2020 Big Ten Championships 197-Pound Preview
2020 Big Ten Championships 197-Pound Preview
Take an in-depth look at the 174-pound weight class at the 2020 Big Ten Championships complete with Bratke's top six 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 on the line.
Watch the 2020 Big Ten Championships Live on Flo
March 7-8 | 10 AM & 11 AM Eastern
A couple of 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 find at the bottom of the article, I've gone the extra mile and predicted every automatic qualifier.
197-Pound Seeds
Automatic Qualifiers - 6
- Kollin Moore, Ohio State
- Eric Schultz, Nebraska
- Jacob Warner, Iowa
- Christian Brunner, Purdue
- Lucas Davison, Northwestern
- Shakur Rasheed, Penn State
- Jordan Pagano, Rutgers
- Jackson Striggow, Michigan
- Jaron Smith, Maryland
- Hunter Ritter, Minnesota
- Matt Wroblewski, Illinois
- Nick May, Michigan State
- Taylor Watkins, Wisconsin
- Nick Willham, Indiana
Kollin Moore saved his best for last. The three-time All-American capped off his final regular-season by going undefeated and winning 75% of his matches by bonus points. Moore was a perfect 12-0 against Big Ten competition and only two of those wins (Cash Wilcke and Eric Schultz) were not bonus-point wins.
Eric Schultz enters the Big Ten Championships coming off the best regular season of his career as he posted a 21-3 mark and beat All-Americans Jacob Warner and Shakur Rasheed.
Coming off his a freshman All-American season, Jacob Warner was a little up and down. The Hawkeye beat then #2 Pat Brucki early but then lost to Brucki and Jay Aiello at the Midlands Championships. Warner then rebounded by knocking off Midlands champion and then #2 Christian Brunner before losing to Schultz his next match out. However, since the loss to Schultz, Warner has won his lost five matches and picked up wins over All-Americans Shakur Rasheed and Dakota Geer.
Like I did at 125 with Pat McKee, I'm going to assume that Christian Brunner is 100% healthy. The Midlands Champion and CKLV runner-up hasn't wrestled since January 26 when he suffered an injury against Jordan Pagano. Prior to the injury, Brunner had been rolling this season owning wins over #6 Pat Brucki, #7 Jay Aiello, two wins over #10 Lucas Davison, #11 Greg Bulsak, and #15 Jake Woodley. If the Boilermaker is healthy he's not a only a threat to make the finals at the RAC, but in Minneapolis as well.
After a little bit of a rocky start to the season, Lucas Davison then reeled off six straight wins including a weekend to remember when he beat then #2 Christian Brunner before going into Rec Hall and beating All-American Shakur Rasheed. Since then Davison's only losses are to #1 Kollin Moore, who he took down multiple times, and Jaron Smith who caught Davison in the first period when the Wildcat was leading. Davison could be a bracket buster inside the RAC.
Shakur Rasheed is the wildcard in this field for me. Two years he was an All-American at this weight, but after suffering a knee injury down at 184 last season he has struggled to find the form from 2018.
Bratke's Predictions
- Kollin Moore, Ohio State
- Jacob Warner, Iowa
- Eric Schultz, Nebraska
- Lucas Davison, Northwestern
- Christian Brunner, Purdue
- Shakur Rasheed, Penn State
Kollin Moore has been so dominant all year and I don't see that changing in Piscataway. Moore has only met Jacob Warner one time previously, at last year's Big Ten Championships, when the Buckeye cruised in the semifinals.
Watch Moore take out Warner in last year's Big Ten Championships.
Although Warner fell to Schultz earlier this season, I like him to get revenge and make the finals. Warner is 2-1 all-time against the Cornhusker and while Schultz has wrestled great all season long, I like the way Warner looked closing out the season.
Watch Schultz beat Warner in the dual earlier this season.
Since Midlands, Lucas Davison has been outstanding and I expect him to keep it rolling and finish ahead of Brunner and Rasheed who he owns wins over this season.
Watch Davison beat Rasheed.
For whatever reason Shakur Rasheed has not been the same guy we saw the last two seasons. He struggles to get to his offense on his feet and has just one bonus-point win this season after racking up 37 bonus-point wins the past two seasons. I still think the Nittany Lion claims the final automatic qualifying spot and keeps his former teammate Jordan Pagano hoping for a wildcard.