The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533441
❱ JACOB CARDENAS GETS REDEMPTION, BECOMES BIG TEN CHAMPION U-M graduate student Jacob Cardenas beat Iowa's No. 1-ranked Stephen Buchanan 4-2 to capture the 197-pound title at the 2025 Big Ten Championships on March 9 at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. The team finished seventh overall in the event and secured seven automatic qualifiers at the NCAA Championships. Cardenas, who finished the year with a 20-1 record, avenged his only loss with a win over Penn State's No. 2-ranked Josh Barr in the semifinals before the victory over Buchanan in the final. His championship win made him the 132nd Big Ten champion from Michigan and the fifth since 2021. His conference title is the second of his career along with a 2023 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association title at 197 pounds at Cornell. Cardenas was a two-time All-American with the Big Red and now heads into the 2025 NCAA Championships as the No. 1-seeded wrestler at 197. Barr won 3-2 in an overtime tiebreaker period Feb. 7 the first time the pair met. The Big Ten semifinal match also went into the overtime sudden-victory round tied 1-1 with one escape for each wrestler. This time around, Cardenas had a single-leg takedown with less than a minute left in the period, grabbing a 4-1 victory that sent him to the title round. "Jacob did a great job penetrating straight to the leg on that counter attack," Michigan coach Sean Bormet said, via The Michigan Daily. "He stayed real calm. His composure was great, and he did what it took to get his hand raised." With the Big Ten title on the line, Cardenas produced a takedown midway through the second period and a third- period escape to beat the undefeated Buchanan. "I was pretty confident throughout the whole match," Cardenas said. — Anthony Broome PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS