Gophers' Gable Steveson becomes first four-time Big Ten heavyweight champion

Steveson remained undefeated this season and won his fourth conference title on Sunday.

Minnesota's Gable Steveson reacts after his match at 285 pounds in the finals during the sixth session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 19, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich. | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Gable Steveson is the first-ever four-time Big Ten heavyweight champion.

The Gophers standout and top-ranked heavyweight won a 10-3 decision over No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State, who also entered the match unbeaten, at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Sunday in Evanston, Ill., to claim his fourth career heavyweight title at the conference tournament. Steveson landed takedowns in each period and was control from start to finish. The Olympic gold medalist hasn't been taken down once this season and has won 66 straight matches.

One more for good measure in a 10-3 victory! pic.twitter.com/tDJwm8UWPD

— Minnesota Wrestling (@GopherWrestling) March 10, 2025

Gable Steveson puts on his B1G title belt 🤩#B1GWrestling x @GopherWrestling pic.twitter.com/m25qJQnkEl

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) March 10, 2025

As a program overall, the Gophers placed fourth at the championships with 108.5 points, coming in behind Iowa (112 points), Nebraska (137) and Penn State (181.5), which was the program's third straight Big Ten team title. Redshirt freshman Max McNelly was the runner-up at 184 pounds, but lost the first match of his collegiate career against fellow unbeaten Carter Starocci of Penn State in an 8-5 decision. McNelly did pick up Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

Vance VomBaur also posted a runner-up finish at 141 pounds but was pinned by Nebraska's Brock Hardy in the title match. Andrew Sparks (165 pounds) and Isaiah Salazar (197) each posted fourth-place finishes, while Tommy Askey earned a fifth-place finish at 157 pounds. The fourth-place team finish matched a best under coach Brandon Eggum.

The Gophers will next look towards the NCAA Championships, where they've had eight wrestlers already qualify. The remaining at-large bids are announced on Tuesday and the full bracket for the tournament, which takes place from March 20-22 in Philadelphia, will be released on Wednesday. Steveson will be going for this third NCAA heavyweight title.