Big Ten Wrestling Championships Preview 2015

The team title is up for grabs after Penn State's "Fourpeat" to start the decade, 2011-2014. The Nittany Lions have chosen to redshirt two of their top performers in defending 2014 Big Ten Runner-Ups Nico Megaludis and Zain Retherford; as a result, they are out of the team title contenders for 2015. #2 Iowa comes in with a strong squad with three #1 seeds, Thomas Gilman, Brandon Sorenson, and Sam Brooks, all Sophomores. #4 Minnesota only has one #1 seed with Chris Dardanes, but another strong squad led by five Seniors so they are capable of winning the title. #5 Ohio State is hosting the event, and has earned three #1 seeds with Logan Stieber, Bo Jordan, and Kyle Snyder; one thing for sure, the crowd will be there to support their run for the title. It promises to be an exciting event, and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Let's breakdown the tournament by each of the 10 weights!

J Robinson has won 6 Conference Titles in 29 seasons for the Gophers and is amongst the Greatest NCAA Wrestling Coaches

125 lbs.

Suprisingly, defending Two-Time NCAA and Big Ten Champion Jose Delgado of Illinois didn't earn the respect of the pre-seeding committee (i.e. Big Ten Wrestling Coaches) as he was seeded #2 behind Hawkeye Thomas Gilman. #3 seed Nathan Tomasello lost to Gilman, 2-1, in an overtime tiebreaker. #4 seed Tim Lambert, a Michigan native wrestling for Nebraska, defeated #5 seed Jordan Conaway of Penn State, but lost to #6 Conor Youtsey of Michigan in duals. The Big Ten only has 5 NCAA qualifier allotments this season, the lowest in a couple of decades, so every bout will count in consolations. The West Regional has matched the Big Ten in allotments with 5, most of any qualifier. #7 and #8 seeds are Garrison White of Northwestern and Luke Welch of Purdue. If Ethan Lizak of Minnesota can pull an upset, and place in the tourney, it would help the Gophers team title chances.

Jesse Delgago, Two-Time Big Ten and NCAA Champion

133 lbs.

This is probably the toughest weight class of the tournament as the Big Ten has qualified 12 wrestlers to compete at the NCAA Championships March 19-21 at St. Louis. Undefeated Chris Dardanes is a Two-Time All-American who deserves the #1 seed, but Zane Richards of Illinois took him to sudden death overtime losing a 12-10 decision. Richards split bouts with Cory Clark this season, but was beaten badly by #2 seed Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin who placed 3rd at 125 lbs. at last year's championships. Taylor is an Ohio native, and is riding a 9 bout in a row winning streak. #3 seed Jimmy Guilbon of Penn State has improved tremendously throughout the season under Coaches Sanderson and Cunningham, and is also a title threat. Richards was 5th and Guilbon was 7th at the 2014 event. Watch out for the Boilermakers #7 seed Danny Sabatello who has defeated Richards and Guilbon! Both #8 Rossi Bruno and #4 Johnni DiJulius of Ohio State are also threats to make the finals; Bruno has been nursing a high ankle sprain, and missed many competitions much of the last two months. DiJulius was 6th last year, and Bruno earned a wild card trip to the NCAA. #9 Eric Montoya of Nebraska and #10 Scott Delvecchio of Rutgers should also punch their tickets to St. Louis at this event.

Chris Dardanes, Two-Time All-American and undefeated in 2015

141 lbs.

Well, the only weight class that is a "no brainer" is this one. Three-Time NCAA Champion, Logan Stieber is the best overall wrestler in the conference as everyone knows, and he won't be challenged. There are at least eight qualifiers at this weight with #2 Nick Dardanes of Minnesota, #3 Anthony Abidin of Nebraska who currently rides a 14 bout winning streak, and #4 Steven Rodriques of Illinois at the top of the list. Dardanes placed 3rd in 2014 while Rodriques placed 6th; Dardanes only two losses this season are to Stieber, 10-9, and Devin Carter of Virginia Tech, 12-7. Anthony Arshnault of Rutgers is seeded #5, and Iowa's Josh Dziewa is #6. The final qualifying spots are up for grabs with Northwestern's #7 Jameson Oster, Michigan's #10 George Fisher, MSU's Javier Gasca, #11 Shyheim Brown of Maryland, #9 Kade Moss of Penn State, and #8 Nick Lawrence of Purdue also in the hunt.

Logan Stieber, going for his 4th Big Ten and NCAA Titles, is the most dominant wrestler for 2015

149 lbs.

This weight should be very competitive and wide open! The #1 seed Redshirt Freshman Brandon Sorenson of Iowa will try to repeat the dual meet win over defending NCAA and Big Ten Champion Alex Tsirtsis of Northwestern, also a Sophomore. The home town fans will be pulling for Senior Hunter Stieber, #3, seed to provide a "Twin Double" Championship for the Buckeyes. #5 seed Freshman Alec Pantaleo of Michigan hopes to spoil all the falderal and land in the finals. #4 seed Ken Theobold of Rutgers defeated #6 Zach Beitz of Penn State in a dual, and Beitz upset Pantaleo in January. Justin Arthur of Nebraska and Ryan Lubeck of Wisconsin come in as the #7 and #8 seeds; Lubeck placed 6th last year. An upset by Short of Minnesota to place in the Top 8 would boost Minnesota's team title aspirations. There will be at least seven qualifiers headed to St. Louis.

Jason Tsirtsis, Big Ten and NCAA Champion

157 lbs.

This weight features three of the nation's top wrestlers with #1 seed Redshirt Freshman Isaiah Martinez of Illinois who is undefeated, 2014 NCAA Runner-Up and #2 Senior Dylan Ness of Minnnesota, and Three-Time All-American and defending Big Ten Champion with #3 Senior James Green of Nebraska. Martinez has accummulated 9 technical falls while Green is second in the Big Ten with 8 decisions on technical superiority (15 point decisions). Ness and Martinez defeated Green earlier this season, but neither have yet met. #4 Brian Murphy of Michigan, #5 Chad Welch of Purdue, #6 Josh Demas of Ohio State, and #7 seeds Mike Kelly of Iowa and Anthony Perrotti of Rutgers are probably not title threats, but all are compeitive wrestlers. Perrotti is a returning 2014 All-American, the Scarlett Knights first since 2002.

Isaiah Martinez, undefeated as a Redshirt Freshman in 2015

165 lbs.

Redshirt Freshman Bo Jordan is the #1 seed and undefeated this season; he is very impressive to watch, physical, and very difficult to score on. Wisconsin's #2 seed, Isaac Jordan, a 2014 All-American, is his cousin. Indiana's #3 seed Taylor Walsh is a pinner, and fun to watch as a result; he leads the Big Ten with 16 fall this season so far while Logan Stieber and Alex Polizzi have 10 each. #4 seed Pierce Harger, a returning All-American, placed 4th, and #5 seed Michigan native Jackson Morse of Illinois placed 6th at last year's event. Garrett Hammond of Penn State, Nick Moore of Iowa, Nick Wanzeck of Minnesota and Austin Wilson of Nebraska round out the #6-9 seeds. This weight will advance at least 8 wrestlers to St. Louis.

Bo Jordan, Ohio State Captain as a Redshirt Freshman, is undefeated in 2015

174 lbs.

At this weight, it is expected that #1 Robert Kokesh of Nebraska will meet #2 Matt Brown of Penn State in the finals, but Iowa's #3 Mike Evans and the Gophers #4 Logan Storley are primed for a finals appearance as well. Kokesh is 30-0 in his senior season; Brown, Evans, and Storley are also seniors. At the 2014 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Storley placed 3rd, Kokesh, 4th, Brown 5th, and Evans 6th; however, at last year's Big Ten Championships, Kokesh defeated Evans for the title while Brown defeated Storley for 3rd place. This weight has at least 10 NCAA qualifiers allotted. #6 Mark Martin of Ohio State placed 7th last year, and #5 Zach Brunson of Illinois placed 7th at 157 lbs. #7 Chad Welch of Purdue, #8 Frank Cousins of Wisconsin, #9 Taylor Massa of Michigan, and #10 Nathan Jackson of Indiana are all expected to qualify for the trip to St. Louis.

Robert Kokesh, Big Ten Champion and Three-Time All-American, is undefeated in 2015

184 lbs.

Without a doubt, this weight is the oddest, and probably the hardest to figure with no clear favorite. What is odd is the fact that the highest ranked Big Ten wrestler at this weight, Domenic Abounader, is only ranked 9th nationally. When was the last time that has happened? There are no returning All-Americans at this weight. The #1 seed is Sam Brooks of Iowa; he was defeated just a few weeks ago by Michigan's #2 seed Domenic Abounader, 3-1. Wisconsin's #3 seed, Ricky Robertson is having a good season, and has won many low scoring defensive struggles. Minnesota's Brett Pfarr is the #4 seed, Ohio State's Kenny Courts is seeded #5, Nebraska's T.J. Dudley is seeded #6; any one of the top six seeds appears capable of grabbing the title. Dudley and Abounader have split bouts over the past two seasons, and has a 10 bout winning streak entering the tournament. Last year, Abounader placed 4th, Courts 5th, and Reyes 6th while Brooks and Robertson redshirted. Michigan State's #9 Senior John Rizquallah is another dangerous wrestler capable of mixing it up with any of these guys; he placed 7th last season at this weight. The #7 seeds are Matt McCutcheon of Penn State and Nikko Reyes of Illinois with Patrick Kissel of Purdue slotted as the #10 seed. The NCAA will welcome at least 10 wrestlers from the Big Ten in two weeks at this weight.

Michigan's Domenic Abounader is very tough on top

197 lbs.

True Freshman Kyle Snyder is expected to take home the title for the Buckeyes! #1 Snyder did lose to #4 Nathan Burak of Iowa in the dual. Morgan McIntosh of Penn State is seeded #2 with Scott Schiller of Minnesota at #3. Nebraska's Freshman Aaron Studebaker came off redshirt during the season, and is now seeded #5 with Senior Max Huntley of Michigan at #6. Alex Polizzi of Northwestern is seeded #7, Tim McCall of Wisconsin is #8, and Braden Atwood of Purdue is #9. McCall was the runner-up to Burak at this year's Midlands Championships. Last year at the Big Ten's, McIntosh placed 2nd, Schiller 3rd, Polizzi 4th, Burak 5th, Atwood 6th, and McCall 7th. The Big Ten has 9 allocated qualifiers this year.

Kyle Snyder is a FILA Junior World Champion and already has his own Wikipedia page as a Freshman

285 lbs.

The Big Boys are led by #1 Conor Medbery of Wisconsin this season. Adam Coon of Michigan is seeded second, Mike McMullen of Northwestern third, and Bobby Telford of Iowa fourth. Last year, Telford placed 3rd, McMullen 5th and Medbery 7th; Coon was seeded 1st, but faltered to 9th. At the NCAA Finals in 2014, McMullen placed 3rd and Telford placed 4th. Penn State's Jimmy Lawson is seeded #5, Minnesota Freshman Michael Kroells is #6, Spencer Myers of Maryland is #7, and Billy Smith of Rutgers comes in at #8. The hometown favorite, Nick Tavanello of Ohio State, is seeded #9. The Big Ten will send at least 9 of these "big boys" to St. Louis.

Connor Medbery has a 7 bout winning streak entering the Tournament

Team

The team title is a toss up! While Iowa may be favored by many, either Ohio State or Minnesota is fully capable of winning the team championship if either wrestles well this weekend. One has to like the experience of Minnesota behind the legendary coach, J Robinson; however, it is hard to deny the destiny of Tom Ryan's Buckeyes hosting the event with such a talent-laden line-up. Illinois is certainly capable of a Top 4 finish, and has been the most improved squad during the 2014-2015 campaign behind Coaches Heffernan and Perry. Iowa has the most wrestlers ranked in the Top 8 nationally with 8, but both Minnesota and Illinois have 5 each and Ohio State has 4. While Nebraska has also improved greatly, it is unlikely they'll finish higher than 5th as a result of the Jake Sueflohn injury at 149. Penn State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Michigan should also be competing through consolations for the 5th through 9th spots. Michigan has had too many injuries with the loss of Devonte Mahomes at 174 lbs. and returning All-American Stephen Dutton at 141 lbs. forcing Redshirt Freshman and backup 133 lbs. George Fisher and Freshman Garrett Sutton into the line-up at 141 lbs. and 165 lbs. while moving Taylor Massa, a 4th place finisher in 2013 at 165 lbs. and currently ranked #10 nationally to 174 lbs. as a result of the abundance of NCAA qualifiers there. The Wolverines best chance for finalists are with #2 seeds, Domenic Abounader and Adam Coon along with #5 seed Alec Pantaleo; Michigan has not had a finalist other than Kellen Russell and Eric Grajeles in the last five seasons while placing from 5th to 10th in the team standings. Northwestern has the smallest roster in the Big Ten with only 18 wrestlers on the squad, and it hurts their chances to be a contender in the team title hunt. The rest of the crews, Rutgers, Purdue, Maryland, Indiana, and Michigan State have a few competitive individuals, but nobody expected to rise to the finals other than perhaps Taylor Walsh. The Jersey Boys from Rutgers will impact the culture of the Big Ten in their first appearance though especially in the middle weights. This 14 team conference is easily the best NCAA Wrestling Conference in America, and will probably earn more allottments through the 70 NCAA "Wild Card" process following this weekend.

Ohio State wrestlers pose after practice

Team Rankings for Big Ten Championships (Pre-Seeds)