Varner, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., finishes his junior campaign with a 31-2 record. He currently stands at 91-10 in his career. Varner credited Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson for his success.
"It is great to have coach in the room working with you on a day-to-day basis," Varner. "He has taught me so much, just rolling around with him in practice. Sometimes we talk about things and other times you just learn by wrestling him. You can't do better than him for a workout partner."
Varner wasn't going to let Brester bide his time. After letting a decision go to the Husker by a 4-3 score in the finals of the Big 12 Championship, the No. 2-seeded Cyclone had to score the "upset" against the top-seeded Nebraska wrestler for ISU to get the third-place trophy.
After a scoreless first period, Varner escaped eight seconds into the second period for a point and pressured Brester around the mat until a stalling warning was issued against the Husker.
"The main thing is to stay calm out there," Varner said. "I've been to the finals three times so I know not to panic if you get behind and just keep working."
Getting behind would not be a problem Saturday night.
Heading into the third period, Varner continued to ride Brester, which turned out to be the difference as Varner earned a point from a riding-time advantage of 1:19.
Varner cut Brester loose with 34 seconds left in the match but the Husker 197-pounder didn't get a late takedown.
Iowa State finished with four All-Americans in Varner, Nick Gallick (133 – 3rd), Jon Reader (165 – 4th) and David Zabriskie (HWT – 5th). Their individual performance marked the highest NCAA placing for each member of the ISU quartet. Gallick and Reader were knocked out of the championship bracket by the eventual champions of their respective weights. All four Cyclone All-Americans return next season.
"It was great to finish with Jake winning a title," Sanderson said. "While we didn't do what we had hoped for as a team, we still had guys come through with key performances that were a credit to their season. Our next opportunity will be next season. We don't have a senior on the entire team so I know we will be a very hungry group."
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