Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Cardenas Advances to 197-pound Big Ten Final, Wolverines Qualify Six for NCAAs
3/8/2025 11:38:00 PM | Wrestling
» Jacob Cardenas advanced to the 197-pound Big Ten final with a 4-1 overtime decision against Penn State's second-ranked Josh Barr; he avenged his only loss of the season.
» Michigan will place six at the Big Ten Championships; Sergio Lemley (141 pounds), Beau Mantanona (165) and Josh Heindselman (Hwt) are all in the consolation semifinals.
» Six Wolverines earned automatic qualifying bids for the NCAA Championships.
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Event: Big Ten Championships (Day 1 of 2)
U-M Standing: 7th Place of 14 Teams (56 points) after Day 1
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 9 -- at Big Ten Championships - Day Two (Evanston, Ill.), Noon CDT
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Graduate student Jacob Cardenas advanced to the 197-pound championship to headline the University of Michigan wrestling team's day-one performance at the 2025 Big Ten Conference Championships on Saturday (March 8) at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wolverines sit in seventh place in the team standings with 56 points.
Cardenas, ranked third in the latest InterMat poll, avenged his only loss of the season with a 4-1 sudden-victory win against Penn State's second-ranked Josh Barr in the semifinals. The bout went to overtime for the second time in as many meetings, but this time, Cardenas ended it before the tiebreaker, shooting in on a double leg, coming up with a single and after a little funk from Barr, finished the takedown with :51 remaining in the extra frame.
Cardenas also picked up two controlled wins in the morning sessions, opening the day with a dominant 15-0 first-period technical fall against Wisconsin's Niccolo Colucci before using two takedowns and 2:10 in riding-time advantage to earn an 8-1 decision against Northwestern's Evan Bates -- his third win over the Wildcat this season.
He advanced to the finals in his first-ever Big Ten Championships appearance after previously wrestling three EIWA conference tournaments while at Cornell. He was the EIWA 197-pound champion in 2023. Cardenas improved to 19-1 on the season and boasts 14 bonus wins.
Sophomore/freshman Beau Mantanona, ranked 10th, fell to Penn State's top-ranked and undefeated Mitchell Mesenbrink 25-8 in the 165-pound semifinals. He scored the bout's first takedown with a duck to a double in the opening 10 seconds, but Mesenbrink escaped, scrambled for a takedown of his own to take the lead and piled on takedowns in the second and third periods.
Mantanona scored big bonus points with a pair of first-period falls in the morning session, using a half to pin Wisconsin's Cody Goebel at the :30 mark before cradling up and sticking Minnesota's 11th-ranked Andrew Spark at 1:28 in the quarterfinals. It was his second win over the Gopher wrestler this season and upped his pins total to five.
Graduate student Josh Heindselman, ranked eighth, dropped a 9-1 major decision to Penn State's second-ranked defending national champion Greg Kerkvliet in the heavyweight semifinals. The Nittany Lion scored takedowns in the first and second periods and rode out the third. It was Heindselman's second loss to Kerkvliet this season; his only losses are to the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 wrestlers.
Heindselman won big and close in the morning session, rolling to 23-8 technical fall over Wisconsin's Gannon Rosenfelt with seven takedowns in the first round before edging Rutgers' seventh-ranked Yara Slavikouski 2-1 in overtime in the quarterfinals. Heindselman put Slavikouski in neutral danger at the end of regulation but ran out of time. He drew a stall call on the edge early in sudden victory and another -- to decide the bout -- after Rutgers kicked out of a deep single leg out of bounds.
Sophomore Sergio Lemley went 3-1 on the day to advance to the 141-pound consolation semifinals and qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. He dropped a 4-1 overtime heartbreaker to Minnesota's eighth-ranked Vance VomBaur after setting the pace early in the bout. He stalemated a Gopher leg attack and scramble that lasted nearly half the third period but could not repeat it in sudden victory as VomBaur won a scramble less than 20 seconds in.
Lemley, ranked 12th, bounced back with back-to-back consolation wins, including a 12-2 major decision over Purdue's Greyson Clark to close out the day. Lemley scored on a first-period single leg, added a reversal in the second and finished on two more singles in the third with 2:39 advantage time. He was in on another in the waning seconds but ran out of time to finish for the tech.
Sophomore/freshman Dylan Gilcher and graduate student Chase Saldate split their consolation bouts in the evening session to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships then drop down into Sunday's seventh-place matches. Gilcher earned a 6-3 overtime decision over Northwestern's Sam Cartella in his first wrestleback match at 149 pounds, scoring the only takedown of regulation with a first-period duck before Cartella forced sudden victory with riding time and a pair of late stall calls. Gilcher appeared to put the Wildcat in neutral danger but did not get the call -- in real time and on review -- but scored out of a late scramble that he initiated that was reviewed and upheld.
Saldate avenged his dual loss to Northwestern's ninth-ranked Trevor Chumbley with a 6-3 wrestleback decision at 157 pounds. He scored out of a first-period scramble and rode out the frame, added a reversal in the second and, after a Chumbley takedown narrowed the score in the third, he scrambled to stay ahead late and finish the bout with 1:31 in advantage time. It will be Saldate's fifth NCAA appearance and Gilcher's first.
Michigan will wrap up action at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (March 9) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The third session is slated to begin at noon CDT, while the finals will start at 4:30 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network.
Team Standings (After Day 1)
1. Penn State    145.0 2. Nebraska      118.5 3. Iowa 98.0 4. Minnesota    88.5 5. Illinois         81.5 6. Ohio State    76.0 7. Michigan      56.0 8. Maryland     47.5 9. Rutgers        46.0 10. Purdue       33.5 11. Indiana       27.0 12. Northwestern   18.5 13. Wisconsin   13.5 14. Michigan State   11.5
Michigan Results
Numbers listed are tournament seeds
125 Pounds -- #12 Christian Tanefeu
First Round - dec. by #5 Joey Cruz (Iowa), 11-7
Consolations - dec. by #13 Caelan Riley (Illinois), 5-1
Eliminated with a 0-2 record
133 Pounds -- #14 Nolan Wertanen
First Round - major dec. by #3 Braxton Brown (Maryland), 13-2
Consolations - dec. by #11 Dustin Norris (Purdue), 8-1
Eliminated with a 0-2 record
141 Pounds -- #5 Sergio Lemley
First Round - dec. #12 Dario Lemus (Maryland), 4-2
Quarterfinals - dec. by #4 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota), 4-1 SV
Consolations - dec. #11 Cullan Schriever (Iowa), 8-4
Consolations - major dec. #9 Greyson Clark (Purdue), 12-2
Consolations - vs. #2 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State)
149 Pounds -- #9 Dylan Gilcher
First Round - dec. by #8 Kal Miller (Maryland), 2-1
Consolations - dec. #7 Sam Cartella (Northwestern), 6-3 SV
Consolations - dec. by #6 Andrew Clark (Rutgers), 4-0
Seventh Place - vs. #8 Kal Miller (Maryland)
157 Pounds -- #9 Chase Saldate
First Round - tech. fall by #8 Brandon Cannon (Ohio State), 15-0 (6:24)
Consolations - dec. #7 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern), 6-3
Consolations - dec. by #6 Joey Blaze (Purdue), 5-1
Seventh Place - vs. #4 Jacori Teemer (Iowa)
165 Pounds -- #4 Beau Mantanona
First Round - pinned #13 Cody Goebel (Wisconsin), 0:30
Quarterfinals - pinned #5 Andrew Sparks (Minnesota), 1:29
Semifinals - tech. fall by #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State), 25-8 (6:29)
Consolations - vs. #8 Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)
174 Pounds -- #11 Joseph Walker
First Round - dec. #6 Jackson Turley (Rutgers), 10-4
Quarterfinals - pinned by #3 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), 6:33
Consolations - dec. by #5 Clayton Whiting (Minnesota), 4-1 SV
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
184 Pounds -- #10 Jaden Bullock
First Round - dec. by #7 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers), 8-5
Consolations - dec. by #9 Donnell Washington (Indiana), 5-2
Eliminated with a 0-2 record
197 Pounds -- #3 Jacob Cardenas
First Round - tech. fall #14 Niccolo Colucci (Wisconsin), 15-0 (2:09)
Quarterfinals - dec. #6 Evan Bates (Northwestern), 8-1
Semifinals - dec. #2 Josh Barr (Penn State), 4-1 SV
Final - vs #1 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa)
Heavyweight -- #3 Josh Heindselman
First Round - tech. fall over #14 Gannon Rosenfeld (Wisconsin), 23-8 (5:32)
Quarterfinal - dec. #6 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers), 2-1 SV
Semifinals - major dec. by #2 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State, 9-1
Consolations - vs. #5 Luke Luffman (Illinois)
Players Mentioned
