Big Ten Championship advances 4 wrestlers

The Hoosier wrestlers finished the second day at the Big Ten Championship in the same place they entered. IU finished in 10th place with 48 points. Although it was not the result the team had hoped for, IU's team score was only seven points out of seventh. Minnesota won the Championship with 174 points.\nFour Hoosier wrestlers advanced to the national championships through their performances at the Big Ten Championship. Freshman Pat DeGain, sophomore Coyte Cooper, junior Greg Schaefer and senior Viktor Sveda will all compete this weekend in Albany, N.Y.\nSveda, DeGain, and Cooper won two of three matches the first day and earned the right to compete Sunday. All three advanced to the third place match with victories early Sunday.\nCooper's only loss came in his first match on the tournament. He reeled off four straight victories on his way to third place overall at 141 pounds. \n"I was happy with the way I wrestled after that first match," Cooper said. "I felt I could have won the tournament if I had wrestled better the first one."\nIn the third-place match, Cooper took on top-seeded Scott Moore from Penn State and pinned him at 1:58.\n"Coyte wrestled very well," coach Duane Goldman said. "He beat some guys that had beaten him earlier this year. He looks like he's getting into the form he had earlier this year."\nIn the 184-pound weight class, the second-seeded Sveda took on No. 4 seed Jessman Smith from Iowa. Sveda lost a close bout 4-3 to finish fourth overall.\n"Viktor looked a little tight," Goldman said. "He made some strategic errors."\nDeGain also dropped a close match and was unable to place third. He took on Michigan's Kyle Smith and fell 2-0.\n"I wrestled well," DeGain said. "I know that I can beat those guys (that he lost to). I just have to keep the intensity level up going into nationals."\nSchaefer lost two of three the first day, including the seventh-place bout. The top seven place winners in the Big Ten advanced, but Schaefer was voted by the Big Ten coaches to advance to the nationals as a wildcard.\nCooper, Sveda, DeGain and Schaefer will all head to Albany this week as the National Championship will begin Thursday.\n"I don't think that I could be more ready (for this weekend)," Cooper said. "I'm looking forward to it"