Lindsey Mechalik

Sophomore Gabe Dean celebrates his national championship March 21 in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS — Sophomore Gabe Dean became the 17th NCAA champion in Cornell wrestling history to lead four All-Americans en route to a fifth-place team finish with 71.5 team points. Dean, one of two Big Red finalists March 21, defeated Lehigh's Nathaniel Brown 6-2 in the finals.

After placing third a season ago, Dean closed his sophomore campaign with a 43-2 record by winning all five matches in the 184-pound bracket. He became the first Cornellian to claim a national title since Kyle Dake closed his glorious career with his fourth consecutive title in 2013. He is the second Big Red wrestler to win a national title at that weight class, joining 2012 national champ Steve Bosak.

Sophomore Brian Realbuto finished second at 157 pounds after dropping a 10-2 contest to unbeaten Isaiah Martinez of Illinois earlier in the finals session, which was televised by ESPN. He finished sixth at NCAAs a season ago and ended with a 23-3 record.

Cornell's fifth-place finish is the program's sixth in the last seven years at NCAAs, and the Big Red crowned a national champion for the seventh time in eight years with a total of nine champs. Head coach Rob Koll has had at least four All-Americans in 10 of his last 11 seasons – the Big Red had three in the other season.

Sophomore Nahshon Garrett placed fifth at 125 pounds and senior Chris Villalonga was sixth at 149 pounds to round out Cornell's four All-Americans.

After a scoreless first period, Dean escaped seven seconds into the second to get on the board. Looking for the match's first takedown, Dean continued to pull on Brown's head until he was able to break through on a shot to make it 3-0 with 45 seconds gone in the second. Brown earned an escape to get back within 3-1 with 30 seconds left in the second and went into the third that way. The Lehigh grappler took the bottom position and was able to get out, but not before Dean was able to surpass a minute of riding time. With 90 seconds to go for a national title and leading 3-2 with a riding time point in his pocket, the sophomore avoided Brown's offense before getting a late takedown to make it 5-2 and put the match away. With the riding time, Dean won his first national title 6-2 and closed the season a perfect 4-0 against Brown.

Realbuto controlled the center of the match in the first period against Martinez, getting in deep on a shot that ended in a stalemate midway through the first period. Cornell challenged the call, which originally was a takedown but was waved off, and that call stood. Moments later, Martinez struck using a high crotch to finish off the takedown. Realbuto escaped right away to cut the deficit to 2-1 after the first period. Martinez opened the second period down after winning the choice, and Realbuto held him down for 18 seconds before giving up the escape to go down 3-1. Martinez earned a takedown in the final 15 seconds and entered the third up 5-1. Entering the final period, Realbuto chose down and was returned to the mat for two nearfalls. An escape for Realbuto cut the deficit to 7-2 with 80 seconds left, but needing a big move and taking a chance, the sophomore surrendered a takedown to Martinez. The freshman completed his unbeaten season with more than a minute of riding time to earn the major decision, 10-2. With the victory Martinez became the first undefeated freshman national champion since the legendary Cael Sanderson in 1999.

Earlier in the day, both Garrett and Villalonga completed their tournaments, Garrett splitting a pair of matches to finish fifth – ending on a high note with a 9-3 decision over Michigan's Conor Youtsey in the place match. He became the ninth three-time All-American in the process.

Villalonga ended his day on a high note in a different way - with his first All-America nod to close out his career. Despite a pair of losses that sent him to sixth, the four-time NCAA qualifier closed his career with a 122-42 record, two Eastern titles and four All-Ivy honors.