Championship season is upon us! How lovely. Bratke and Spey alternated previewing each weight class so you can be prepared for the nation's toughest conference. It's all going down inside the RAC with NCAA Championship berths and seeding implications on the line. 

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125 Pounds

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. (#1) Spencer Lee, Iowa
2. (#6) Devin Schroder, Purdue
3. (#9) Patrick McKee, Minnesota
4. (#20) Justin Cardani, Illinois
5. (#22) Jack Medley, Michigan
6. (#21) Liam Cronin, Indiana
7. (#23) Nic Aguilar, Rutgers
8. (#12) Michael DeAugustino, Northwestern
9. Eric Barnett, Wisconsin
10. Alex Thomsen, Nebraska
11. Logan Griffin, Michigan State
12. Malik Heinselman, Ohio State
13. Brandon Cray, Maryland
14. 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.

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. 

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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

1. Lee (Iowa)
2. Schroder (Purdue)
3. McKee (Minnesota)
4. Aguilar (Rutgers)
5. Cardani (Illinois)
6. Medley (Michigan)
7. Cronin (Indiana)
8. 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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

133 Pounds

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. 

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. 

1. Seth Gross, Wisconsin
2. Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State
3. Austin DeSanto, Iowa
4. Travis Piotrowski, Illinois
5. Ridge Lovett, Nebraska
6. Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern
7. Sammy Alvarez, Rutgers
8. Cayden Rooks, Indiana
9. Boo Dryden, Minnesota
10. Travis Ford-Melton, Purdue
11. Joey Silva, Michigan
12. Garrett Pepple, Michigan State
13. King Sandoval, Maryland
14. 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.

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. 

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

1. Seth Gross, Wisconsin
2. Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State
3. Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern
4. Austin DeSanto, Iowa
5. Travis Piotrowski, Illinois
6. Joey Silva, Michigan
7. Sammy Alvarez, Rutgers
8. 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! 

141 Pounds

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. 

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.

Projected 141 Seeds

Automatic Qualifiers - 8

1. (#1) Nick Lee, Penn State
2. (#2) Luke Pletcher, Ohio State
3. (#4) Chad Red, Nebraska
4. (#3) Max Murin, Iowa
5. (#5) Tristan Moran, Wisconsin
6. (#6) Mitch McKee, Minnesota
7. (#25) Parker Filius, Purdue
8. (#20) Dylan Duncan, Illinois
9. Cole Mattin, Michigan
10. Alec McKenna, Northwestern
11. JoJo Aragona, Rutgers
12. Matt Santos, Michigan State
13. Eddie Bolivar, Indiana
14. Hunter Baxter, Maryland

It's crazy to think that Nick Lee and Luke Pletcher have separated themselves from a field that includes two other All-Americans and two other wrestlers who were in the round of 12 last year, but that is exactly what they've done.

Against Big Ten competition Nick Lee is 10-0 with nine bonus-point wins that came in the form of two falls, three major decisions, and four tech falls. Against the projected top six seeds in the tournament, Lee has a four-point win over then-#1 Luke Pletcher, a major over Chad Red and Tristan Moran, and a fall over Mitch McKee. 

Since moving up to 141 after being an All-American the past two seasons at 133, Luke Pletcher has looked better than ever before this season. The senior Buckeye is 13-1 against Big Ten competition and against the top six seeded wrestlers in this field Pletcher has two majors over Chad Red, a major over Tristan Moran, and a four-point and six-point win over Mitch McKee.

Bratke's Predictions

1. Nick Lee, Penn State
2. Luke Pletcher, Ohio State
3. Chad Red, Nebraska
4. Max Murin, Iowa
5. Mitch McKee, Minnesota
6. Tristan Moran, Wisconsin
7. Dylan Duncan, Illinois
8. Cole Mattin, Michigan

After surrendering the first takedown in the dual, Lee stormed past Pletcher and shut him down for the first time this year. While I don't think it will be as one-sided the second time around, I still think Lee comes out on top. The Nittany Lion has too much offense and doesn't lend himself to Pletcher's lightning-quick re-attacks by getting in deep each time he shoots and not letting Pletcher, who is an incredible scrambler, tie him up.

I know I pretty much went chalk on three through six based on the projected pre-seeds, but Red is 2-0 all-time against Murin and the Husker always raises his level of wrestling in March. A year ago, Red went into the Big Ten Championships just 18-10 and the eight seed before he knocked off Mikey Carr and Kanen Storr to make the finals. Red would go on to place for the second consecutive year at the NCAA Championships from the 16 seed. Red's freshman year in Cleveland he made the podium as an unseeded wrestler and knocked off two-time defending NCAA champion Dean Heil in the bloodround. 

Watch Red pin Heil. 

Murin has wrestled just 13 matches, but has eight wins over ranked opponents. Murin owns wins over #5 Moran, #6 McKee, #11 Josh Heil, #15 Doug Zapf, #17 Shakur Laney, #20 Dylan Duncan, and #21 Dusty Hone. I'll take the Hawkeye against anyone not named Lee, Pletcher, and Red. 

Who knows what you're going to get when Tristan Moran and Mitch McKee meet. They've wrestled three times in their careers with two of the matches ending 7-6 in favor of each wrestler, and Moran picked up a sudden victory fall in last year's dual. I'll go with McKee this time, but you can expect an exciting scramble fest with a fall always in play. 

I like Duncan to get revenge on Parker Filius to punch his ticket to his third NCAA Championships and give me true freshman Cole Mattin to make it three straight years with a Mattin in the NCAA Championships.

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. 

149 Pounds

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.

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.

That win, plus his win over Lugo 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. 

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.

1. Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
2. Pat Lugo, Iowa
3. Brayton Lee, Minnesota
4. Kanen Storr, Michigan
5. Graham Rooks, Indiana
6. Cole Martin, Wisconsin
7. Collin Purinton, Nebraska
8. Jarod Verkleeren, Penn State
9. Gerard Angelo, Rutgers
10. Yahya Thomas, Northwestern
11. Griffin Parriott, Purdue
12. Alex Hrisopoulos, Michigan State
13. Mousa Jodeh, Illinois
14. 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.

1. Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
2. Pat Lugo, Iowa
3. Brayton Lee, Minnesota
4. Kanen Storr, Michigan
5. Graham Rooks, Indiana
6. Cole Martin, Wisconsin
7. Collin Purinton, Nebraska
8. Jarod Verkleeren, Penn State
9. Yahya Thomas, Northwestern
10. Griffin Parriott, Purdue
11. Gerard Angelo, Rutgers
12. Alex Hrisopoulos, Michigan State
13. Mousa Jodeh, Illinois
14. 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.

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. 

157 Pounds

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. 

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.

Projected 157 Seeds

Automatic Qualifiers - 6

1. (#1) Ryan Deakin, Northwestern
2. (#6) Kaleb Young, Iowa
3. (#7) Kendall Coleman, Purdue
4. (#8) Will Lewan, Michigan
5. (#20) Jake Tucker, Michigan State
6. Peyton Robb, Nebraska
7. Ryan Thomas, Minnesota
8. Eric Barone, Illinois
9. Jahi Jones, Maryland
10. Mike Van Brill, Rutgers
11. Fernie Silva, Indiana
12. Garrett Model, Wisconsin
13. Quinn Kinner/Elijah Cleary, Ohio State
14. Bo Pipher/Luke Gardner, Penn State

While 157 might not be "Ryan Deakin, next topic" at the NCAA Championships, it might be at the Big Ten Championships. Deakin has been untouchable this season and against Big Ten competition is 9-0 with seven bonus-point wins. Yes, Hawkeye fans, I can hear you screaming through the screen at me that Kaleb Young has two wins over Ryan Deakin, but I think it's pretty clear that the version we've seen recently of Young is not the same version that beat Deakin twice last year at the NCAA Championships. In his last two matches, Young was taken to tiebreakers by Ryan Thomas and lost handily to Wyatt Sheets.

Another wrestler who has given Young problems this year is Kendall Coleman. Young won an incredible match in sudden victory in the Midlands semifinals and another thriller in the dual. The Purdue freshman has seven losses on the season, but they've come to #1 Deakin, #2 Hayden Hidlay, #3 David Carr, #4 Quincy Monday, two to #6 Young, and an injury default to Peyton Robb. There's no denying Coleman is battle-tested and should be exciting to watch in his first postseason. 

Watch the amazing Midlands semifinal between Young and Coleman.

Will Lewan has been solid all season long, but can he take the next step and move into the top tier and beat guys like Coleman, Young, or Deakin? He went to overtime with Coleman the opening weekend of the season, held Deakin to one of his two in-conference regular decisions, and lost to Young by four. 

Peyton Robb is the wildcard in this weight for me. The freshman has a lot of different ways to score and is very good upper body and can go big at any time. Like Lewan, though, he doesn't have wins over the top-tier guys at the weight or the five top-seeded wrestlers. 

Bratke's Predictions

1. Ryan Deakin, Northwestern
2. Kendall Coleman, Purdue
3. Kaleb Young, Iowa
4. Will Lewan, Michigan
5. Peyton Robb, Nebraska
6. Jake Tucker, Michigan State

As I mentioned in the open, I think this is Deakin's weight and if the bracket plays out like I'm predicting it will, he will see Coleman in the finals who he beat 14-0 in early January. Given the struggles that Young has had the past few weeks, I'll take Coleman to get revenge in the semifinals.

Despite the recent struggles, I don't see Young falling lower than third. The returning All-American is 3-0 against Lewan, Robb, and Tucker and outscored them by a combined 19-9 tally. 

The final three automatic qualifying spots I could see go in many different directions. Lewan edged Robb by one point and beat Tucker in sudden victory, and Tucker has his own sudden victory win over Robb. I went with Lewan, though, as he always seems to come out on top of close matches. On the year, Lewan has six one-point or sudden victory wins compared to just one loss. 

Robb and Tucker for fifth place could either way as well. Their meeting in the dual was a wild back-and-forth affair that ended with a nasty Tucker takedown in sudden victory. My gut tells me that Robb gets his revenge this time around. 

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. 

165 Pounds

The big storyline all year long was the battle between Penn State senior Vincenzo Joseph and Iowa junior Alex Marinelli for weight-class supremacy. But the Big Ten can boast of more than just two NCAA title contenders, as Evan Wick and Isaiah White are also in the top five of the national rankings. Additionally, Shayne Oster, Ethan Smith, and Danny Braunagel are all in the top 20.

To get an idea of how impressive the Big Ten 165-pounders have been this season, the graph below shows the number of projected tournament points as determined by the national rankings, broken down by conference.

From preseason to postseason, the Big Ten has been projected to earn over half of the available 165-pound points in Minneapolis. At no point during the season did the Big Ten NOT have four of the top six 165-pounders. It has been a dominant season and barring injury, it is a safe bet that we will see at least four Big Ten wrestlers on the NCAA podium.

Contenders

#1 Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State

#2 Alex Marinelli, Iowa

#4 Evan Wick, Wisconsin

#5 Isaiah White, Nebraska

Vincenzo Joseph leads the pack. The undefeated Hodge Trophy contender also owns the most NCAA hardware of anyone in the bracket, with two NCAA titles and a runner-up finish in three trips to the Big Dance. Yet this is also Joseph's last opportunity to win a Big Ten title, an award that has so far eluded the Nittany Lion. Cenzo was beaten by Isaiah Martinez in 2017 and 2018 (though got his revenge in both NCAA finals matches) and was stopped by Marinelli in the 2019 Big Ten finals.

The all-time NCAA series between Cenzo and Marinelli sits in favor of Marinelli by a tally of 2-1, although Cenzo did win their last battle, a ferocious decision in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The previous two editions of Cenzo vs The Bull (2018, 2019) followed a shockingly similar script; the only difference in 2020 is that Marinelli's upper body offense did not work for him, at least not when he needed it. Joseph may have the heaviest hips in all of college, so going upper body can offer you better odds, but that tactic is also fraught with danger, as Marinelli discovered when Cenzo hit an expertly timed lateral drop off his upper body pressure in Carver-Hawkeye last month.

As for Marinelli, despite finishing no higher than sixth in his first two cracks at the NCAAs, he has dropped just one match over three regular seasons (the aforementioned loss to Joseph on January 31). If there was any question about why Alex is known as the Bull, watch him wear down the Harvard's 27-6 Phil Congiliargo at the 2019 Midlands and then finish him off with a muscular cement job.

Last year's fifth-place finisher Isaiah White has just three losses in his senior campaign. The Cornhusker has only lost to Cenzo, Marinelli, and Wick (all within a span of 13 days), but also has two wins over two-time All-American Josh Shields.

Then there is Evan Wick, whose impossibly long frame presents serious problems for the rest of the division. Wick has a reach that would make Dhalsim from Street Fighter jealous, which he uses to pick ankles with deadly effectiveness. And if you decide to shoot on Wick, you better finish quick, as he can sit the corner and end the match with a cradle. He can also pin you in a tilt, as he did to Bernie Truax at 2019's Midlands.

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 165.

1. Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State
2. Alex Marinelli, Iowa
3. Evan Wick, Wisconsin
4. Isaiah White, Nebraska
5. Shayne Oster, Northwestern
6. Ethan Smith, Ohio State
7. Danny Braunagel, Illinois
8. Bailee O’Reilly, Minnesota
9. Drew Hughes, Michigan State
10. Kyle Cochran, Maryland
11. Brett Donner, Rutgers
12. Tyler Meisinger, Michigan
13. Tanner Webster, Purdue
14. Dillon Hoey, Indiana

Also, because we procrastinated long enough before writing this preview, we also have the official Big Ten pre-seeds, so let's plop 'em down right here as well.

1. Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State
2. Alex Marinelli, Iowa
3. Evan Wick, Wisconsin
4. Isaiah White, Nebraska
5. Ethan Smith, Ohio State
6. Shayne Oster, Northwestern
7. Danny Braunagel, Illinois
8. Bailee O'Reilly, Minnesota
9. Drew Hughes, Michigan State
10. Kyle Cochran, Maryland
11. Brett Donner, Rutgers
12. Tyler Meisinger, Michigan
13. Tanner Webster, Purdue
14. Diego Lemley, Indiana

If the pre-seeds hold, then Nomad only missed Oster and Smith switching places and didn't have Lemley in for Hoey for the Hoosiers. That's pretty good!

The Big Ten will have eight automatic qualifiers at this weight class, which will really intensify the #8 vs #9 seeds first-round matchup between O'Reilly and Hughes. They are both capable of making deep runs in March, which a point that segues nicely into our next topic.

Sleepers and Landmines

Ethan Smith is having the best season of anyone outside the big four. He's beaten three-time All-American David McFadden (who, remember, beat Wick this season) and #8 Thomas Bullard of NC State.

Oster is having his best season yet as a senior for the Northwestern Wildcats, having won his last eight regular-season matchups. One of those wins came over Danny Braunagel, who is having a very strong redshirt freshman season for the Illini. Anything less than a secured national qualifier bid this weekend for Smith, Oster, and Braunagel will be a disappointment.

That leaves one AQ for the final six seeds. Bailee O'Reilly and Drew Hughes will have essentially equal chances of snagging it. Both have solid winning records, though none of them have any ranked wins on the season. Hughes does have the experience as a two-time NCAA qualifier.

Spey's Spredictions

1st: Alex Marinelli, Iowa

2nd: Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State

3rd: Evan Wick, Wisconsin

4th: Isaiah White, Nebraska

5th: Ethan Smith, Ohio State

6th: Danny Braunagel, Illinois

7th: Shayne Oster, Northwestern

8th: Drew Hughes, Michigan State

I'm picking an extremely mild upset in Hughes over O'Reilly in round 1. After that it's all chalk until the finals, where I'm picking the Bull to wrestle a more cautious match and deny Joseph a Big Ten title in his fourth trip to the finals; however, I would not be shocked in the slightest if both of those predictions turn out to be incorrect.

Apologies I do not have a bolder prediction for you. All the more reason to root for upsets at the RAC to prove me wrong!

174 Pounds

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. 

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.

Projected 174 Seeds

Automatic Qualifiers - 9

1. (#1) Michael Kemerer, Iowa
2. (#2) Mark Hall, Penn State
3. (#4) Dylan Lydy, Purdue
4. (#7) Mikey Labriola, Nebraska
5. (#6) Devin Skatzka, Minnesota
6. (#8) Kaleb Romero, Ohio State
7. (#20) Joey Gunther, Illinois
8. (#23) Layne Malczewski, Michigan State
9. (#24) Tyler Morland, Northwestern
10. Philip Spadafora, Maryland
11. Jared Krattiger, Wisconsin
12. Willie Scott, Rutgers
13. Max Maylor, Michigan
14. Diego Lemley, Indiana

What a fun weight! Mark Hall is, of course, an NCAA champion who has been to the finals three straight years, Michael Kemerer is a two-time All-American, and Mikey Labriola and Devin Skatzka were on the podium last year. That doesn't even include Dylan Lydy who lost to Labriola in the bloodround last year. 

The last time we saw Michael Kemerer before this season was two years ago at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland when he was a 157-pounder. After missing all of last season due to injuries and bumping up two weight classes, the Hawkeye has looked better than ever. Kemerer is undefeated on the year and has just one match on the year (Mikey Labriola) that was decided by two points or less.

Despite his loss to Michael Kemerer inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Mark Hall has been incredible this season. This is the highest percentage (77%) of bonus-point victories he's ever racked up in a Penn State singlet and it's the most pins he's recorded (11) in the regular season since his true freshman campaign. 

Dylan Lydy is the only wrestler seeded in the top five in this bracket that has not yet been on the podium at the NCAA Championships but this season has been nearly flawless going 28-1 with his only loss coming to Kemerer. Lydy started the year ranked #12 but has shot up the rankings after winning titles at CKLV and Midlands and beating #6 Devin Skatzka, #7 Mikey Labriola, #9 Anthony Valencia, and #11 Kimball Bastian. 

Devin Skatzka caught fire at the end of last season but struggled early to keep the momentum going this season. However, in two of his last four matches, he kept Mark Hall to a 7-4 decision and ended the season with a big win over Mikey Labriola. Skatzka was the five seed last year at the Big Ten Championships and finished third. Can he do it again?

After a disappointing season last year where he didn't end up starting in the postseason, Kaleb Romero bumped up to 174 and has found his groove. The Buckeye started ranked #20 but has skyrocketed up into the top 10 and has some big wins over Anthony Valencia and Devin Skatzka. Will Romero show he can take another step up and break into tier two of this weight?

Bratke's Predictions

1. Mark Hall, Penn State
2. Michael Kemerer, Iowa
3. Dylan Lydy, Purdue
4. Devin Skatzka, Minnesota
5. Mikey Labriola, Nebraska
6. Kaleb Romero, Ohio State
7. Tyler Morland, Northwestern
8. Joey Gunther, Illinois
9. Layne Malczewski, Michigan State

I don't think Michael Kemerer's win over Mark Hall was a fluke, but I'm not picking it to happen again. This matchup won't be going down inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and I think now that Hall has felt Kemerer he will make the right adjustments and win his third Big Ten title. 

I'm really interested to see how this year's version of Dylan Lydy stacks up against Mark Hall. They haven't hit since last January when Hall won 6-2, but Lydy has clearly jumped levels, but does he have enough offense to upset Hall? I'll take Hall, but this will be one of the semifinals I'm looking forward to the most. 

Skatzka is 1-1 against Labriola this season, but the Gopher won the last matchup and beat Labriola twice at last year's Big Ten Championships. Give me Skatzka to turn it on in the postseason once again. I can't pick him higher than third though as he is 0-5 all-time against Lydy.

Watch Skatzka take out Labriola at last year's Big Ten Championsips. 

Romero has been outstanding this season but is 1-5 against the wrestlers seeded ahead of him with his lone win coming against Skatzka who he split with this year. I just can't see him breaking into the top five of this loaded weight. 

This is a rare weight where matches will be wrestled past eighth place due to the number of automatic qualifiers this weight gets. While battling injuries Tyler Morland has been very solid this season and recently beat Joey Gunther. He may not be the most exciting wrestler in the country, but I believe Gunther will earn an automatic bid and qualify for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in his college career. Layne Malczewski has had a very good freshman season and I believe he caps it off with a trip the NCAAs.

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.

184 Pounds

184-pounds is the most unique in all of college wrestling. The Big Ten is the most dominant in every other division. Not so at 184. 

Furthermore, the biggest NCAA news bombshell that was dropped this season involved 184, as two-time NCAA champ and Hodge Trophy frontrunner Zahid Valencia of Arizona State was suspended indefinitely from the team two weeks ago. Assuming Zahid is not reinstated in time for the Pac-12 Championship this weekend, 184 went from having one of the biggest favorites to win the title, to being the most wide open by a large margin. 

Could one of the many Big Ten contenders weave their way through the bracket and claim the ultimate prize Saturday night on prime time cable TV? It's possible. But they'll have to battle each other first in Piscataway, which will have many national seeding implications on the line. 

To get an idea of how the Big Ten 184-pounders have fared this season with regard to the national landscape, the graph below shows the number of projected tournament points as determined by the national rankings, broken down by conference.

For once, it's not the Big Ten that is hogging all the space. The ACC, with the second, third and fifth-ranked wrestlers in the country, command a plurality of the projected NCAA points up for grabs. 

The Pac-12 took a hit, as you would expect after Zahid was removed from the rankings, and their yellow band of expected points narrowed to zero. Five of the seven conferences have wrestlers in the top eight, but only two of them are from the Big Ten. 

The Big Ten has depth, though, as we will discover when we check out the long list of contenders for the 184-pound 2020 Big Ten title. 

Contenders

#6 Aaron Brooks, Penn State

#7 Cam Caffey, Michigan State

#9 Abe Assad, Iowa

#10 Taylor Venz, Nebraska

#12 Rocky Jordan, Ohio State

#13 Zac Bruanagel, Illinois

#15 Billy Janzer, Rutgers

#18 Owen Webster, Minnesota

#20 Johnny Sebastian, Wisconsin

#22 Jelani Embree, Michigan

Aaron Brooks graduated high school in 2018 and spent the last season training at the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. That left him with true freshman eligibility when he got to campus in State College last fall. 

Brooks started in redshirt but Coach Sanderson tore that off in early December when it became clear that Kyle Conel's injuries would keep him out of the lineup. Shakur Rasheed bumped to 197 and Brooks was plugged into 184. Brooks acquited himself well right off the bat, beating Lehigh's Chris Weiler in his first varsity match. 

Weiler was one of seven top-25 wins Brooks would accumulate this season. Another was against Big Ten rival Zac Braunagel, which you can watch below. 

Brooks' one loss on the year is to Nebraska's All-American Taylor Venz. Though it won't be reflected in his seed, Venz also gave Zahid Valencia the toughest match of the season. Venz has had trouble closing out some matches this year, as reflected by his three in-conference losses, but when he's on, he's as legit a contender as anyone in the nation. Watch his match with Brooks below for more evidence of that. 

Like Brooks, Abe Assad has true freshman eligibility and also had his redshirt torn off mid-season. Assad's shirt didn't come off until after Midlands, where he outplaced his teammates Cash Wilcke and Nelson Brands. 

Cam Caffey rounds out or list of top contenders, though I included more wrestlers in the list for reasons which we will explain shortly. Caffey took a few losses earlier in the season but is rolling into the postseason on a 10-match winning streak, including a victory over Wisconsin's Johnny Sebastian.

So why so many wrestlers in the list of contenders? Because the weight class is like the arms of the rock band Creed: wide open. 

Brooks may be the slight favorite, but he has a loss to Venz, who lost Rocky Jordan, Caffey and Assad. Jordan lost to Billy Janzer and Owen Webster. Webster lost to Jelani Embree twice, and Embree lost to Zac Braunagel and Johnny Sebastian. That plus a whole lot of other circular wins and losses occurred, all within the Big Ten. 

The Big Ten may not have as many heavy favorites to place in the top half of the podium as they do in the other weight classes, the will nonetheless have quite a few of All-American caliber arrows in their quiver. 

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 184.

1. Aaron Brooks, Penn State
2. Cam Caffey, Michigan State
3. Abe Assad, Iowa
4. Taylor Venz, Nebraska
5. Billy Janzer, Rutgers
6. Owen Webster, Minnesota
7. Rocky Jordan, Ohio State
8. Zac Braunagel, Illinois
9. Johnny Sebastian, Wisconsin
10. Jelani Embree, Michigan
11. Max Lyon, Purdue
12. Jack Jessen, Northwestern
13. Jakob Hinz, Indiana
14. Kyle Jasenski, Maryland

The Big Ten will have 10 automatic qualifiers at this weight class, and they're going to need everyone one of them and more. 

Because I procrastinated long enough in finishing this preview, we can also look at the Big Ten Preseeds that have already been released.

1. Aaron Brooks, Penn State
2. Cameron Caffey, Michigan State
3. Abe Assad, Iowa
4. Taylor Venz, Nebraska
5. Billy Janzer, Rutgers
6. Rocky Jordan, Ohio State
7. Zac Braunagel, Illinois
8. Owen Webster, Minnesota
9. Johnny Sebastian, Wisconsin
10. Jelani Embree, Michigan
11. Max Lyon, Purdue
12. Jack Jessen, Northwestern
13. Jake Hinz, Indiana
14. Kyle Jasenski, Maryland

Nomad appears to know what he's doing. He only missed the Braunagel, Webster, Jordan trifecta. So yeah, pretty good!

Sleepers and Landmines

When you list 10 contenders you don't leave yourself a whole lot of options for sleepers and landmines, but Jack Jessen - who has a win over Jelani Embree - and Max Lyon - who beat Zac Braunagel in the last dual of the season for the Boilermakers - are two guys with potential that should not be overlooked. 

Does that mean they also have a case to be in the contenders' list? Sure, why not? Twelve contenders!

Spey's Spredictions

1st: Taylor Venz, Nebraska

2nd: Abe Assad, Iowa

3rd: Aaron Brooks, Penn State

4th: Billy Janzer, Rutgers

5th: Cam Caffey, Michigan State

6th: Rocky Jordan, Ohio State

7th: Zac Braunagel, Illinois

8th: Owen Webster, Minnesota

This was certainly the most difficult to predict in all of the previews that I have done. Assuming the pre-seeds hold, I think we'll see Venz and Brooks meet in the semifinals. I think Venz gets it done in a mild upset, though what is also a repeat from the regular season. 

On the bottom side, I think we'll see another upset, as Abe Assad gets past a very game Rocky Jordan in the quarterfinals and then Cam Caffey in the semifinals. I've got Venz growing stronger as the tournament goes on and beating Assad to take the Big Ten crown in the finals. 

There are going to be major battles in every round, so don't sleep on any session as this weight class is going to entertain no matter what round we're in. 

All the more reason to tune in and see what I got wrong in the predictions. I predict that will happen a lot!

197 Pounds

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. 

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.

197-Pound Seeds

Automatic Qualifiers - 6

1. Kollin Moore, Ohio State
2. Eric Schultz, Nebraska
3. Jacob Warner, Iowa
4. Christian Brunner, Purdue
5. Lucas Davison, Northwestern
6. Shakur Rasheed, Penn State
7. Jordan Pagano, Rutgers
8. Jackson Striggow, Michigan
9. Jaron Smith, Maryland
10. Hunter Ritter, Minnesota
11. Matt Wroblewski, Illinois
12. Nick May, Michigan State
13. Taylor Watkins, Wisconsin
14. 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

1. Kollin Moore, Ohio State
2. Jacob Warner, Iowa
3. Eric Schultz, Nebraska
4. Lucas Davison, Northwestern
5. Christian Brunner, Purdue
6. 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.

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. 

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. 

285 Pounds

Heavyweight watchers were subjected to whiplash this season, as the returning champ, Anthony Cassar of Penn State, went down with an injury in December wrestling freestyle at Senior Nationals which ended his collegiate career. Nearly simultaneously to Cassar going down was the news that Gable Steveson would return to the Minnesota lineup and assume the role of NCAA title favorite. 

Though he placed third last season, the highest of anyone still in the field, Steveson still has a long way to go, with plenty of worthy contenders looking to derail his championship run.

To get an idea of how much weight these Big Ten heavies have been throwing around this season, the graph below shows the number of projected tournament points as determined by the national rankings, broken down by conference.

The Big Tens started strong and got stronger, as Mason Parris proved to have jumped levels from his true freshman season last year. The conference got a bump from Steveson's return and for a couple of weeks had both Cassar and Steveson in the rankings. The projected points dipped when it was established that Cassar's NCAA career was lamentably finished. The weight class nationwide has remained remarkably stable ever since. 

Contenders

#1 Gable Steveson, Minnesota

#2 Mason Parris, Michigan

Although they have not wrestled each other this season, Steveson and Parris have clearly separated themselves from the rest of the conference. Tony Cassioppi beat the next highest returning All-American in the conference, Trent Hillger, and Steveson and Parris both beat Cassioppi in the last month of the regular season. Parris also beat Hillger, just to make the hierarchy even more clear.

Parris made this season's level jump explicit by way of his career series with Central Michigan's Matt Stencel. Stencel placed seventh at NCAAs last season, and held a 2-1 series lead against Parris going into this season. That series now stands at 4-2 in favor of Parris, as the Michigan man by way of Indiana has beaten his intra-state nemesis three straight times this year. 

For evidence that Gable Steveson has not lost a step during his absence from the mat, look no further than his win over Tony Cassioppi, which was more dominant than the final score would imply. 

Neither Steveson nor Parris are pushing the upper weight limits of the division, relying more on speed, footwork, and athleticism to defeat their often larger opponents. Our own Mike Mal has made a case for Steveson winning a Big Ten title as well as one for Parris (that is Mike for you, ever the fair and balanced diplomat). It would be a major upset if anyone but those two made it to the finals in Piscataway.

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 285.

1. Gable Steveson, Minnesota
2. Mason Parris, Michigan
3. Tony Cassioppi, Iowa
4. Trent Hillger, Wisconsin
5. David Jensen, Nebraska
6. Gary Traub, Ohio State
7. Seth Nevills, Penn State
8. Thomas Penola, Purdue
9. Luke Luffman, Illinois
10. Alex Esposito, Rutgers
11. Christian Rebotarro, Michigan State
12. Jake Kleimola, Indiana
13. Jack Heyob, Northwestern
14. Parker Robinson, Maryland

And thanks to our procrastination, we can also look at the Big Ten pre-seeds, which have been released. They are below. 

1. Mason Parris, Michigan
2. Gable Steveson, Minnesota
3. Tony Cassioppi, Iowa
4. Trent Hillger, Wisconsin
5. David Jensen, Nebraska
6. Gary Traub, Ohio State
7. Seth Nevillis, Penn State
8. Thomas Penola, Purdue
9. Luke Luffman, Illinois
10. Alex Esposito, Rutgers
11. Christian Rebottaro, Michigan State
12. Jake Kleimola, Indiana
13. Jack Heyob, Northwestern
14. Parker Robinson, Maryland

Wow, did Nomad blow it or what? Just kidding, he actually did extremely well, only flip-flopping Parris and Steveson at the top. Looks like the coaches are rewarding Parris for wrestling a full season.

The Big Ten will have seven automatic qualifiers at this weight class, so expect some fierce competition in the wrestlebacks for those final AQs. Winning in the bloodround won't be enough; you'll still need one more to punch your ticket without having to rely on an at-large bid. 

Sleepers and Landmines

Hillger and Cassioppi have separated themselves into the next tier below Gable and Mason. The smart money is for Big Tone to place third, beating the guy the Badger fans call Thor for the second time this season in the consolation finals. 

And then there is the best nickname in college wrestling, Gas Tank Gary. Traub wasn't expected to start this season, though he was pressed into service as the anchor of the Buckeye lineup when 2019 national qualifier Chase Singletary went down with a season-ending injury and has made the most of his opportunity. The Brobdingnagian Buckeye has been electrifying crowds ever since getting the chance, with his signature performance this year coming in the last dual of the season, when Traub beat conference rival Seth Nevills of Penn State in front of a sold-out Bryce Jordan Center crowd. 

Spey's Spredictions

1st: Gable Steveson, Minnesota

2nd: Mason Parris, Michigan

3rd: Tony Cassioppi, Iowa

4th: Trent Hillger, Wisconsin

5th: David Jensen, Nebraska

6th: Seth Nevills, Penn State

7th: Gary Traub, Ohio State

8th: Thomas Penola, Purdue

Mostly chalk. What can I say, years of professional prognostication have left me very risk-averse. And regardless of who wins, we will all be in for a treat if we get a Steveson Parris final, as they two have yet to meet this year. Steveson should be the favorite regardless of the seeds, but this is New Mason Parris, a guy who pinned Iran's Amir Zare for a UWW junior world gold medal over the summer. This is going to be a fun one. 

The other upset I'm picking is Seth Nevills over Gary Traub, reversing a result from the excellent dual meet earlier this season. That one is just a hunch, and should the Gas Tank prove me hilariously wrong, I won't hold it against him!