What Will Seeds Look Like At The 2018 Big Ten Tournament?
What Will Seeds Look Like At The 2018 Big Ten Tournament?
The pre-seeds for next week's Big Ten tournament won't be released until Monday, but we're giving you an idea of how the brackets might shake out.
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The 2018 Big Ten championships begin next weekend in East Lansing, Michigan. All 14 teams will converge on Michigan State's campus to determine the conference champions and NCAA qualifiers.
Typically, the pre-seeds for the conference championships are released on Monday of the week of the event. So we're giving you a little jump on things to start getting an idea of how the brackets might shake out and what the quarterfinals could look like.
WATCH BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE!
DATES: March 3-4 | TIME: 8:30 AM ET | WHERE: East Lansing, MI
Big Tens start next Saturday morning at 8:30 and finish up on Sunday. The seed projections are based in part off of our conference rankings, as well as our automatic qualifier allocation projections.
125 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Nick Suriano | Rutgers | Rivera 2x | |
2 | Spencer Lee | Iowa | Tomasello, Rivera, Lizak | |
3 | Nathan Tomasello | Ohio State | Lizak, Welch, Mattin | Lee |
4 | Sebastian Rivera | Northwestern | Welch, Piotrowski, Oliver | Lee, Suriano 2x |
5 | Ethan Lizak | Minnesota | Piotrowski, Mattin | Mattin, Tomasello, Lee |
6 | Luke Welch | Purdue | Mattin, Foley | Rivera, Foley, Tomasello |
7 | Drew Mattin | Michigan | Lizak, Foley | Tomasello, Foley, Welch |
8 | RayVon Foley | Michigan State | Mattin, Welch | Tomasello, Oliver, Polakowski |
9 | Travis Piotrowski | Illinois | Oliver, Cray, Maginnis | Jimenez, Welch |
10 | Elijah Oliver | Indiana | Foley, Maginnis | Piotrowski, Welch |
11 | Mitchell Maginnis | Nebraska | Jimenez, Cray | Foley, Oliver, Schroder |
12 | Johnny Jimenez | Wisconsin | Piotrowski | Maginnis |
13 | Brandon Cray | Maryland | Schnupp | Stickley, Maginnis, Rotondo |
14 | Carson Kuhn | Penn State |
Commentary: One of the first things you'll notice is that all 14 guys are seeded. That only occurs when the conference is given greater than eight automatic qualifier allocations. Nick Suriano gets the top seed over Spencer Lee based on Midlands placement, though Suriano's only wins over guys seeded in the top 10 were against Rivera at Midlands and the dual meet.
After Nathan Tomasello, it gets a little dicey. Sebastian Rivera and Ethan Lizak did not meet this year, and Lizak split with Drew Mattin. RayVon Foley is also tough to seed, as he has split with Mattin and Luke Welch, getting the more recent win both times. But Foley has also lost to Elijah Oliver and Steve Polakowski. Plus, Mattin has a win over Lizak, and Welch is 1-0 against Mattin.
133 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Stevan Micic | Michigan | Pletcher, McKee, Renteria | Pletcher |
2 | Luke Pletcher | Ohio State | Micic, DelVecchio | Micic |
3 | Mitchell McKee | Minnesota | DelVecchio, Keener | Micic |
4 | Jason Renteria | Nebraska | Lantz, Griffin, Delvecchio | Micic |
5 | Scott DelVecchio | Rutgers | Duncan, Keeneer, Glynn | McKee, Renteria, Pletcher |
6 | Corey Keener | Penn State | Glynn, Thornton | Delvecchio, McKee, Micic |
7 | Dylan Duncan | Illinois | Lantz, Glynn, Valdiviez | DelVecchio, Valdiviez |
8 | Paul Glynn | Iowa | Valdiviez, Thornton, Lantz | Keener, Konrath |
Commentary: Jason Renteria is extremely difficult to seed due to his low number of matches, but his win over Scott DelVecchio slots him in fourth. Ultimately it appears to not matter, as the two will get a rematch in the quarters. Dylan Duncan goes seventh based on his win over Paul Glynn, who beat Ben Thornton of Purdue. Thornton is last man out for seeding and will be drawn in randomly. Thornton has somewhat of an argument to be seventh, as he is 1-0 against Colin Valdiviez and Duncan is 1-1.
141 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Joey McKenna | Ohio State | Lee, Limmex | Thorn |
2 | Nick Lee | Penn State | Thorn, Limmex | McKenna |
3 | Mike Carr | Illinois | Limmex, Weaver, Red | Thorn, Murin |
4 | Nate Limmex | Purdue | Stickley, Weaver, Red | Stickley, Weaver, Thomas |
5 | Cole Weaver | Indiana | Red, Turk, Stickley | Profaci, Carr, Limmex |
6 | Chad Red | Nebraska | Stickley, Profaci, Thorn | Weaver, Limmex, Carr |
7 | Tommy Thorn | Minnesota | Profaci, Carr, McKenna | Diehl, Happel, Lee, Red |
8 | Vince Turk | Iowa | Profaci | Van Brill |
9 | Sal Profaci | Michigan | Stickley, Weaver, Martin | Turk |
10 | Eli Stickley | Wisconsin | Limmex, Gasca, Diehl | Limmex, Profaci, Gasca |
11 | Ryan Diehl | Maryland | Thorn, Martin, Van Brill | Happel, Stickley |
12 | Javier Gasca | Michigan State | Happel, Thomas | |
13 | Mike Van Brill | Rutgers | A. McKenna, Happel, Turk | Thomas, Diehl, Happel |
14 | Alec McKenna | Northwestern |
Commentary: What an absurd weight to seed. Tommy Thorn beats the one and three seeds but also loses to Ryan Diehl and Carter Happel. Sal Profaci has losses to guys below him, and Nate Limmex split with both Cole Weaver and Eli Stickley. No one has a clean resume, including Mike Carr, who has a bad loss to Mike Murin. The same can be said for Nate Limmex, who lost to Yahya Thomas. But the cleanest arrangement for 3-7 starts with Carr and ends with Thorn.
149 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Zain Retherford | Penn State | Sorensen, Deakin | |
2 | Brandon Sorensen | Iowa | Deakin | Retherford |
3 | Ryan Deakin | Northwestern | DeLuca | Sorensen, Zain |
4 | Colton McCrystal | Nebraska | DeLuca | Deakin |
5 | Eleazar DeLuca | Rutgers | Hayes | McCrystal |
6 | Ke-Shawn Hayes | Ohio State | Bannister, Amine | DeLuca, Sorensen, Zain |
7 | Alfred Bannister | Maryland | Amine | Hayes |
8 | Malik Amine | Michigan | Britton, Martin, Nash, Tunon | Hayes, McCrystal, Zain, Bannister |
Commentary: Ohio State fans might not be happy with me, but Ke-Shawn Hayes lost to Eleazar DeLuca and both Ryan Deakin and Colton McCrystal beat DeLuca. Sidebar, this would get Hayes away from Zain Retherford, who teched him, and on the same side as Brandon Sorensen. Hayes got the first takedown and only lost 4-2 to Sorensen.
157 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Michael Kemerer | Iowa | Micah, Short, Langenderfer | |
2 | Jason Nolf | Penn State | Pantaleo, Short | **John Van Brill** |
3 | Alec Pantaleo | Michigan | Micah 2x, Berger 2x | Crone, Nolf |
4 | Micah Jordan | Ohio State | Short, Van Brill | Pantaleo 2x, Kemerer |
5 | Tyler Berger | Nebraska | Van Brill, Parriott | Crone, Pantaleo 2x |
6 | Andrew Crone | Wisconsin | Berger, Micah | Parriott, Van Brill |
7 | Jake Short | Minnesota | Van Brill, Oster, Langenderfer | Kemerer, Nolf, Pantaleo, Micah |
8 | Kyle Langenderfer | Illinois | Van Brill | Weber |
Commentary: There is a lot to unpack from this weight. First of all, if we're operating under the assumption that Jason Nolf is participating, then he has a Big Ten loss. I get it, there's a massive asterisk, but it counts as a loss. Beyond that, he only has wins over Micah Jordan and Jake Short, while Michael Kemerer has wins over Alec Pantaleo and Short.
Second, I am in no way encouraging coaches to sit guys out to protect seeds, but if Andrew Crone had not wrestled the last two duals he would have been the three seed. He avenged his only Big Ten loss when he beat Kyle Langenderfer and proceeded to beat Short, Jordan, and Pantaleo, before ending his season with losses to John Van Brill and Griffin Parriott.
165 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Alex Marinelli | Iowa | Joseph, Lewis 2x, Wanzek, Massa | |
2 | Isaiah Martinez | Illinois | Wick, Wanzek | |
3 | Vincenzo Joseph | Penn State | Lewis, Wanzek, Massa | Marinelli |
4 | Richie Lewis | Rutgers | Wick, Wanzek, White, Te’Shan | Cenzo, Marinelli |
5 | Evan Wick | Wisconsin | Morrissey, Wanzek | Lewis, IMar, White |
6 | Nick Wanzek | Minnesota | Massa, Te’Shan, White | Lewis, Marinelli, Cenzo, IMar |
7 | Logan Massa | Michigan | Te’Shan, Hiles, White | Marinelli, Wanzek, Cenzo, Wick |
8 | Isaiah White | Nebraska | Wick, Campbell Morrissey, Burnham | Massa, Lewis, Wanzek, Campbell |
9 | Te’Shan Campbell | Ohio State | Burnham, White | Hiles, White |
10 | Jacob Morrissey | Purdue | Speke, Hiles | White |
11 | Bryce Martin | Indiana | Sepke | |
12 | Brendan Burnham | Maryalnd | Sepke | Campbell, White |
13 | Michael Sepke | Northwestern | ||
14 | Austin Hiles | Michigan State |
Commentary: This weight was actually tremendously easy to seed, particularly when I already made the argument last week that Alex Marinelli should get the top seed. The only real complication is Isaiah White's late win over Evan Wick.
174 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Wins | Losses |
1 | Mark Hall | Penn State | Jordan, Amine, Lydy, Sebastian | |
2 | Bo Jordan | Ohio State | Lydy, Amine | Amine |
3 | Myles Amine | Michigan | Jordan | Lydy, Amine |
4 | Dylan Lydy | Purdue | Amine, Labriola | Hughes |
5 | Johnny Sebastian | Northwestern | Labriola | |
6 | Devin Skatzka | Indiana | Cody, Riojas, Breske, Christensen, Ritchie, Ugalde | |
7 | Ryan Christensen | Wisconsin | Grello, Riojas, Breske, Ritchie, Ugalde | Morland, Hughes |
8 | Joey Gunther | Iowa |
Commentary: You might be wondering why Bo Jordan is still ahead of Myles Amine despite the former's recent win over Jordan. Well that's because those two split, and Amine lost to Dylan Lydy while Jordan beat him.
184 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Wins | Losses |
1 | Bo Nickal | Penn State | Martin | |
2 | Myles Martin | Ohio State | Abounader | Nickal |
3 | Domenic Abounader | Michigan | Robertson 2x | Martin 2x, Nickal |
4 | Emery Parker | Illinois | Venz, Robertson | Robertson |
5 | Nicky Gravina | Rutgers | Venz, Robertson | Nickal, Parker |
6 | Taylor Venz | Nebraska | Robertson 2x | Gravina |
7 | Ricky Robertson | Wisconsin | Lyon, Conley, Shadaia, Sliga | Gravina, Parker, Venz |
8 | Mitch Bowman | Iowa | Sliga, Shadaia, Woods | Krone, Abounader, Gravina, Parker |
Commentary: This weight is straightforward to seed. Martin lost to Nickal and beat Abounader. Parker split with Robertson, who Abounader beat twice. Gravina beat Venz and Robertson, with his only losses to guys ranked ahead of him.
197 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Shakur Rasheed | Penn State | Wilcke, Beazley | |
2 | Kollin Moore | Ohio State | Wilcke, Beazley, Ritter | Cassar |
3 | Hunter Ritter | Wisconsin | Schultz, Beazley | Brunner, Moore |
4 | Kevin Beazley | Michigan | Wilcke | Moore, Schultz, Ritter, Rasheed |
5 | Cash Wilcke | Iowa | Chakonis | Rasheed, Moore, Beazley |
6 | Zack Chakonis | Northwestern | Brunner, Schultz | Krone, Lee |
7 | Christian Brunner | Purdue | Ritter | Chakonis |
8 | Eric Schultz | Nebraska | Beazley | Ritter, Chakonis |
Commentary: What a goofy weight to seed. Shakur Rasheed gets top spot because he has zero Big Ten losses and Kollin Moore has one. After that, all hell breaks loose. Hunter Ritter split with Beazley but owns the more recent win, which was in the dual. Beazley was also 0-1 vs. Eric Schultz, while Ritter was 1-0, so Ritter grabs the three. Beazley beat Cash Wilcke in their only meeting, and Wilcke's next best win was over seven seed Zack Chakonis. Christian Brunner tried to gum up the works by beating Ritter in the final dual of the year, but that is his only win of note.
285 Pounds
Seed | Wrestler | School | Key Wins | Key Losses |
1 | Adam Coon | Michigan | Snyder, Nevills, Stoll | |
2 | Kyle Snyder | Ohio State | Nevills | Coon |
3 | Nick Nevills | Penn State | Stoll, Hemida | Coon, Snyder |
4 | Sam Stoll | Iowa | Jennings, Streifel | Coon, Nevills |
5 | Youssif Hemida | Maryland | Jennings, Streifel | Nevills |
6 | Conan Jennnings | Northwestern | Streck, Streifel | Rachal, Hemida |
7 | Shawn Streck | Purdue | Rachal, Jensen | Jennings |
8 | Rylee Streifel | Minnesota | Rachal, Gross | Jennings |
Commentary: Pretty straightforward, with Sam Stoll getting over Youssif Hemida based on Midlands placement. Stoll did not wrestle against Maryland in the dual, so that will be settled in the quarterfinals.