The 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will take place March 9-10 with the University of Maryland hosting the tournament. This event will feature many of the best wrestlers in the country and serves as the NCAA Qualifier for every Big Ten team. Seeds for the tournament will be announced the week of the event but we wanted to make our attempt to predict the seeds now that Big Ten competition is complete. Check out the article below to see our predictions and a brief explanation of how we sorted out some of the trickier weights in the conference. 

125 Pounds

Despite a loss to Caleb Smith, Matt Ramos is the clear #1 seed with wins over Drake Ayala, Patrick McKee, Eric Barnett, and Dean Peterson. Things get tricky after Ramos with several wrestlers trading wins and losses. I chose to give Barnett the #2 based on his win over Caleb Smith and only suffering losses to Patrick McKee and Matt Ramos. On top of that, Barnett's 7-2 record against Big 10 competition reflects the fact Barnett wrestled all of his Big 10 matches - most notably Barnett wrestled the Iowa dual against Joey Cruz while Drake Ayala sat out and didn't wrestle Barnett.

Beyond Ayala sitting out Wisconsin, he has losses against Matt Ramos and Michael DeAugustino but wins over Braeden Davis, Patrick McKee (2), and Caleb Smith. Those wins should be enough to offset the loss to DeAugustino and give Ayala the #3 seed. 

Patrick McKee comes in at the #4 seed for his wins over Eric Barnett and Caleb Smith. However, McKee doesn't move higher because of losses to Matt Ramos, Dean Peterson, and Drake Ayala. 

Caleb Smith has a case to be higher as the only wrestler in the field with a win over Matt Ramos. On the other hand, Smith's losses to McKee, Barnett, and Ayala place him pretty squarely at the #5.

Braeden Davis comes in at the #6 seed with wins over Dean Peterson and Michael DeAugustino but losses to Caleb Smith and Drake Ayala. Though DeAugustino boasts the win over Ayala, his losses to Caleb Smith and Braeden Davis make the #7 seed a perfect landing spot for the Wolverine. 

133 Pounds

Dylan Ragusin holds wins over Dylan Shawver (2), Nic Bouzakis, Aaron Nagao, and Braxton Brown making him the clear #1 despite a loss to Jacob Van Dee. Shawver is in a similar position at the #2 with strong wins over Nic Bouzakis, Aaron Nagao, and Braxton Brown but losses to Dylan Ragusin and Tyler Wells. I believe Shawver's wins should outweigh the loss to Wells and give him the #2 seed.

Nic Bouzakis only suffered losses in his Big 10 campaign to Dylan Ragusin and Dylan Shawver and defeated Brown, Riveral, Hampton, Madrigal, and Norris. Jacob Van Dee holds impressive wins over Dylan Ragusin and Brady Teske but he has notable losses on the year to Teske and Madrigal. I chose to give Bouzakis the edge over Van Dee because of Van Dee's "bad losses".

Aaron Nagao has had an odd year and doesn't have any ranked wins over anyone in this field. However, it's worth noting that Nagao defeated Cullan Schriever who would be seeded 6th or 7th in this field. Because of that win, and Nagao's career resume, I believe he should come in at the #5 spot. 

Brody Teske didn't wrestle all of his Big 10 matches at 133 and is challenging to rank because of that. Teske's win over Van Dee is notable but I chose to reward Braxton Brown for wrestling all of his Big 10 matches and only suffering losses to Ragusin, Shawver, and Bouzakis. 

Finally, it's worth explaining Tyler Well's position because of his win over Dylan Shawver. Despite that win, Wells lost to both Anthony Madrigal and Braxton Brown so he comes in at the #9 spot behind both of those wrestlers. 

141 Pounds

Beau Bartlett is undefeated and the clear #1 seed. Jesse Mendez only lost to Bartlett and comes in at the #2 ahead of Real Woods who lost to both Sergio Lemley and Beau Bartlett. Woods' win over Brock Hardy is enough to keep him at the #3 spot. Hardy's win over Lemley puts him squarely at the #4.

Moore, Vombaur, Fongaro, Hamdan, and Miller have all traded wins and losses this year making it challenging to sort out their positions. I gave Moore the nod for his wins over Vombaur and Miller despite losing to Jordan Hamdan. Vombaur only lost to wrestlers I have seeded above him and boasts a win over Kal Miller. From there, I chose to give Fogaro the nod for his win over Hamdan, and Hamdan over Miller because of a head-to-head result and Hamdan's win over Mitch Moore.

149 Pounds

Ridge Lovett is the clear #1 seed with an undefeated record and wins over Austin Comez, Tyler Kasak, Caleb Rathjen, and Dylan D'Emilio. Gomez didn't wrestle Rathjen or Kasak but his wins over Miller, Rooks, D'Emilio, Voinovich, and Miller should be enough to give him the #2 seed in my opinion.

Rathjen's only loss in the Big Ten was against Ridge Lovett and his wins over Kasak, Robters, and Zargo are enough to give him the #3 seed. Kasak comes in at the #4 seed for his wins over D'Emilio, Rooks, and Cetta.

Though D'Emilio lost to Cetta, D'Emilio's wins over Rooks, Zargo, and Miller should land him at the #5. Miller and Zargo could go either way at the #6 and #7 seeds. I chose to give the nod to Miller because he wrestled a slightly tougher schedule and they have the same record. 

Michael Cetta does have a case to be higher because of his win over Dylan D'Emilio but his losses to Roberts and Rooks land him at the #10 spot from my perspective.

157 Pounds

Seeding 157 gets a little funky after Haines and Blockhus. I chose to give Saldate the #3 seed because he is 7-1 in Big Ten competition and only lost to Levi Haines. Beyond that, Saldate wrestled in duals against both Michigan and Indiana where Brayton Lee and Will Lewan didn't take the mat. Because Saldate took the mat every time, I chose to reward him for his efforts.

Though Franek lost to Will Lewan, Michael Blockhus, and Levi Haines, his wins over Joey Blaze and Peyton Robb should enough to give him the #4 seed. 

Brayton Lee is undefeated on the year but he's only wrestled 5 matches this season. His wins over Will Lewan and Joey Blaze are enough to give him the #5 seed but I don't believe he should be rewarded for missing half of his Big 10 matches.

Peyton Robb dropped matches this season to Levi Haines, Joey Blaze, Michael Blockhus, and Jared Franek but his two wins over Will Lewan give him the #6 seed. Will Lewan's win over Jared Franek is enough to put him above Joey Blaze. Though Blaze beat Peyton Robb, he also suffered losses to Brayton Lee, Michael Blockhus, Jared Franek, and Trevor Chumbley. Had Blaze not lost to Chumbley, he would likely come in above Robb.

165 Pounds

As the only two undefeated wrestlers in the weight, Dean Hamiti and Mitchell Mesenbrink are the clear #1 and #2 seeds respectively at 165. After that, Caliendo and Fish come in at #3 and #4. Both only lost to Hamiti and Mesenbrink and won all their other Big 10 bouts.

I gave Antrell Taylor the #5 seed for his win over Cam Amine even though he lost to Stoney Buell. Buell comes in right after Taylor - the two split matches on the year but Taylor boasts the Amine win which is better than any victory Buell has on the year. 

174 Pounds

The top 8 seeds at 174 pounds are the clearest of any weight so far and follow all of the results from the Big Ten season. Donnell Washington suffered a loss to DJ Shannon but his win over Brody Baumann puts him at the #9. Baumann comes in at the 10 for his win over Bubba Wilson. Though DJ Shannon beat Washington, his loss to Dom Solis keeps him lower in the seeds. I could see Bubba Wilson sliding further because he doesn't have any wins over anyone in the field other than Ferrante. However, Wilson's results nationally are better than Solis or Shannon and because of that, I gave Wilson the edge in these seeds.

184 Pounds

Salazar and Pinto are the clear #1 and #2 seeds - Salazar defeated Pinto head to head and Pinto boasts wins over Truax and Bullock. While Ryder Rogotzke defeated Bernie Truax, Rogotzke also lost to Brian Soldano and James Rowley. Those losses should be taken into consideration and drop Rogotzke behind Truax in my seeds. Rogotzke's wins over Truax, Bullock, and Malczewski are still enough to give him the #4 seed.

Bullock and Malczewski are the clear #5 and #6 but things get a little tricky after that. Because of Soldano's win over Ryder Rogotzke, I chose to give him the edge over Shane Liegel. The same went for Troy Fisher, he suffered a loss to Aiden Riggins but his win over Soldano gives him the #9 spot. 

Finally, it's worth explaining James Rowley's position because he defeated Ruder Rogotzke early in the season. Despite that win, Rowley has suffered losses to Conlle, Roman Rogotzke, Liegel, and Soldano keeping him at #12 in these seeds.

197 Pounds

The top 4 seeds are pretty clear and follow the results from the season. Things get a little tricky with Joles and Geog at the #5 and #6. Both have wins over Poznanski and Geog has the better record in the Big Ten. However, Joles has had a better overall year nationally and because of that, I gave Joles the #5 seed.

285 Pounds

The top 3 seeds are clear and follow the results from the season. Kerkvliet is undefeated and boasts wins over Feldman and Davison. Feldman lost to Kerkvliet but defeated Davison and should receive the #3 seed.

Things aren't as simple after that with Slavikouski, Willham, and Nevills all trading wins and losses this year - Slavikouski defeated Willham, Willham defeated Nevills, Nevills defeated Slavikouski. I gave the edge to Slavikouski and Willham over Nevills because Nevills only wrestled 3 Big 10 duals whereas Slavikouski and Willham both wrestled 8.