Big Ten Announces 2012 Wrestling Championships Pre-Seeds

Big Ten Announces 2012 Wrestling Championships Pre-Seeds Big Ten Wrestling Championships set for March 3-4 in West Lafayette, Ind.  PARK RIDGE, Ill. – The

Big Ten Announces 2012 Wrestling Championships Pre-Seeds

Big Ten Wrestling Championships set for March 3-4 in West Lafayette, Ind.

 

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference has announced the preliminary seeds for the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 3-4 (Saturday-Sunday) on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, rank the top-eight wrestlers in seven weight classes, along with all 12 schools’ starters in three weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving nine or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes.

Michigan State has six wrestlers who earned pre-seeds.

Anthony Jones Jr. is the highest-seeded Spartan, coming in at fourth in the 157-pound class. Jones, currently ranked ninth in the nation at 157 pounds, missed all of last season due to injury and is a two-time NCAA qualifier. Jones placed third in the Big Ten Championships in 2010 and posted a 3-2 record at the NCAA Championships that season, one win shy of earning All-America honors. Jones led the Spartans with 11 dual wins this season and has won four consecutive matches; he is 19-6 overall.

Senior Curran Jacobs will be the No. 6 seed at 174 pounds. Ranked No. 18 in the nation, Jacobs is 22-8 overall and went 10-4 in dual meets. The Owosso, Mich., native will be looking for his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships after qualifying last season by placing seventh at the Big Ten Championships. Jacobs has defeated three ranked wrestlers this season, including No. 8 seed Jordan Blanton of Illinois and No. 9 seed Lee Munster of Northwestern.

At 125 pounds, Brenan Lyon (12-11 record) earned a No. 8 seed, while Dan Osterman is a No. 9 seed at 149 pounds. Osterman leads MSU with 23 victories this season and is tied for the team lead with five falls. He placed seventh at the Big Ten Championships as a sophomore last year to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Senior Ian Hinton, the No. 8 seed at 184 pounds, will be looking for his third trip to the NCAA Championships. A qualifier his first two seasons at 174 pounds, Hinton narrowly missed a trip last year in his first year wrestling at 184. Hinton is 18-10 this season and won six dual-meet matches.

Wrestling in his first career Big Ten Championships, junior Steve Andrus will be the No. 10 seed at heavyweight. Andrus owns a 20-11 record and placed in the top six at four tournaments this season.

The Big Ten Championships are the most prestigious conference championships in the nation, year in and year out. Nine teams from the Big Ten are currently ranked in the Top 25 of the NWCA/USA Today Coaches' Poll, including six in the top eight (No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Penn State, No. 4 Iowa, No. 5 Illinois, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 Nebraska). The conference will send 74 qualifiers to the NCAA Championships March 15-17 in St. Louis, 28 more than any other conference (a total of 290 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships).

The RPI strength of each weight class determines the amount of qualifiers from each conference. This year, the following allocation numbers per weight class for the Big Ten are: 125 (6), 133 (7), 141 (5), 149 (9), 157 (6), 165 (8), 174 (9), 184 (7), 197 (7), and heavyweight (10).

For more information on the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page on Purdue’s web site here. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below.

125 lbs.

1.      Matt McDonough, IOWA

2.      Zach Sanders, MINN

3.      Nico Megaludis, PSU

4.      Jesse Delgado, ILL

5.      Levi Mele, NU

6.      Johnni DiJulius, OSU

7.      Camden Eppert, PUR

8.      Brenan Lyon, MSU

133 lbs.

1.      Logan Stieber, OSU

2.      Tony Ramos, IOWA

3.      B.J. Futrell, ILL

4.      Chris Dardanes, MINN

5.      Cashé Quiroga, PUR

6.      Zac Stevens, MICH

7.      Ridge Kiley, NEB

8.      Frank Martelotti, PSU

141 lbs.

1.      Kellen Russell, MICH

2.      Hunter Stieber, OSU

3.      Montell Marion, IOWA

4.      Nick Dardanes, MINN

5.      Jake Sueflohn, NEB

6.      Daryl Thomas, ILL

7.      Matt Ortega, IND

8.      Bryan Pearsall, PSU

149 lbs.

1.      Frank Molinaro, PSU

2.      Eric Grajales, MICH

3.      Dylan Ness, MINN

4.      Ivan Lopouchanski, PUR

5.      Cam Tessari, OSU

6.      Taylor Walsh, IND

7.      Eric Terrazas, ILL

8.      Kaleb Friedley, NU

9.      Dan Osterman, MSU

10.  Mike Kelly, IOWA

11.  Skylar Galloway, NEB

12.  Frank Baer, WIS

157 lbs.

1.      Jason Welch, NU

2.      Dylan Alton, PSU

3.      James Green, NEB

4.      Anthony Jones, MSU

5.      Josh Demas, OSU

6.      Derek St. John, IOWA

7.      Tommy Churchard, PUR

8.      Jackson Morse, ILL

165 lbs.

1.      David Taylor, PSU

2.      Mike Evans, IOWA

3.      Robert Kokesh, NEB

4.      Ben Jordan, WIS

5.      Conrad Polz, ILL

6.      Dan Yates, MICH

7.      Cody Yohn, MINN

8.      Derek Garcia, OSU

174 lbs.

1.      Ed Ruth, PSU

2.      Logan Storley, MINN

3.      Ethen Lofthouse, IOWA

4.      Justin Zeerip, MICH

5.      Nick Heflin, OSU

6.      Curran Jacobs, MSU

7.      Tyler Koehn, NEB

8.      Jordan Blanton, ILL

9.      Lee Munster, NU

10.  Ryan LeBlanc, IND

11.  Drake Stein, PUR

12.  Frank Cousins, WIS

184 lbs.

1.      Kevin Steinhaus, MINN

2.      Quentin Wright, PSU

3.      Josh Ihnen, NEB

4.      Grant Gambrall, IOWA

5.      C.J. Magrum, OSU

6.      Braden Atwood, PUR

7.      Tony Dallago, ILL

8.      Ian Hinton, MSU

197 lbs.

1.      Sonny Yohn, MINN

2.      Matt Powless, IND

3.      Morgan McIntosh, PSU

4.      Max Huntley, MICH

5.      Mario Gonzalez, ILL

6.      Andrew Campolattano, OSU

7.      James Nakashima, NEB

8.      A.J. Kissel, PUR

285 lbs.

1.      Tony Nelson, MINN

2.      Cameron Wade, PSU

3.      Ben Apland, MICH

4.      Tucker Lane, NEB

5.      Mike McMullan, NU

6.      Bobby Telford, IOWA

7.      Adam Chalfant, IND

8.      Roger Vukobratovich, PUR

9.      Peter Capone, OSU

10.  Steve Andrus, MSU

11.  Pat Walker, ILL

12.  Cole Tobin, WIS