2020 Big Ten Championships 133-Pound Preview
2020 Big Ten Championships 133-Pound Preview
Preview, predictions, and everything else you need to know about the 133-pound weight class at the 2020 Big Ten Championships.
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Is there a more wonderful time of the year than the NCAA postseason? In the sporting world at least, I suspect not. And soon, during the greatest time of the year, we will all enjoy one of the greatest spectacles of them all: the Big Ten Championships.
Watch the 2020 Big Ten Championships Live on Flo
March 7-8 | 10 AM & 11 AM Eastern
Few weight classes have drawn more attention in collegiate wrestling over the last few season than 133 pounds. The four main contenders for the 2020 Big Ten title are a big part of why that continues to be the case.
Big Ten Previews: 125 Pounds
To get an idea of how much the Big Ten has dominated the weight class this year, the graph below shows the number of projected tournament points as determined by the national rankings, broken down by conference.
Out of a possible 111 placement and advancement points (so not factoring in potential bonus points) the Big Ten Conference is projected to score 72.5 out of a total of 111 points at the NCAA Championships.
And that is with Nick Suriano and Stevan Micic taking an Olympic redshirts. On the other hand, the Big Ten Conference benefits from Daton Fix also taking an Olympic redshirt. Additionally, Seth Gross transferring from South Dakota State and the Big 12 to Wisconsin was a boon to the Big Ten. That plus Sebastian Rivera bumping up from 125 to join the returning Roman Bravo-Young and Austin DeSanto officially made the Big Ten the toughest conference at 133 pounds.
Since we've now mentioned them already, let's officially breakdown the contenders after the next subject header.
Contenders
#1 Seth Gross, Wisconsin
#2 Austin DeSanto, Iowa
#3 Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State
#4 Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern
This quartet of killers has dominated the headlines all season long. They are all All-Americans, with Seth Gross being the most credentialed (and the only senior), having won the 2018 NCAA title at 133.
What's more, these four wrestlers have earned six All-Americans in the eight total seasons in which they were eligible for the NCAA tournament. The other two seasons saw Seth Gross and Austin DeSanto finish in the round of 12, in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Seth Gross may be the favorite, but not by much. He lost to Austin DeSanto in a rabid Carver-Hawkeye Arena back in December.
That dual was not long after Gross had to wrestle 57kg (125.4 pounds) at the 2019 Bill Farrell, which Gross won, beating two NCAA champions in Nick Suriano and Nathan Tomasello consecutively in the semifinals and finals to take the crown and qualify for the Olympic Team Trials.
Gross got revenge just a month after that loss, beating DeSanto in the finals of the 2019 Midlands, which you can watch in the video below.
Gross also beat Sebastian Rivera in the semifinals of the Midlands, and later Roman Bravo-Young in a dual meet, making him the only one to notch wins over the other three contenders this season.
Yet Gross wrestles a dangerous style. It clearly works, but he does allow wrestlers to get to his legs on a regular basis, which can cause problems, as his first match with DeSanto demonstrated. Gross' scrambling ability is among the best in the NCAA, but the pace from the likes of DeSanto, Rivera, and Bravo-Young are likewise at the top of the collegiate heap.
Speaking of DeSanto and RBY, I need to mention the match that caused more controversy this season than any other: RBY vs DeSanto (watch here if you must).
It is much easier to summarize what actually happened in the match than that of the reactions and implications of the match. On the mat, DeSanto shot in the first 10 seconds, hurt his knee when RBY countered, then injury-defaulted a couple of minutes later while RBY had a cradle locked up.
Rather than bog down this preview getting into any further details, suffice it to say that a rematch between these two is highly anticipated among wrestling fans.
And then there's Sebastian Rivera, who has taken time off this season to earn a spot on the Puerto Rican Olympic team, also at 57kg. Rivera must still qualify the weight class for Puerto Rico, but if he does, he will represent the commonwealth in Toyko.
Because of that, Rivera has missed most of the season. He sports a 9-2 record, with one injury default loss to Illinois' Travis Piotrowski in the third-place match of the Midlands (which he was winning at the time of the default, for what it's worth), and one regular loss to Gross in the semifinals.
Besides the two injury defaults, the only losses any one of these four have taken this season are two each other. They are all most impressive, and are collectively one of the biggest draws of the entire tournament.
Yet there are other 133-pounders in the Big Ten Conference, despite what this preview might so-far lead you to believe.
Projected Seeds
Our own Daniel Lobdell took a crack at predicting the 133 pounds seeds, so let's cut and paste from this article and see what he came up with. However, please keep in mind that Nomad's article is from mid-February and Nomad refuses to give me updated seed projections so perhaps things will be different next week. It will be a fun surprise for all of us.
- Seth Gross, Wisconsin
- Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State
- Austin DeSanto, Iowa
- Travis Piotrowski, Illinois
- Ridge Lovett, Nebraska
- Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern
- Sammy Alvarez, Rutgers
- Cayden Rooks, Indiana
- Boo Dryden, Minnesota
- Travis Ford-Melton, Purdue
- Joey Silva, Michigan
- Garrett Pepple, Michigan State
- King Sandoval, Maryland
- Jordan Decatur, Ohio State
The Big Ten sports three other highly ranked 133-pounders outside the aforementioned top four in #7 Piotwoski, #9 Sammy Alvarez, and #11 Ridge Lovett. Seven All-Americans may be unlikely, but it is certainly not out of the question.
For evidence of that trio's podium placement capabilities, try watching this match of Piotrowski beating #8 Noah Gonser of Campbell, or Ridge Lovett's victory over #12 Taylor LaMont at the CKLV, or Alvarez's win in the Scuffle finals over #6 Mickey Phillippi, which you can watch below.
After those next three there is a gap between the next tier of competitors, as no one else has broken into the top 25 in the final NCAA rankings. However, there are several sleepers and landmines, which brings us to our next topic...
Sleepers and Landmines
Michigan's Joey Silva was one of the most heavily recruited wrestlers coming out of high school and the Lake Highland Prep program in Orlando, Florida. He has been limited to just four matches this season, but he's won all four and looks as dangerous as ever.
Here he is beating the very tough Garrett Pepple of Michigan State:
Another dangerous freshman, this time of the non-redshirt variety, is Jordan Decatur of Ohio State. Coming from Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Northeast Ohio, Decatur has proven to have the talent to score points at the collegiate level, securing the first takedown in nearly every match he's wrestled. Finishing the matches are a different story, as evidenced by Decatur's 3-7 dual meet record.
A deep run in March may not be in the cards this season for Decatur, but he will make life miserable for anyone he matches up against.
Spey's Spredictions
- Seth Gross, Wisconsin
- Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State
- Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern
- Austin DeSanto, Iowa
- Travis Piotrowski, Illinois
- Joey Silva, Michigan
- Sammy Alvarez, Rutgers
- RIdge Lovett, Nebraska
Based on the projected seeds, I've got Gross and Piotrowski making the semifinals up top. On the bottom half, I have Rivera beating DeSanto in the quarters to make the semifinals opposite RBY. From there, Gross beats RBY for the second time to win his first Big Ten title.
On the backside, I see Silva knocking Lovett into the eighth-place match, where he loses to Alvarez. Silva is stopped by Rivera from making the third-place match, and Silva is beaten by Piotrowski in the battle for fifth.
DeSanto, having beaten Alvarez and Piotrowski in consecutive consolation bouts, loses to Rivera and settles for fourth.
Will I get any of these predictions wrong? Almost definitely! And I will enjoy every second of watching these wrestlers prove me wrong in Piscataway!