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By Earl Smith

This weekend the toughest conference in the country, the Big Ten, will hold their championship event in Bloomington, Indiana on the campus of Indiana University. As is the case every year, the competition is unparalleled, individually and team wise. Six of the ten #1 ranked wrestlers will be in action, looking to earn Big Ten titles and solidify their #1 seed at Nationals. Eight wrestlers will begin Saturday with undefeated records. Eight of FloWrestling's top 15 tournament teams will be in attendance.

Here are some of the best of the best, a list of the returning All-Americans that will be competing.
125: Thomas Gilman (2nd, 4th), Conor Youtsey (5th, 6th)
133: Nathan Tomasello (3rd, 1st), Eric Montoya (5th), Cory Clark (2nd, 2nd, 5th), Zane Richards (4th)
141: Anthony Ashnault (4th, 8th), Jimmy Gulibon (5th)
149: Zain Retherford (1st, 5th), Brandon Sorensen (2nd, 4th)
157: Jason Nolf (2nd), Brian Murphy (7th)
165: Isaiah Martinez (1st, 1st), Isaac Jordan (2nd, 7th, 7th)
174: Bo Jordan (3rd, 3rd), Alex Meyer (8th)
184: Bo Nickal (2nd), Sam Brooks (8th), Nate Jackson (5th), Myles Martin (1st), TJ Dudley (2nd)
197: Brett Pfarr (3rd)
285: Kyle Snyder (1st, 2nd), Connor Medbery (4th), Michael Kroells (7th, 8th)

These are the fearless predictions. Since the official brackets have not been released, some of the placings could change by Saturday. The number in parenthesis is the number of NCAA qualifier allocations per weight class.

125 (7)

1. Thomas Gilman (Iowa)
2. Tim Lambert (Nebraska)
3. Ethan Lizak (Minnesota)
4. Conor Youtsey (Michigan)
5. Elijah Oliver (Indiana)
6. Johnny Jimenez (Wisconsin)
7. Jose Rodriguez (Ohio State)
8. Brandon Paetzell (Rutgers)

The predictions at 125 are under the assumption that Penn State's Nick Suriano enters, starts a match, and then defaults out of the tournament. His potential meeting with Thomas Gilman was one of the most anticipated matches of the event and Suriano's injury suffered in the National Duals may prevent it from occurring. Barring a Gilman/Suriano match, the semi on the top half of the bracket is the one to watch. Gilman would potentially see Ethan Lizak, the victim of Gilman's epic comeback in their dual meet. For the most part, I see most seeds holding up at 125.

133 (9)

1. Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State)
2. Cory Clark (Iowa)
3. Eric Montoya (Nebraska)
4. Stevan Micic (Michigan)
5. Zane Richards (Illinois)
6. Mitch McKee (Minnesota)
7. Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers)
8. Luke Welch (Purdue)

All season, I have been paying close attention to the 133lber's in the Big Ten. Though Nathan Tomasello enters the weekend undefeated, this could be the most wide open weight class short of 184. This weight class has the most possible permutations between finals opponents. Look for the battle-tested veteran from Iowa, Cory Clark to come through the bottom half of the bracket avenging a dual meet loss to Eric Montoya. When the smoke clears, Tomasello should still keep his undefeated streak intact.

ICYMI: Big 10 Pre-Seeds

141 (9)

1. Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers)
2. Tommy Thorn (Minnesota)
3. Luke Pletcher (Ohio State)
4. Colton McCrystal (Nebraska)
5. Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State)
6. Topher Carton (Iowa)
7. Javier Gasca (Michigan State)
8. Cole Martin (Wisconsin)

The returning Big Ten Champion at 141lbs Anthony Ashnault is going to be a strong favorite to repeat in 2017. After Ashnault, it's anyone's guess. Jimmy Gulibon has the two seed, but as always, which Gulibon will we see? As you can see from my predictions, I like the Ohio State Freshman Luke Pletcher to wrestle above his seed and pull an upset or two.

149 (6)

1. Zain Retherford (Penn State)
2. Brandon Sorensen (Iowa)
3. Micah Jordan (Ohio State)
4. Baby J Bannister (Maryland)
5. Ken Theobold (Rutgers)
6. Eric Barone (Illinois)
7. Andrew Crone (Wisconsin)
8. Chris Perez (Indiana)

2016 Hodge Trophy Runner-Up Zain Retherford looked like a shoo-in to repeat as an undefeated Big Ten and NCAA Champion until mid-January when he was taken to tiebreakers by Iowa's Brandon Sorensen. After another close call against Oklahoma State's Anthony Collica, you start to wonder if he will be vulnerable this postseason. It is not a lock that Sorensen would be his finals opponent though, as he has a stiff test with Micah Jordan in the bottom semi.

157 (9)

1. Jason Nolf (Penn State)
2. Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
3. Brian Murphy (Michigan)
4. Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
5. Jake Short (Minnesota)
6. TJ Ruschell (Wisconsin)
7. John Van Brill (Rutgers)
8. Alex Griffin (Purdue)

Jason Nolf has been on another level from the rest of the 157lb class all season and expect that to be the same this weekend. He has earned bonus points in 18 of 19 bouts this season, the only regular decision was when he faced Iowa's Michael Kemerer. The pair is likely to meet again in the finals and possibly in St. Louis as well. After Nolf, this weight class features a great deal of depth (hence the nine qualifiers) and wrestlers such as TJ Ruschell and Alex Griffin could make their way into the top eight.

165 (7)

1. Isaiah Martinez (Illinois)
2. Logan Massa (Michigan)
3. Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin)
4. Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State)
5. Nick Wanzek (Minnesota)
6. Drew Hughes (Michigan State)
7. Joey Gunther (Iowa)
8. Dustin Williams (Nebraska)

It will be anything but a cakewalk for two-time NCAA Champion Isaiah Martinez, as he attempts to win his third Big Ten crown. Standing his way in the semi's is Freshman Vincenzo Joseph, one of the latest high flying Penn State Freshmen. Either, NCAA Runner-Up Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin, or upstart Michigan Freshman Logan Massa would await in the finals. Massa has defeated Jordan twice in high scoring affairs, while Martinez accounted for the Wolverine's lone loss this year.

174 (9)

1. Mark Hall (Penn State)
2. Bo Jordan (Ohio State)
3. Myles Amine (Michigan)
4. Alex Meyer (Iowa)
5. Zac Brunson (Illinois)
6. Jacob Morrissey (Purdue)
7. Micah Barnes (Nebraska)
8. Jordan Pagano (Rutgers)

It disappointed me that we didn't get to see Bo Jordan and Mark Hall during Ohio State and Penn State's dual meet, but on the flip side it also enhances the anticipation for a possible Big Ten Finals match between the pair. While I'm taking Hall to pull the upset, I do worry about his ability to wrestle on the mat with Jordan. This matchup would pit the top recruit from the Class of 2016 (Hall) against the top recruit from the Class of 2013 (Jordan). The last time two #1 overall recruits met was two seasons ago, also OSU/PSU with Kyle Snyder and Morgan McIntosh.

184 (9)

1. Bo Nickal (Penn State)
2. Sam Brooks (Iowa)
3. TJ Dudley (Nebraska)
4. Nate Jackson (Indiana)
5. Myles Martin (Ohio State)
6. Emery Parker (Illinois)
7. Nick Gravina (Rutgers)
8. Mitch Sliga (Northwestern)

What a top five! At this weight class you have two returning NCAA Finalists at 174 (Martin and Nickal) and the two returning Big Ten Finalists at 184 (Brooks and Dudley) from a year ago. Bo Nickal has separated himself from the rest of the Big Ten, but on the bottom half of the bracket it will be a battle between Brooks and Indiana's Nate Jackson. The pair split matches, meeting twice at the Midlands. Oh, did I mention a quarterfinal match between TJ Dudley and Myles Martin?

197 (7)

1. Kollin Moore (Ohio State)
2. Brett Pfarr (Minnesota)
3. Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska)
4. Matt McCutheon (Penn State)
5. Ricky Robertson (Wisconsin)
6. Jacob Berkowitz (Northwestern)
7. Christian Brunner (Purdue)
8. Cash Wilcke (Iowa)

I'm going out on a limb with this one, but the Ohio State Freshman Kollin Moore has been very impressive all year long. Two of his three losses have come to Brett Pfarr, however he closed the gap to two points in the latest meeting after getting majored at Las Vegas in December. Look for the trend to continue when they meet a third time. Nebraska's Aaron Studebaker is always tough and will present a tall task from the Buckeye in the semi's.

285 (5)

1. Kyle Snyder (Ohio State)
2. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin)
3. Nick Nevills (Penn State)
4. Michael Kroells (Minnesota)
5. Brooks Black (Illinois)
6. Collin Jensen (Nebraska)
7. Razohnn Gross (Rutgers)
8. Tyler Kral (Purdue)

Heavyweight is the only weight class that could pit two undefeated wrestlers against each other in the finals with Kyle Snyder and Connor Medbery. The question is will Medbery be able to keep Snyder to a regular decision? Prior to that meeting the Badger will have to get by Penn State's Nick Nevills. The pair had a one point match in their earlier dual meet. With only five automatic bids to the NCAA Championships here, competition will be very strong for that fifth and final spot.

Team Race

1. Penn State
2. Ohio State
3. Iowa
4. Nebraska
5. Minnesota
6. Illinois
7. Rutgers
8. Wisconsin
9. Michigan
10. Indiana

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