A couple of seniors ran out of gas on the road to seizing Big Ten titles for the MSU wrestling team.

Nik Fekete, No. 1 in the 197-pound division, defeated Penn State's Jon Bush in the quarterfinals and Ohio State's Anton Talamantes in the semifinals in two hotly contested matches before falling to No. 2 Damion Hahn of Minnesota in the finals of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships.

Gray Maynard, No. 3 in the 157-pound division, had a slightly easier time reaching the finals as he bested No. 6 Joe Johnson of Iowa in the first round and received a medical forfeit over No. 1 Keaton Anderson of Ohio State.

But he bowed out to No. 2 Luke Becker of Minnesota in the championship match.

As a team, the Spartans finished fourth with 92.5 points. Minnesota claimed the team championship with 126.5 points. Iowa (121.0) and Penn State (111.5) finished second and third, respectively.

The victory gave the Golden Gophers their fourth Big Ten title in five years.

Both Maynard and Fekete received automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.

Freshman Nick Simmons, senior Karl Nadolsky, junior Ryan L'Amoreaux and senior Rashad Evans will also compete at the championships.

L'Amoreaux had perhaps the biggest upset of the weekend as he downed defending Big Ten champion Luke Moffitt of Iowa.

With the exception of Simmons and L'Amoreaux, each of MSU's competitors has made at least one appearance in the championships.

The day wasn't a total wash as Nick Simmons was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the conference after he posted a 19-9 record in the regular season.

The top seven wrestlers in each weight-class received automatic bids to the NCAA Championships to be held March 20-22 in Kansas City, Mo.