2020 Big Ten Championships 149-Pound Preview
2020 Big Ten Championships 149-Pound Preview
Preview, predictions, and everything else you need to know about the 149-pound weight class at the 2020 Big Ten Championships.
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Just as hunger is the best seasoning, there is no better event to heighten the anticipation for NCAAs than the Big Ten Championships. And what better way to prepare for Piscataway than with an in-depth look at 149-pounds, perhaps the most intriguing division in the conference.
Watch the 2020 Big Ten Championships Live on Flo
March 7-8 | 10 AM & 11 AM Eastern
The 149-pound Big Ten sweepstakes will be both deep and wide open, as three of the main contenders for the conference crown will also be in the hunt for an NCAA title. Few weights in any conference can count on featuring as many stars as the Big Ten does at 149.
Big Ten Previews: 125 | 133 | 141 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285
To get an idea of how the Big Ten 149-pounders fit into the greater national landscape, the graph below shows the number of projected tournament points as determined by the national rankings, broken down by conference.
The year started with three in the top ten, Sammy Sasso at #5, Pat Lugo at #6 and Brayton Lee at #10. Those three are still in the top ten, but have all climbed up several spots, as Sasso is #1, Lugo #2, and Lee #7. You can also notice the Big Ten Conference making big gains after the CKLV and Midlands Championships.
Now at the end of the regular season, the Big Ten has ten wrestlers in the top 20, which accounts for all the blue you see on the far right-side of the graph. The orange spike at the end of the year coincidentally represents Princeton pulling Matt Kolozik's Olympic redshirt.
But enough about the EIWA, back to the Big Tens, and our next topic, the contenders!
Contenders
#1 Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
#2 Pat Lugo, Iowa
#7 Brayton Lee, Minnesota
As with any list, a line had to be drawn somewhere, so no disrespect to any of the other very talented competitors who have a shot at the title, but these three have been leading the pack all year long and have the resumes to back up their contender status.
Sasso had a very strong redshirt season as a freshman but then stumbled a bit early in the season when he got pinned by Brent Moore. Sasso would avenge that loss at the CKLV, and pick up a pin over Purdue's Griffin Parriott, which you can watch below.
Sasso made it to the finals of the CKLV, where he was stopped by his rival Brayton Lee. This would be another loss that Sasso would avenge, this time in a dual meet in late January (see below).
That win, plus his win over Lugo (see below again), is why Sasso is the #1 ranked wrestler in the country, and the very slight favorite to take the Big Ten crown in his first crack at the title.
Lugo has been perfect except for that loss in tiebreakers to Sasso. He beat the highest returning 2019 NCAA placer in Austin O'Connor in the finals of the 2019 Midlands, and has also beaten three other All-Americans this season in Jarrett Degen, Max Thomsen and most recently, Boo Lewallen.
You can watch Lugo's Midlands championship match over O'Connor in the video below.
As impressive as those resumes are, you can't count Brayton Lee out of the title hunt. Not counting medical forfeits and disqualifications, Lee only has losses to nationally ranked #1 Sasso, #2 Lugo, and #6 Lewallen. He also has a win over #1 Sasso, so, there's that. Brayton Lee/Sammy Sasso could end up being one of the all-time great NCAA rivalries and we are all privileged to watch it develop.
Projected Seeds
Our own Daniel Lobdell took a crack at predicting all the Big Ten seeds, so let's cut and paste from this article and see what he came up with at 149.
- Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
- Pat Lugo, Iowa
- Brayton Lee, Minnesota
- Kanen Storr, Michigan
- Graham Rooks, Indiana
- Cole Martin, Wisconsin
- Collin Purinton, Nebraska
- Jarod Verkleeren, Penn State
- Gerard Angelo, Rutgers
- Yahya Thomas, Northwestern
- Griffin Parriott, Purdue
- Alex Hrisopoulos, Michigan State
- Mousa Jodeh, Illinois
- Michael Doestch, Maryland
The Big Ten will have ten automatic qualifiers at this weight class, which will still leave a worthy competitor in need of an at-large invite to the Big Dance.
We also have the official pre seeds, which are here, and below.
- Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
- Pat Lugo, Iowa
- Brayton Lee, Minnesota
- Kanen Storr, Michigan
- Graham Rooks, Indiana
- Cole Martin, Wisconsin
- Collin Purinton, Nebraska
- Jarod Verkleeren, Penn State
- Yahya Thomas, Northwestern
- Griffin Parriott, Purdue
- Gerard Angelo, Rutgers
- Alex Hrisopoulos, Michigan State
- Mousa Jodeh, Illinois
- Ryan Garlitz, Maryland
Nomad did pretty good! Only really missed on where Angelo would be. Angelo will probably be the most likely guy to steal a bid, as evidenced by his recent win over #5 Graham Rooks, which you can watch below.
That would make Angelo a sleeper to place highly, which segue ways nicely into our next topic.
Sleepers and Landmines
Besides Angelo, two guys you absolutely do not want to sleep on are Griffin Parriott and Yahya Thomas.
We should also mention that Rooks, Martin, Purinton and Verkleeren have all earned higher seeds and national rankings. Rooks has beaten Purinton and Martin, Martin has beaten Rooks, Purinton and Parriott, Purinton has beaten Verkleeren and Parriott, and Verkleeren has beaten Martin and American University's highly rated Kizhan Clarke.
However, Parriott and Thomas have shown the ability to compete at the same level. Thomas beat Parriott for third place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational after strong performances by both wrestlers. Parriott also has solid postseason experience, having qualified for the 2019 NCAA Championship and advancing to the round of 16. Thomas has likewise proven to be a winner, winning the 65kg freestyle bracket at the 2019 Junior US Open and then earned the world team spot at the Junior World Team Trials.
As such, it would be foolish for anyone to look past either of these competitors.
Spey's Spredictions
1st: Brayton Lee, Minnesota
2nd: Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
3rd: Pat Lugo, Iowa
4th: Kanen Storr, Michigan
5th: Colin Purinton, Nebraska
6th: Jarod Verkleeren, Penn State
7th: Graham Rooks, Indiana
8th: Cole Martin, Wisconsin
Sasso did beat Lee in their last outing, but I think it's Lee's turn, if for no other reason than that these two go back and forth so much that I consider it a toss up.
I'm calling chalk the rest of the way, but don't expect those seeds to hold, as there will be sure to be some upsets with these evenly matched group of wrestlers.