finished third and qualified for their first trips to the NCAA Tournament.
NU junior Dominick Moyer earned his second appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a third-place finish at 141 pounds with a 7-4 victory over Oklahoma State’s Ethan Kyle.
Junior Marc Harwood and freshman Vince Jones earned wild-card entries to join their teammates for the trip to Oklahoma City in two weeks.
The 184-pound Jones and 165-pound Harwood finished fourth in competitive weight classes.
NU freshman Chris Oliver was the only Husker not to qualify for the national tournament, finishing fifth in the 157-pound division.
“We’ve got a real young team,” Manning said. “We came back hard and got thirds. That’s what you have to do when you get beat. That just shows good character for guys to come back when they get beat and place third.”
As a team, the Huskers placed third overall with 52 points, just half a point behind Oklahoma for second place. Oklahoma State won the Big 12 team title with 80 points.
“This is a tough tournament,” Manning said. “A one day pressure-cooker. You step on the mat, do it or you go home.”
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By BRIAN ORTMEIER / Daily Nebraskan
March 06, 2006
AMES, Iowa – For the second year in a row, Nebraska’s B.J. Padden wrestled his way into the Big 12 Championship final and walked away with gold.
Padden cruised through his semifinal match against Missouri’s Jeff Foust, 10-2, to return and defend his Big 12 Championship versus Oklahoma State rival Jake Rosholt in the 197-pound championship match.
The match was scoreless heading into the second period as both wrestlers countered each other’s attacks.
“It was kind of hard to get an offense going against him and vice versa, I think because we’ve wrestled so many times,” Padden said. “It’s just like guys you wrestle with in the practice room.”
Padden started the second period in the top position and rode Rosholt out the entire frame to gain a one-point bonus for having two minutes of riding time.
Rosholt cut free Padden from the bottom position to kick off the third period, giving the NU senior a one-point escape and a 2-0 lead. Padden blocked Rosholt’s attempts of scoring throughout and scored the decisive takedown at the end of the match for a 4-0 victory.
“It’s a good feeling,” Padden said. “It’s nice because it’s my senior year and everything going out with a win here. A lot of my family and friends came, with it being my senior year and all. It’s definitely like winning it all over again, but the second time feels better than the first.”
Padden’s win marks his third consecutive victory this year over Rosholt, the defending national champion at 197 pounds. Padden also defeated Rosholt on his way to victory in last year’s Big 12 final.
“B.J. is just a great competitor,” NU Coach Mark Manning said. “He’s a great testimony and example of a guy who’s made himself a better wrestler.
“Five years ago he wasn’t highly recruited and nobody knew about B.J. Padden. Everyone knew about Jake Rosholt. (Padden) is way better than he was a year ago, and his focus is on winning a National Championship.”
Nine Cornhuskers, including Padden, punched their ticket for the NCAA Tournament, seven by placing in the top three in their division and two by wildcard.
Senior Jacob Klein advanced to the Big 12 final at 174 pounds but fell short of gold in a 17-6 loss to Missouri’s top-ranked and undefeated Ben Askren.
The semifinals were not kind to the Huskers as they went only 2-8, but things turned around when consolation rounds began.
Freshmen Paul Donahoe, Patrick Aleksanyan and Robert Sanders along with sophomore Jon May finished third and qualified for their first trips to the NCAA Tournament.
NU junior Dominick Moyer earned his second appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a third-place finish at 141 pounds with a 7-4 victory over Oklahoma State’s Ethan Kyle.
Junior Marc Harwood and freshman Vince Jones earned wild-card entries to join their teammates for the trip to Oklahoma City in two weeks.
The 184-pound Jones and 165-pound Harwood finished fourth in competitive weight classes.
NU freshman Chris Oliver was the only Husker not to qualify for the national tournament, finishing fifth in the 157-pound division.
“We’ve got a real young team,” Manning said. “We came back hard and got thirds. That’s what you have to do when you get beat. That just shows good character for guys to come back when they get beat and place third.”
As a team, the Huskers placed third overall with 52 points, just half a point behind Oklahoma for second place. Oklahoma State won the Big 12 team title with 80 points.
“This is a tough tournament,” Manning said. “A one day pressure-cooker. You step on the mat, do it or you go home.”
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