Projecting Every Seed At The Big Ten Championships
Projecting Every Seed At The Big Ten Championships
An early look at what the Big Ten tournament seeds will look like.
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The post-season is here. We have to wait an extra week for the biggest and baddest conference tournament of them all, but that just gives us more time to preview, prognosticate, and predict what will happen. Below is the projected seed for every weight at the Big Ten tournament with the number of allocations listed below. Pre seeds will be released early next week.
125
Spencer Lee, Iowa
Liam Cronin, Nebraska
Malik Heinselman, Ohio State
Eric Barnett, Wisconsin
Patrick McKee, Minnesota
Rayvon Foley, Michigan State
Devin Schroder, Purdue
Michael DeAugustino, Northwestern
Justin Cardani, Illinois
Robert Howard, Penn State
Jack Medley, Michigan
Nic Aguilar, Rutgers
Jacob Moran, Indiana
Zach Spence, Maryland
Number of pre-allocations: 7
Pretty straight-forward here at the lightest weight. These are right in line with our Big Ten rankings. The only result putting a small wrench into things is Justin Cardani’s 3-1 win over Eric Barnett. However, that was on January 17th and since then Cardani has gone 0-5 while Barnett has gone 4-0.
133
Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State
Austin Desanto, Iowa
Sammy Alvarez, Rutgers
Lucas Byrd, Illinois
Chris Cannon, Northwestern
Boo Dryden, Minnesota
Jordan Decatur, Ohio State
Kyle Burwick, Wisconsin
Jake Rundell, Purdue
Dylan Ragusin, Michigan
Tucker Sjomeling, Nebraska
Jordan Hamdan, Michigan State
Kyle Luigs, Indiana
Jackson Cockrell, Maryland
Number of pre-allocations: 7
Lucas Byrd and Chris Cannon present us with our first precedent I would like to set; when two wrestlers have similar resumes and one of them wrestles in the dual when the other doesn’t, the one who wrestled should get rewarded. Byrd and Cannon’s best win is both Boo Dryden and Cannon is undefeated while Byrd’s only loss is to Austin Desanto. However, Cannon did not wrestle in the Illinois dual and Cannon pinned his replacement - Dylan Utterback. Therefore, Byrd gets the four seed.
I can see Dylan Ragusin going in two spots here: #7 or #10. I put him at #7 in the Big Ten Rankings because of Jack Medley’s win over Jordan Decatur and Ragusin’s common opponent win over Decatur in King Sandoval. However, that victory came at 125 and Ragusin has only wrestled two matches at 133, so I’m not so sure the Big Ten coaches will look as highly on that. I believe it is more likely that he fits into the 10 spot with his win over Jordan Hamdan. This matches Tucker Sjomeling’s best win of the season and Ragusin’s 3-0 record at 125 is enough to lift him above Sjomeling.
Watch Roman Bravo-Young and Austin Desanto square off in last year’s Big Ten semifinals below.
141
Jaydin Eierman, Iowa
Nick Lee, Penn State
Sebastian Rivera, Rutgers
Chad Red, Nebraska
Dylan Duncan, Illinois
Marcos Polanco, Minnesota
Dylan D’Emilio, Ohio State
Parker Filius, Purdue
Drew Mattin, Michigan
Danny Bertoni, Maryland
Cayden Rooks, Indiana
Matt Santos, Michigan State
Colin Valdiviez, Northwestern
Dominic Dentino, Wisconsin
Number of pre-allocations: 7
The top three are highly up for debate here. However, I think the coaches will go in line with the most recent coaches’ poll and have Jaydin Eierman #1, Nick Lee #2, and Sebastian Rivera #3.
It appears Dylan D’Emilio has earned the starting spot for Ohio State. This poses some issues as he earlier in the year he lost to Danny Pucino and Matt Santos. However, he now holds victories over both Parker Filius and Drew Mattin, so he fits in at #7. Santos falls to #12 with his losses to Mattin and Cayden Rooks.
Watch Jaydin Eierman and Nick Lee wrestle at the 2018 NCAA tournament below.
149
Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
Max Murin, Iowa
Michael Carr, Illinois
Griffin Parriott, Purdue
Michael Blockhus, Minnesota
Yahya Thomas, Northwestern
Kanen Storr, Michigan
Mike Van Brill, Rutgers
Ridge Lovett, Nebraska
Peyton Omania, Michigan State
Graham Rooks, Indiana
Drew Scharenbrock, Wisconsin
Beau Bartlett, Penn State
Michael North, Maryland
Number of pre-allocations: 6
149 is a bit of a mess. Michael Blockhus has wins over Yahya Thomas, Drew Scharenbrock, and Peyton Omania, but also a loss to Mike Van Brill and Brock Hardy, who Thomas beat. However, when it comes to conference seeding, head-to-head is critical. Omania upset Kanen Storr, but Storr stays ahead of Van Brill with a head-to-head win over him. Van Brill’s win over Blockhus keeps him above Ridge Lovett, whose best win is Omania. Omania goes ahead of Graham Rooks because of his win over Storr.
157
Ryan Deakin, Northwestern
Kaleb Young, Iowa
Brayton Lee, Minnesota
Kendall Coleman, Purdue
Brady Berge, Penn State
Will Lewan, Michigan
Garrett Model, Wisconsin
Robert Kanniard, Rutgers
Chase Saldate, Michigan State
Elijah Cleary, Ohio State
Caleb Licking, Nebraska
Michael Doetsch, Maryland
Matt Ortiz, Indiana
Luke Odom, Illinois
Number of pre-allocations: 7
Actually pretty straight-forward seeding here. The only debatable spots are is #7 as Garrett Model and Robert Kanniard’s resumes are basically identical. That seed could go either way and it wouldn’t be wrong. Elijah Cleary and Caleb Licking also have similar resumes, but Licking’s loss to Maxx Mayfield, who Matt Ortiz beat is holding him back. However, Licking has a head-to-head win over Ortiz and Michael Doestsch wrestled in the Maryland-Indiana dual when Ortiz did not, so Doetsch gets the #12 spot.
165
Alex Marinelli, Iowa
Danny Braunagel, Illinois
Ethan Smith, Ohio State
Cameron Amine, Michigan
Joe Lee, Penn State
Andrew Sparks, Minnesota
Peyton Robb, Nebraska
Jacob Tucker, Michigan State
Gerrit Nijenhuis, Purdue
Nick South, Indiana
Brett Donner, Rutgers
Jonathan Spadafora, Maryland
David Ferrante, Northwestern
Josh Otto, Wisconsin
Number of pre-allocations: 7
A nicely separated weight until #8 - #10. Jacob Tucker beat Gerrit Nijenhuis, Nijenjuis beat Nick South, and South beat Tucker. So, Tucker, who was a national qualifier last year and ranked the highest going into the fiasco, comes out on top followed by Nijenhuis and then South.
Brett Donner is actually 0-3 on the year but his losses came to Ethan Smith, Cameron Amine, and Andrew Sparks, so he stays ahead of Jonathan Spadafora. Spadafora’s only win on the year is David Ferrante. Ferrante’s only win on the year is Josh Otto.
174
Mikey Labriola, Nebraska
Michael Kemerer, Iowa
Carter Starocci, Penn State
Logan Massa, Michigan
DJ Washington, Indiana
Kaleb Romero, Ohio State
Jackson Turley, Rutgers
Jared Krattiger, Wisconsin
Jake Allar, Minnesota
Drew Hughes, Michigan State
DJ Shannon, Illinois
Emil Soehnlen, Purdue
Troy Fisher, Northwestern
Philip Spadafora, Maryland
Number of pre-allocations: 7
This could be the hottest contested seed of the tournament, and the coaches will more than likely will go with Michael Kemerer as the one because of his head-to-head victory over Mikey Labriola last season. However, they are both undefeated this season and Labriola wrestled in the dual when Kemerer did not. I think that should be rewarded.
Some might also be surprised to see Donnell Washington above Kaleb Romero, but Romero lost to Carter Starocci, and Washington beat Starocci.
184
Aaron Brooks, Penn State
Chris Weiler, Wisconsin
Owen Webster, Minnesota
John Poznanski, Rutgers
Max Lyon, Purdue
Layne Malczewski, Michigan State
Taylor Venz, Nebraska
Zac Braunagel, Illinois
Nelson Brands, Iowa
Rocky Jordan, Ohio State
Jelani Embree, Michigan
Kyle Cochran, Maryland
Jack Jessen, Northwestern
Drayton Harris, Indiana
Number of pre-allocations: 7
With Myles Amine up at 197, Aaron Brooks is the clear #1. #2 - #10 is a complete mess, however. I went with Chris Weiler #2 because although he lost to Rocky Jordan first match of the year, he has since beat Taylor Venz, Zac Braunagel, and Max Lyon while only losing to Brooks. Owen Webster has similarly come on strong at the end of the season but is being held back by his first loss of the season - freshman backup Nathan Haas and another early loss to Layne Malczewski. Webster’s head-to-head victory over John Poznanski, who has wins over Jordan and Lyon, keeps him at #3. Lyon goes ahead of Malczewski because of his head-to-head win, despite that being Malczewski's only loss of the year. Venz ahead of Braunagel because he owns the head-to-head battle and similarly with Braunagel and Nelson Brands.
197
Eric Schultz, Nebraska
Myles Amine, Michigan
Jacob Warner, Iowa
Lucas Davison, Northwestern
Cameron Caffey, Michigan State
Michael Beard, Penn State
Thomas Penola, Purdue
Matt Wroblewski, Illinois
Gavin Hoffman, Ohio State
Billy Janzer, Rutgers
Nick Willham, Indiana
Garrett Joles, Minnesota
Jaron Smith, Maryland
Andrew Salemme, Wisconsin
Number of pre-allocations: 5
Interesting situation for the top seed here. In the Big Ten rankings, I put Amine #1 because he is a three-time All-American never placing lower than fourth, and already has wins over #5, #6, and #9 in the Big Ten. However, I am inclined to believe that seeds will be more like the latest coaches’ poll with Eric Schultz #1 and Amine #2. With only three matches at 197, there is a possibility that Amine falls down below Jacob Warner and Lucas Davison as well, but his win over Cam Caffey will keep him no lower than #4.
285
Gable Steveson, Minnesota
Mason Parris, Michigan
Anthony Cassioppi, Iowa
Luke Luffman, Illinois
Christian Lance, Nebraska
Trent Hillger, Wisconsin
Tate Orndorff, Ohio State
Christian Colucci, Rutgers
Jamarcus Grant, Purdue
Christian Rebottaro, Michigan State
Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State
Jack Heyob, Northwestern
Rudy Streck, Indiana
Garrett Kappes, Maryland
What to do with Greg Kerkvliet? That might not just be the biggest question at this weight, but of the entire tournament. The freshman has two wins this year, both over winless Maryland heavies. Jack Heyob and Rudy Streck each only have one win on the season and it’s Garrett Kappes for both. So, I think Kerkvliet slides in at #11 ahead of those three. However, the coaches could take into consideration his win of Cornell’s Lewis Fernandes last year as a redshirt into play and put him at #7 or #8.
Watch Gable Steveson break down his 2020 Big Ten final with Mason Parris below.
