BIG TEN WRESTLING TOURNAMENT BEGINS TODAY
Iowa and Penn State will once again duke it out for a shot at a Big Ten title, but this time it will happen in an unfamiliar place: Lincoln, Nebraska.
Last season the Hawkeyes cruised to victory by over 35 points, taking four titles overall on their way to the national title a few weeks later, also finishing ahead of Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions.
Here’s a weight-by-weigh look at this weekend’s tournament, which will be available on TV and on TrackWrestling:
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Nick Suriano is a former national champion who has transferred to Michigan and is currently undefeated and the top-ranked lightweight in the country. Drew Hildebrandt, a graduate of Penn High School, has transferred to Penn State from Central Michigan and has just one loss on the year, a 2-1 decision to Suriano.
Devin Schroder of Purdue was a finalist in last year’s Big Tens, but will have to get Suriano to accomplish that feat again in 2022.
IU’s Jacob Moran, a former state champ from Portage, is just 10-9 on the season and is seeded 12th in the fourteen-team field.
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One of the Big Ten’s classic rivalries over the past few seasons has been “RBY and DeSanto.” Ramon Bravo-Young (Penn State) won national and Big Ten titles last season and is the favorite to do so again. He beat Austin DeSanto in last year’s Big Ten final and everyone in Lincoln will expect another classic showdown in the finals.
Danville’s Brock Hudkins, who defeated Sawyer Miller in the state finals in 2015, is ranked 10th in the country and seeded sixth for IU. He has just two losses on the season.
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Another Penn State-Iowa rivalry is Nick Lee vs. Jaydin Eierman. At last year’s tournament at Penn State, Eierman won 6-5 on riding time, but Lee reversed that in St. Louis to win his first national title with that memorable overtime takedown. A Mater Dei grad, Lee is undefeated, beating Eierman in another classic with yet another overtime takedown in the dual. This is likely to be the most-anticipated match of the tournament.
Chad Red, from New Palestine, is seeded fourth, but has two additional losses this
season besides the expected defeats to the top two in this weight. Three-time All-American Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) makes this weight class extremely strong, especially considering Stevan Micic (Hanover Central) is seeded all the way down at #6, despite being ranked fifth in the nation. The former three-time Indiana state champ, who beat the aforementioned Nick Lee way back in 2014, returned to the collegiate mat after two years off for international competition.
Cayden Rooks (Columbus East) is seeded 13th for the Hoosiers.
149
Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) is the defending Big Ten champion at 149 and ranked second in the nation. Sasso’s only loss this season is to Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell, who is 85-1 in his career and still has a chance to be a four-time national champ. Sasso won’t have to worry about Yianni this week and instead will battle the likes of #4 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin), #7 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) and Purdue’s Max Murin ( 10th in nation).
Graham Rooks ( Columbus East) is seeded ninth, while New Palestine’s Alec White is the 14-seed for the Boilermakers.
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The top two wrestlers from last year’s bracket return, with Ryan Deakin of Northwestern favored over Kaleb Young of Iowa. Deakin is the top-ranked 157 in the country. Purdue’s Kendall Coleman is seeded fourth at this weight, which will not feature a familiar face to local fans, as Brownsburg’s Brayton Lee is injured and done for the season. Lee was 17-2 before his injury and ranked in the top ten in the nation.
165
Alex Marinelli (Iowa) won last year, but is seeded second at 165 to Carson Kharchla, who defeated the Hawkeye 3-2 in the dual for Ohio State.
Hayden Lohrey (Shenandoah High School) has had a great season for Purdue and is seeded seventh, while former Portage wrestler Kasper McIntosh is the #13 for Indiana.
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A lot has happened at this weight since Michael Kemerer (Iowa) beat Carter Starocci (Penn State) in last year’s Big Ten final. Starocci bounced back and won a surprise national title in Saint Louis and is undefeated so far this year, having beaten Kemerer again in overtime in the dual in December.
Big Ten fans will also be interested to see what Logan Massa (Michigan), who was an All-American about a decade ago it seems, can do. Massa’s only loss this year is a 3-2 decision to Starocci.
Nick South, the former state champ from Columbus East, is the 12-seed for the Hoosiers.
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This weight features another returning national champion in Aaron Brooks of Penn State, but there is a twist to this plotline. Despite an undefeated record, Brooks is ranked #2 by InterMat. Myles Amine, who lost to Brooks 3-1 a month ago, is currently #1 in the ratings for Michigan.
Former Portage standout and state champ D.J. Washington is seeded ninth for Angel Escobedo’s Hoosiers.
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Max Dean, the former national finalist at Cornell, is now at Penn State and seeded second in this week’s tournament. Eric Schultz (Nebraska), last year’s Big Ten runner-up, is the top seed. Dean, however, is ranked #1 in the country by InterMat and the two have not met yet this season.
Former Zionsville standout Thomas Penola is a semifinal hopeful for Purdue as the six-seed and Chesterton’s Andrew Davison at Northwestern is 10th. There is even more of a connection to the Hoosier state with Greenwood’s Nick Willham the 13-seed for IU.
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Gable Steveson (Minnesota) met Mason Parris (Michigan) for both the Big Ten and national titles in 2021 and the two are likely to meet again in Lincoln this weekend. Steveson has separated himself from the pack, beating Parris by major decision (18-8) earlier this year and is a heavy favorite to repeat.
Lucas Davison (Chesterton) is seeded fifth for Northwestern.