OMAHA, Neb. — While two careers ended as best as they possibly could have, one nearly started the same way.

Seniors Jake Varner (197) and David Zabriskie (HWT) left as champions, while freshman Andrew Long (125) fell just short as the ISU wrestling team finished in third place at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb.

“We gave the Iowa State fans something to cheer about,” said coach Kevin Jackson. “They had to wait a long time in this tournament to really cheer about something.”

Long opened the night’s action against Iowa’s Matt McDonough, who he had yet to defeat in his career. Long was one of the surprises of the tournament as he entered the finals as a No. 5 seed. Momentum was certainly on his side after defeating No. 4 Anthony Robles of Arizona State and top-seeded, undefeated Angel Escobedo of Indiana to reach the finals.

After a few near takedowns in the first period by both wrestlers, McDonough struck in the second. Following a Long escape, McDonough scored a takedown and tacked on 1:14 of riding time. Long erased the riding time in the third, but McDonough managed another escape and held Long off for a 3–1 decision.

“I’m very disappointed with that match,” Jackson said. “I thought Long wrestled the best tournament of anybody in the tournament, beating [Anthony] Robles and then beating [Escobedo]. He was on track to get this thing done. You live and learn, and he’s going to live and learn from this experience.”

Varner entered a loud, sold-out Qwest Center to defend his 197 title against rival Craig Brester of Nebraska. The first period was filled with tense grappling, but no scoring. Varner tallied the first points of the matchup with a quick escape in the second period, but Brester went right back to playing defense.

Brester tied the score with an escape to start the third period. After more indecisive grappling, Varner struck Brester with a takedown with less than a minute remaining. Brester managed another escape to bring the score to 3–2 and went on the offensive. Varner then countered one of Brester’s attacks to take him down with less than 10 seconds remaining to clinch his second straight 197-pound title. Varner turned and let a yell out as the fans roared, echoing a scene from last year’s finals.

“Craig is a tough guy, we’ve wrestled a lot,” Varner said. “That last takedown, I knew he had to come after me, and I was ready for it.”

The Cyclone fans were still buzzing as the heavyweights approached the mat to conclude the night. After he hurdled Duke’s Konrad Dudziak, to whom he had lost in last year’s semifinals, Zabriskie was back in familiar territory with Oklahoma State’s Jared Rosholt. Despite his 6–3 career record against the Cowboy, Zabriskie wasn’t taking any chances.

The matchup began like the many others they have had. No scoring occurred in the first period as the two fought for position.

Rosholt opened the second period with an escape but later lost his balance falling out of bounds, giving Zabriskie an easy takedown.

Another Rosholt escape tied the score at the beginning of the third period at 2–2. Zabriskie later answered with an escape of his own to take the lead. Zabriskie then held off Rosholt, despite catching a stalling warning, and grabbed a 3–2 decision for his first championship.

“If anything, I was going to take another stalling call over giving up a two-point takedown in short time,” Zabriskie said. “Then if it went into overtime, I could scrap it out in overtime. Everything worked out in my favor, so I’m not complaining.”

While two seniors ended their careers on high notes, Nick Fanthorpe (133) and Mitch Mueller (149) fell just short of All-American status with last-second losses Friday.

Mueller fell to Bucknell’s Kevin LeValley by a 7–6 decision in overtime. Mueller actually had the lead in the final minute of the third period, but missed on a takedown and allowed LeValley to counter and grab two late points to tie the score.

“It’s disappointing, man, just disappointing,” Jackson said Friday night. “There’s no way in the world he really should have lost that match. I know he’s disappointed, we’re disappointed for him and it’s just amazing to me that we allowed that one to slip by.”

Fanthorpe also fell in overtime, losing 7–5 to Maryland’s Steve Bell in sudden victory. Fanthorpe held an early lead, but may have been hindered by a nagging hamstring injury he had been dealing with all season.

“His performance here is a tribute to his toughness and what kind of guy he is because he probably shouldn’t have even been wrestling,” Jackson said. “But he came that close to becoming an All-American with a hamstring that was surgically repaired six months ago.”

Jon Reader (165) also fell one match short of All-American status. Dalton Jensen (141), Duke Burk (174) and Jerome Ward (184) were all defeated in the second round of the consolation bracket while Andrew Sorenson (157) lost in the first.