(Photo courtesy of Big 12 Sports)

It was the moment for which Jordan Burroughs geared his entire collegiate wrestling career at Nebraska: That final victory in pursuit of an undefeated national championship season.

So when Burroughs finished off his 5-1 victory over Illinois' Mike Poeta in the finals of the NCAA Championships with a takedown, it wouldn't have been surprising to see a jubilant celebration at the middle of the mat. Most wrestlers do that.

Not the 157-pound Burroughs, who stood up, took off his ankle straps, shook Poeta's hand and smiled, just a little, before heading off the mat at the ScottTrade Center in St, Louis and taking a quick congratulations from head coach Mark Manning, who watched NU take fourth overall.

"I was happy to score that last takedown," Burroughs said to Husker Locker in a phone interview. "I knew it wasn't really over until I got that. Then I was overcome with joy. But I try to stay humble and keep that on the inside."

His smile as he won still said everything that needed to be: With his win over Poeta, Burroughs became the tenth NU national champion, and, at 35-0 the first without a blemish. Considering that Burroughs nearly beat every wrestler inside the NWCA top 20 this season - and beat them handily - there isn't much debate about it being the best individual season for any wrestler in Nebraska history.

"The only way I could do was taking one match at a time," Burroughs said. "It feels great. It was something I wanted to do ever since I finished high school."

Fittingly, Burroughs' match with Poeta, the undefeated senior who matched Burroughs' quickness but not his power, unfurled as so many of his matches have in 2009. Poeta stayed back for the entirety of the first period before Burroughs swallowed him with a shot and a takedown just one second before the period ended. Burroughs earned an escape in the second period, and played expert defense for the rest of the match, notching another takedown on a desperate shot by Poeta in the waning seconds of the third period.

"He was pretty good," Burroughs said. "Quick. He wrestled a bit of a defensive match, but I got in on him for that takedown."

Burroughs resisted a couple good shots from Poeta with strong hip movement and superior strength. Poeta never had Burroughs in serious trouble in the third period.

“Jordan did a great job against a great competitor who was in the finals last year," Manning said. "Jordan has really made himself a complete wrestler and has put the work in."

At 197 pounds, junior Craig Brester lost a heartbreaker to Iowa State's Jake Varner, 2-1, in a match decided by a one-point advantage given to Varner for one minute, 19 seconds of riding time in the third period. Neither wrestler came particularly close to taking down the other; Varner simply escaped from Brester faster at the beginning of the second period than Brester did from Varner in the third. Once Varner had the riding time point, he was able to fall into his stellar defense, which kept Brester at bay for the last 45 seconds or so of the match.

Both Brester and Varner are juniors, and likely to stay at their current weights. After wrestling four times in 2008-09 - Varner won three of them - they'll see each several more times in 2010.

NU's 184-pounder, Vince Jones, and 174-pound Brandon Browne also finished with All-American honors. Jones finished sixth after two losses to Iowa Phil Keddy and Wyoming's Joe LeBlanc. Browne finished fourth after pinning Cornell's Steve Anceravage in overtime and losing to Missouri's Raymond Jordan, 4-0, in the third-place match.

As a team, Nebraska finished fourth with 78.5 points. Iowa used morning wrestlebacks to rally for the team title over Ohio State, despite the fact that the Hawkeyes didn't have one individual national champion. That's because IU's Brent Metcalf, a 149-pounder who had won more than 60 straight matches was upset by North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell, the only wrestler to beat Metcalf in college.

Burroughs had hoped to set up a match with Metcalf in an all-star duel to possibly avenge his last three losses to Metcalf, all of which came at the 149-pound weight.

"We might have to do it with Caldwell now," Burroughs joked.

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