2020 Big Ten Championships 125-Pound Preview
2020 Big Ten Championships 125-Pound Preview
Take an in-depth look at the 125-pound weight class at the 2020 Big Ten Championships complete with Bratke's top eight predictions.
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Championship season is upon us and before you know it, the nation's toughest conference will be doing battle inside the RAC with NCAA Championship berths and seeding implications on the line.
Watch the 2020 Big Ten Championships Live on Flo
March 7-8 | 10 AM & 11 AM Eastern
A couple quick notes before we get into it: the first number you'll see is the projected Big Ten Championships seed. The number in parentheses is where the wrestler is ranked in our perfect individual rankings. You'll also find at the bottom of the article, I've gone the extra mile and predicted every automatic qualifier.
Projected 125 Seeds
Automatic Qualifiers - 8
- (#1) Spencer Lee, Iowa
- (#6) Devin Schroder, Purdue
- (#9) Patrick McKee, Minnesota
- (#20) Justin Cardani, Illinois
- (#22) Jack Medley, Michigan
- (#21) Liam Cronin, Indiana
- (#23) Nic Aguilar, Rutgers
- (#12) Michael DeAugustino, Northwestern
- Eric Barnett, Wisconsin
- Alex Thomsen, Nebraska
- Logan Griffin, Michigan State
- Malik Heinselman, Ohio State
- Brandon Cray, Maryland
- Brandon Meredith, Penn State
Have we officially reached Spencer Lee next topic level? Possibly. The two-time NCAA champion has won 14 of his 15 matches this season by bonus points, and with Zahid Valencia being suspended Lee is likely in the driver's seat to win the Hodge Trophy. Against wrestlers (Schroder, Medley, Thomsen, Griffin, Meredith) in this field this year, Lee has outscored his opponents 57-1 and has a first-period fall of Logan Griffin.
Outside of a slip-up against Liam Cronin, Devin Schroder has been the second-best guy at this weight. The Boilermaker started the year ranked #12, but showed early on he is a potential finalist threat when he pushed returning runner-up Jack Mueller in the CKLV finals.
Watch Schroder push Jack Mueller.
The wildcard in this weight is Pat McKee. The Minnesota freshman is 5-1 in conference action and was beating Devin Schroder 5-2 midway through the second period when he suffered a knee injury and hasn't been able to wrestle since. If McKee is healthy he's a threat to make the finals, in my opinion.
Watch McKee's battle with Schroder.
The next-biggest question with this weight for me is if anyone in tier three (Cardani, Medley, Cronin, Aguilar, DeAugustino) can jump into tier two and bust the bracket in Piscataway? Justin Cardani certainly has the best wins of the bunch with two over Cronin, a win over Medley, a win over DeAugustino, and a win over Aguilar, but of note, he does have a loss to Logan Griffin on the resume as well.
Bratke's Predictions
- Lee (Iowa)
- Schroder (Purdue)
- McKee (Minnesota)
- Aguilar (Rutgers)
- Cardani (Illinois)
- Medley (Michigan)
- Cronin (Indiana)
- DeAugustino (Northwestern)
In my opinion, Spencer Lee and Devin Schroder are a step ahead of the field and of course, Lee is another step ahead of Schroder as he showed in the dual meet earlier this season. It's important to note that with these predictions, I'm assuming that McKee is healthy and ready to roll. I think the Gopher is the third-best guy at the weight and as he showed for the first four minutes of the match can go with Schroder.
Despite losses to Cardani, Medley, and Cronin, I like the way Aguilar has wrestled all year and two of those three losses came by just a point and the Cronin loss was by just two points. Give me the Scarlet Knight to flip a couple of those results from regular season inside his home gym.
Watch Aguilar upset Michael DeAugustino.
After starting the season 8-7, Jack Medley is 8-3 since January 1 and one of those losses was the only time Spencer Lee didn't record a bonus-point victory. Medley is extremely tough to score on, has a motor for days, and just keeps getting better as the season goes on.
Watch Medley keep Spencer Lee to his only regular decision win of the season.
Cronin and DeAugustino have been nice surprises this season and I expect them to cap their seasons off with trips to the NCAA Championships. After becoming the starter after an injury to Brock Hudkins at Midlands, Cronin has won his last eight matches and picked up wins over Schroder and Aguilar.
Watch Cronin beat Aguilar inside the RAC.
If you were not a Florida high school or Northwestern fan, you might not have known who Michael DeAugustino was coming into this season. Two-time All-American Sebastian Rivera was expected to be back at the weight, but since Rivera decided to move up it has been DeAugustino all year and he's made the most of his opportunity. The redshirt freshman owns wins over #7 Brandon Courtney, #8 Drew Hildebrandt, #10 Jay Schwarm, #21 Liam Cronin, #22 Jack Medley, and #24 Joey Prata.
Watch DeAgustino take out Courtney at CKLV.
There's a high likelihood that these predictions will go horribly wrong and make me look foolish, but no matter what happens it will be a blast to watch. Let me know how you see it all going down @Kbratke.