Big Ten Wrestling Championship | 2018 NCAA Wrestling

What Will Seeds Look Like At The 2018 Big Ten Tournament?

The pre-seeds for next week's Big Ten tournament won't be released until Monday, but we're giving you an idea of how the brackets might shake out.

Feb 21, 2018 by Wrestling Nomad

What Will Seeds Look Like At The 2018 Big Ten Tournament?

The 2018 Big Ten championships begin next weekend in East Lansing, Michigan. All 14 teams will converge on Michigan State's campus to determine the conference champions and NCAA qualifiers.

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The 2018 Big Ten championships begin next weekend in East Lansing, Michigan. All 14 teams will converge on Michigan State's campus to determine the conference champions and NCAA qualifiers.

Typically, the pre-seeds for the conference championships are released on Monday of the week of the event. So we're giving you a little jump on things to start getting an idea of how the brackets might shake out and what the quarterfinals could look like.

WATCH BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE!

DATES: March 3-4 | TIME: 8:30 AM ET | WHERE: East Lansing, MI

Big Tens start next Saturday morning at 8:30 and finish up on Sunday. The seed projections are based in part off of our conference rankings, as well as our automatic qualifier allocation projections.

125 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Nick Suriano	Rutgers	Rivera 2x
2	Spencer Lee	Iowa	Tomasello, Rivera, Lizak
3	Nathan Tomasello	Ohio State	Lizak, Welch, Mattin	Lee
4	Sebastian Rivera	Northwestern	Welch, Piotrowski, Oliver	Lee, Suriano 2x
5	Ethan Lizak	Minnesota	Piotrowski, Mattin	Mattin, Tomasello, Lee
6	Luke Welch	Purdue	Mattin, Foley	Rivera, Foley, Tomasello
7	Drew Mattin	Michigan	Lizak, Foley	Tomasello, Foley, Welch
8	RayVon Foley	Michigan State	Mattin, Welch	Tomasello, Oliver, Polakowski
9	Travis Piotrowski	Illinois	Oliver, Cray, Maginnis	Jimenez, Welch
10	Elijah Oliver	Indiana	Foley, Maginnis	Piotrowski, Welch
11	Mitchell Maginnis	Nebraska	Jimenez, Cray	Foley, Oliver, Schroder
12	Johnny Jimenez	Wisconsin	Piotrowski	Maginnis
13	Brandon Cray	Maryland	Schnupp	Stickley, Maginnis, Rotondo
14	Carson Kuhn	Penn State

Commentary: One of the first things you'll notice is that all 14 guys are seeded. That only occurs when the conference is given greater than eight automatic qualifier allocations. Nick Suriano gets the top seed over Spencer Lee based on Midlands placement, though Suriano's only wins over guys seeded in the top 10 were against Rivera at Midlands and the dual meet.

After Nathan Tomasello, it gets a little dicey. Sebastian Rivera and Ethan Lizak did not meet this year, and Lizak split with Drew Mattin. RayVon Foley is also tough to seed, as he has split with Mattin and Luke Welch, getting the more recent win both times. But Foley has also lost to Elijah Oliver and Steve Polakowski. Plus, Mattin has a win over Lizak, and Welch is 1-0 against Mattin.

133 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Stevan Micic	Michigan	Pletcher, McKee, Renteria	Pletcher
2	Luke Pletcher	Ohio State	Micic, DelVecchio	Micic
3	Mitchell McKee	Minnesota	DelVecchio, Keener	Micic
4	Jason Renteria	Nebraska	Lantz, Griffin, Delvecchio	Micic
5	Scott DelVecchio	Rutgers	Duncan, Keeneer, Glynn	McKee, Renteria, Pletcher
6	Corey Keener	Penn State	Glynn, Thornton	Delvecchio, McKee, Micic
7	Dylan Duncan	Illinois	Lantz, Glynn, Valdiviez	DelVecchio, Valdiviez
8	Paul Glynn	Iowa	Valdiviez, Thornton, Lantz	Keener, Konrath

Commentary: Jason Renteria is extremely difficult to seed due to his low number of matches, but his win over Scott DelVecchio slots him in fourth. Ultimately it appears to not matter, as the two will get a rematch in the quarters. Dylan Duncan goes seventh based on his win over Paul Glynn, who beat Ben Thornton of Purdue. Thornton is last man out for seeding and will be drawn in randomly. Thornton has somewhat of an argument to be seventh, as he is 1-0 against Colin Valdiviez and Duncan is 1-1.

141 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Joey McKenna	Ohio State	Lee, Limmex	Thorn
2	Nick Lee	Penn State	Thorn, Limmex	McKenna
3	Mike Carr	Illinois	Limmex, Weaver, Red	Thorn, Murin
4	Nate Limmex	Purdue	Stickley, Weaver, Red	Stickley, Weaver, Thomas
5	Cole Weaver	Indiana	Red, Turk, Stickley	Profaci, Carr, Limmex
6	Chad Red	Nebraska	Stickley, Profaci, Thorn	Weaver, Limmex, Carr
7	Tommy Thorn	Minnesota	Profaci, Carr, McKenna	Diehl, Happel, Lee, Red
8	Vince Turk	Iowa	Profaci	Van Brill
9	Sal Profaci	Michigan	Stickley, Weaver, Martin	Turk
10	Eli Stickley	Wisconsin	Limmex, Gasca, Diehl	Limmex, Profaci, Gasca
11	Ryan Diehl	Maryland	Thorn, Martin, Van Brill	Happel, Stickley
12	Javier Gasca	Michigan State	Happel, Thomas
13	Mike Van Brill	Rutgers	A. McKenna, Happel, Turk	Thomas, Diehl, Happel
14	Alec McKenna	Northwestern

Commentary: What an absurd weight to seed. Tommy Thorn beats the one and three seeds but also loses to Ryan Diehl and Carter Happel. Sal Profaci has losses to guys below him, and Nate Limmex split with both Cole Weaver and Eli Stickley. No one has a clean resume, including Mike Carr, who has a bad loss to Mike Murin. The same can be said for Nate Limmex, who lost to Yahya Thomas. But the cleanest arrangement for 3-7 starts with Carr and ends with Thorn.

149 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Zain Retherford	Penn State	Sorensen, Deakin
2	Brandon Sorensen	Iowa	Deakin	Retherford
3	Ryan Deakin	Northwestern	DeLuca	Sorensen, Zain
4	Colton McCrystal	Nebraska	DeLuca	Deakin
5	Eleazar DeLuca	Rutgers	Hayes	McCrystal
6	Ke-Shawn Hayes	Ohio State	Bannister, Amine	DeLuca, Sorensen, Zain
7	Alfred Bannister	Maryland	Amine	Hayes
8	Malik Amine	Michigan	Britton, Martin, Nash, Tunon	Hayes, McCrystal, Zain, Bannister

Commentary: Ohio State fans might not be happy with me, but Ke-Shawn Hayes lost to Eleazar DeLuca and both Ryan Deakin and Colton McCrystal beat DeLuca. Sidebar, this would get Hayes away from Zain Retherford, who teched him, and on the same side as Brandon Sorensen. Hayes got the first takedown and only lost 4-2 to Sorensen.

157 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Michael Kemerer	Iowa	Micah, Short, Langenderfer
2	Jason Nolf	Penn State	Pantaleo, Short	John Van Brill
3	Alec Pantaleo	Michigan	Micah 2x, Berger 2x	Crone, Nolf
4	Micah Jordan	Ohio State	Short, Van Brill	Pantaleo 2x, Kemerer
5	Tyler Berger	Nebraska	Van Brill, Parriott	Crone, Pantaleo 2x
6	Andrew Crone	Wisconsin	Berger, Micah	Parriott, Van Brill
7	Jake Short	Minnesota	Van Brill, Oster, Langenderfer	Kemerer, Nolf, Pantaleo, Micah
8	Kyle Langenderfer	Illinois	Van Brill	Weber

Commentary: There is a lot to unpack from this weight. First of all, if we're operating under the assumption that Jason Nolf is participating, then he has a Big Ten loss. I get it, there's a massive asterisk, but it counts as a loss. Beyond that, he only has wins over Micah Jordan and Jake Short, while Michael Kemerer has wins over Alec Pantaleo and Short.

Second, I am in no way encouraging coaches to sit guys out to protect seeds, but if Andrew Crone had not wrestled the last two duals he would have been the three seed. He avenged his only Big Ten loss when he beat Kyle Langenderfer and proceeded to beat Short, Jordan, and Pantaleo, before ending his season with losses to John Van Brill and Griffin Parriott.

165 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Alex Marinelli	Iowa	Joseph, Lewis 2x, Wanzek, Massa
2	Isaiah Martinez	Illinois	Wick, Wanzek
3	Vincenzo Joseph	Penn State	Lewis, Wanzek, Massa	Marinelli
4	Richie Lewis	Rutgers	Wick, Wanzek, White, Te’Shan	Cenzo, Marinelli
5	Evan Wick	Wisconsin	Morrissey, Wanzek	Lewis, IMar, White
6	Nick Wanzek	Minnesota	Massa, Te’Shan, White	Lewis, Marinelli, Cenzo, IMar
7	Logan Massa	Michigan	Te’Shan, Hiles, White	Marinelli, Wanzek, Cenzo, Wick
8	Isaiah White	Nebraska	Wick, Campbell Morrissey, Burnham	Massa, Lewis, Wanzek, Campbell
9	Te’Shan Campbell	Ohio State	Burnham, White	Hiles, White
10	Jacob Morrissey	Purdue	Speke, Hiles	White
11	Bryce Martin	Indiana	Sepke
12	Brendan Burnham	Maryalnd	Sepke	Campbell, White
13	Michael Sepke	Northwestern
14	Austin Hiles	Michigan State

Commentary: This weight was actually tremendously easy to seed, particularly when I already made the argument last week that Alex Marinelli should get the top seed. The only real complication is Isaiah White's late win over Evan Wick.

174 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Wins	Losses
1	Mark Hall	Penn State	Jordan, Amine, Lydy, Sebastian
2	Bo Jordan	Ohio State	Lydy, Amine	Amine
3	Myles Amine	Michigan	Jordan	Lydy, Amine
4	Dylan Lydy	Purdue	Amine, Labriola	Hughes
5	Johnny Sebastian	Northwestern		Labriola
6	Devin Skatzka	Indiana	Cody, Riojas, Breske, Christensen, Ritchie, Ugalde
7	Ryan Christensen	Wisconsin	Grello, Riojas, Breske, Ritchie, Ugalde	Morland, Hughes
8	Joey Gunther	Iowa

Commentary: You might be wondering why Bo Jordan is still ahead of Myles Amine despite the former's recent win over Jordan. Well that's because those two split, and Amine lost to Dylan Lydy while Jordan beat him.

184 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Wins	Losses
1	Bo Nickal	Penn State	Martin
2	Myles Martin	Ohio State	Abounader	Nickal
3	Domenic Abounader	Michigan	Robertson 2x	Martin 2x, Nickal
4	Emery Parker	Illinois	Venz, Robertson	Robertson
5	Nicky Gravina	Rutgers	Venz, Robertson	Nickal, Parker
6	Taylor Venz	Nebraska	Robertson 2x	Gravina
7	Ricky Robertson	Wisconsin	Lyon, Conley, Shadaia, Sliga	Gravina, Parker, Venz
8	Mitch Bowman	Iowa	Sliga, Shadaia, Woods	Krone, Abounader, Gravina, Parker

Commentary: This weight is straightforward to seed. Martin lost to Nickal and beat Abounader. Parker split with Robertson, who Abounader beat twice. Gravina beat Venz and Robertson, with his only losses to guys ranked ahead of him.

197 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Shakur Rasheed	Penn State	Wilcke, Beazley
2	Kollin Moore	Ohio State	Wilcke, Beazley, Ritter	Cassar
3	Hunter Ritter	Wisconsin	Schultz, Beazley	Brunner, Moore
4	Kevin Beazley	Michigan	Wilcke	Moore, Schultz, Ritter, Rasheed
5	Cash Wilcke	Iowa	Chakonis	Rasheed, Moore, Beazley
6	Zack Chakonis	Northwestern	Brunner, Schultz	Krone, Lee
7	Christian Brunner	Purdue	Ritter	Chakonis
8	Eric Schultz	Nebraska	Beazley	Ritter, Chakonis

Commentary: What a goofy weight to seed. Shakur Rasheed gets top spot because he has zero Big Ten losses and Kollin Moore has one. After that, all hell breaks loose. Hunter Ritter split with Beazley but owns the more recent win, which was in the dual. Beazley was also 0-1 vs. Eric Schultz, while Ritter was 1-0, so Ritter grabs the three. Beazley beat Cash Wilcke in their only meeting, and Wilcke's next best win was over seven seed Zack Chakonis. Christian Brunner tried to gum up the works by beating Ritter in the final dual of the year, but that is his only win of note.

285 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School	Key Wins	Key Losses
1	Adam Coon	Michigan	Snyder, Nevills, Stoll
2	Kyle Snyder	Ohio State	Nevills	Coon
3	Nick Nevills	Penn State	Stoll, Hemida	Coon, Snyder
4	Sam Stoll	Iowa	Jennings, Streifel	Coon, Nevills
5	Youssif Hemida	Maryland	Jennings, Streifel	Nevills
6	Conan Jennnings	Northwestern	Streck, Streifel	Rachal, Hemida
7	Shawn Streck	Purdue	Rachal, Jensen	Jennings
8	Rylee Streifel	Minnesota	Rachal, Gross	Jennings

Commentary: Pretty straightforward, with Sam Stoll getting over Youssif Hemida based on Midlands placement. Stoll did not wrestle against Maryland in the dual, so that will be settled in the quarterfinals.