It's still September, but the 2019-20 NCAA wrestling season will be here before we know it. The Big Ten is ready to deliver another monster slate of competitions. Below is our way-too-early B1G preview

125 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Sebastian Rivera - Northwestern

2. Spencer Lee - Iowa

3. Sean Russell - Minnesota

4. Elijah Oliver - Indiana

5. Travis Piotrowski - Illinois

6. RayVon Foley - Michigan State

7. Drew Mattin - Michigan

8. Devin Schroder - Purdue

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

The Breakdown

The landscape of 125 lbs hasn’t changed much since last season with the two top dogs, Spencer Lee and Sebastian Rivera, looking down at the rest of the field.

Piotrowski, Foley, Mattin, and Schroder are all returning Big Ten place winners and Foley was able to make it on the podium in Pittsburgh to earn All-American honors. Foley may have separated himself from the rest of the field with his All-American finish, but we can’t put him in the same tier as Spencer and Sea Bass. Foley will get his shot to put himself there, though, when Michigan State and Northwestern meet in early February. 

Sea Bass showed the world that he can beat Spencer at Midlands and did it again to prove it wasn’t a fluke in the Big Ten finals. That being said, we all saw what Spencer did at the NCAAs, winning his second national championship in a row. It doesn’t look like Northwestern and Iowa will dual this year, but Northwestern will be at Midlands. The Iowa schedule hasn’t been released yet, but assuming they go to Midlands again, we may see that matchup in Chicago once more. With these two guys it can really just come down to a coin toss any time they wrestle, but more often than not, Spencer wins when it matters. 

The Departed

The 125-lb weight class does lose some tough seniors, as Elijah Oliver and Sean Russell have now graduated. Both of these guys were on the Big Ten podium and it was actually Sean Russell beating Elijah Oliver in the third-place match.

New Blood

The weight refills nicely, though, with stud freshmen including Alex Thomsen for Nebraska, Eric Barnett for Wisconsin, and Patrick McKee filling in for Sean Russell out in Minnesota. Don’t be too surprised if one of these guys emerges as a threat to punch their way through to a podium finish at the 2020 Big Ten Championships.

Watch Spencer Lee vs Sebastian Rivera in the Midlands Finals.

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133 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Nick Suriano - Rutgers

2. Luke Pletcher - Ohio State

3. Ethan Lizak - Minnesota

4. Austin DeSanto - Iowa

5. Roman Bravo-Young - Penn State

6. Stevan Micic - Michigan

7. Ben Thornton - Purdue

8. Dylan Duncan - Illinois

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

The Breakdown

It looks like a new king will be crowned at 133 lbs in the Big Ten, now that last year’s Big Ten and NCAA champion Nick Suriano has announced that he will be taking a redshirt to chase Olympic glory. 

As Nicky Freestyles leaves town, Seth Gross enters. After taking a medical redshirt last year, Gross transferred from South Dakota State to follow Coach Bono to Wisconsin. The last time we saw Bono and Gross together, Gross won the national title at 133 for South Dakota State, the schools’ first-ever national champion in Division 1 athletics. If Gross wants to add a Big Ten title to his trophy case, he’s going to have to go through one of the most stacked weight classes in any conference across the country.

The Iowa Electric Factory, Austin Desanto’s intensity and pace will be a problem for anyone in the country. Then there is Stevan Micic and Luke Pletcher, who were both able to edge out DeSanto at the NCAAs in close one-point bouts. Following their wins over DeSanto, it was “The Serbian Sickle” Stevan Micic who beat Pletcher to take home the bronze. Oh yeah, and we have Roman Bravo-Young, who burst onto the scene last year as a true freshman. RBY found his way onto the podium with an eighth-place finish and will look to jump levels after getting some time to settle into that Penn State wrestling room.

The Departed

Fan-favorite Ethan Lizak has now moved on from college wrestling. The “Backpack” finished his season with a seventh-place finish at the NCAAs and ended his career as a three-time All-American. 

New Blood

The big addition to 133 isn’t necessarily new blood as we already discussed with Seth Gross, but freshman Jake Gliva will be taking over the spot for Lizak in Minnesota. Gliva had a solid redshirt season that included a sixth-place finish at the Daktronics Open.

Watch Nick Suriano take on Austin DeSanto in the Big Ten semifinals.

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141 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Joseph McKenna - Ohio State

2. Chad Red - Nebraska

3. Nick Lee - Penn State

4. Mitch McKee - Minnesota

5. Kanen Storr - Michigan

6. Tristan Moran - Wisconsin

7. Max Murin - Iowa

8. Michael Carr - Illinois

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

Rank Class    Name        School

The Breakdown

It seems like it might be time for Nick Lee to take over in the Big Ten, but on the other hand, it could become the “Wild West” with the group we have this year. 

Nick Lee’s only loss in the Big Ten last season, other than Joey McKenna, was to Tristan Moran, but Lee soon avenged that loss with a major decision. Moran is a wild card. He has shown he can beat some of the best guys in the country with his unique style and tough top wrestling, but he can lose some real head-scratchers, like getting majored by Bucknell’s Joey Gould. 

Mitch McKee took the loss to Moran, but then he got the best of Moran at the NCAAs. He also beat Big Ten rival Chad Red on his way to taking sixth in the nation. Chad Red is an enigma as he seems to either underperform during the regular season or overperform in the postseason, as demonstrated by his two All-American finishes after mediocre regular season performances.

Illinois’ Mike Carr seems to be the opposite of Red. Carr finished with a 14-7 record last season, and five of his seven losses came in the postseason with nearly all of those losses being from guys he had beaten before. 

The Departed

Last year we sadly had to say goodbye to Joey McKenna, but I don’t think the rest of the weight class is as sad to see him go. Nick Lee and McKenna went back and forth in their battles, but it was McKenna getting the last laugh at the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAAs. 

New Blood

We now add Ohio State’s Ke-Shawn Hayes, who is dropping all the way down from 157 after taking one for the team last season and wrestling up a weight or two. Also adding an interesting wrinkle is Michigan freshman Joey Silva, who won just about all you can win in high school. He should get a Frito-Lay endorsement with an enormous chip on his shoulder.

149 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Anthony Ashnault - Rutgers

2. Micah Jordan - Ohio State

3. Pat Lugo - Iowa

4. Cole Martin - Wisconsin

5. Thomas Thorn - Minnesota

6. Brady Berge - Penn State

7. Shayne Oster - Northwestern

8. Malik Amine - Michigan

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

The Breakdown

For the Hawkeyes at 149 we have Pat Lugo. When Lugo first arrived at Iowa after transferring from Edinboro, we thought he was going to be a title contender. Unfortunately for Lugo and Iowa, we just haven’t seen that national champion potential out of Lugo. Lugo was still able to make the season a success and make it onto the podium at the NCAAs, but both Iowa and Lugo will be expecting more from him in his senior season.

It will also be interesting to see how Kanen Storr adjusts to the new weight, moving up from 141. Storr took fifth in the Big Ten at 141 and then lost in the blood round at nationals. There may be an adjustment period to a bigger weight but let’s see how long it takes.

Not mentioning Jared Verkleeren might be a mistake. He didn’t blow anyone’s hair back last season, but you can’t say enough about what a year or two in the Penn State wrestling room can do for a young wrestler. 

The Departed

The Big Ten won’t be the same without Anthony Ashnault mobbin’ on the conference. We’ll also miss Ohio State’s Micah Jordan, but the Jordan family tradition continues at Ohio State now that Micah’s younger brother Rocky Jordan is on the team.

New Blood

Sammy Sasso out of Ohio State and Brayton Lee out of Minnesota may be two of the most promising freshmen in the country. Sasso and Lee both had incredible redshirt seasons last year. Sasso used his scrambling and signature counter cradles to take third at Midlands where he took out Iowa’s Pat Lugo. Brayton Lee used his ungodly pace and conditioning to make a Junior World Team where he beat Sasso best two out of three for the spot. 

Watch Sammy Sasso and Pat Lugo battle it out for third place at Midlands.

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157 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Jason Nolf - Penn State

2. Tyler Berger - Nebraska

3. Alec Pantaleo - Michigan

4. Kaleb Young - Iowa

5. Ryan Deakin - Northwestern

6. Steve Bleise - Minnesota

7. KeShawn Hayes - Ohio State

8. John Van Brill - Rutgers

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

The Breakdown

This is another one of those weights that looks drastically different from last season, with the next generation filling in for some big departures.

Nowadays, it’s Kaleb Young and Ryan Deakin who are sitting atop the Big Ten rankings. Iowa’s Kaleb Young out-placed Deakin at the Big Ten and beat Deakin twice at the NCAAs, both times in Sudden Victory. It looks like Young has Deakin’s number, but Deakin killed it this offseason, making it all the way to Final X only to lose to the OG 70kg spot holder, James Greene. 

Brady Berge is a guy who can make a jump this year, and not only in weight. Down at 149 last year, Berge put up a 20-5 record but couldn’t get on the podium in Pittsburgh. Penn State has shown how they can help an athlete transition well as they move up in weight (e.g. Bo Nickal), and Berge is a guy who will benefit from the move this season. Griffin Parriott will also be looking to get over the hump. He had a tough season last year going 17-13 but finished strong with a couple of wins at nationals.

The Departed

This weight is no longer ruled under the iron fist of Jason Nolf now that he graduated. Some of the other usual suspects, like Tyler Berger and Alec Pantaleo, are also out of the picture. 

New Blood

It will also be interesting to see how freshman Will Lewan fits into the 157 Big Ten hierarchy. The world medalist has spent a good amount of time in a top-tier college room and will certainly be a young guy who can make some noise.

165 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Alex Marinelli - Iowa

2. Vincenzo Jospeh - Penn State

3. Logan Massa - Michigan

4. Evan Wick - Wisconsin

5. Isiah White - Nebraska

6. Te'Shan Campbell - Ohio State

7. Bryce Martin - Indiana

8. Tyler Morland - Northwestern

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

Rank Class Name        School

The Breakdown

So it looks like 165 lbs at the Big Ten Championships might come down to Vincenzo Joseph and Alex Marinelli once again, and Marinelli seems to have Cenzo’s number.

Marinelli was able to pull out the upset win over Joseph as a freshman at the Penn State-Iowa dual, and again in the Big Ten finals last year. Despite Marinelli being 2-0 against Joseph, Joseph has gone on to out-perform Marinelli at the NCAAs, making the finals in both years with Marinelli taking sixth and seventh. It’s been released that Penn State will be making the trip to Carver-Hawkeye, but the date hasn’t been announced. So it looks like we’ll get this showdown at least once more this season.

Evan Wick and Logan Massa will certainly have something to say about Marinelli and Cenzo being the favorites at the weight, considering Wick majored Marinelli two years ago at NCAAs when Wick took third in the nation, but he hasn’t beaten Marinelli since. Logan Massa is 1-1 against Marinelli, but we haven’t seen Massa reach the peak form he demonstrated as a freshman when he took third at the NCAAs, and he hasn’t placed at the NCAAs since that season. We can’t forget about Isiah White. Zay Zay took fifth in the Big Ten’s last year and fifth at the NCAAs, and was in the round of 12 the year before. Isiah has had trouble in the conference, though, as last year he went 1-7 in matches against the four guys ranked ahead of him. 

The Departed

This weight only lost one senior from last year, Teshan Campbell of Ohio State, who took sixth in the Big Ten but lost to Isiah White in the Blood Round in his last season.

New Blood

Not a lot of new blood here at 165, but we do insert freshman Jake Allar out of Minnesota, who is coming off a 19-5 redshirt season.

174 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Mark Hall - Penn State

2. Myles Amine - Michigan

3. Devin Skatzka - Minnesota

4. Michael Labriola - Nebraska

5. Dylan Lydy - Purdue

6. Ethan Smith - Ohio State

7. Drew Hughes - Michigan State

8. Ryan Christensen - Wisconsin

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

The Breakdown

There had been speculation that Mark Hall was going to be taking an Olympic redshirt, but the signs are looking like he’s joining the Nittany Lions once more. The national champion and three-time finalist will be looking to bookend his career with a national title since Hall hasn’t been to the top of the podium since his freshman year.

I’m sure Myles Amine will be happy about that, as he has some unfinished business with Hall after coming close to beating him multiple times. Amine has been closing the gap on Hall for some time now and their last match went to a tiebreaker.

Hawkeye representative Michael Kemerer will be making his return after a year off. The last time we saw Kemerer he was down at 157 where he took fourth at the NCAAs, where his only losses were a 6-2 loss to Nolf and an injury default to Tyler Berger in the third-place bout. Kemerer will be looking to come back strong after a year off, and despite not seeing him for a while now, you have to consider him a threat to the 174 Big Ten title. 

Although these three vets will be the favorites, Mikey Labriola will be looking to throw a wrench into their senior-year plans. Labriola had quite the redshirt freshman season, where he beat conference rivals Dylan Lydy and Devin Skatzka on his way to the podium in Pittsburgh, taking sixth at the NCAAs.

The Departed 

Pretty much the whole weight is back this year. The lone senior last year in the top eight of the Big Ten was Ryan Christensen for Wisconsin, but the 174 spot for the Badgers looks to be in good hands.

New Blood

Taking over for Christensen in Wisconsin is freshman Tyler Dow. Dow is a homegrown Wisconsin boy who won a state title and is a double Fargo finalist. Dow showed he can do it at the next level as well, going 20-4 in his redshirt season.

Watch Mikey Labriola and Devin Skatzka wrestle for third place at Big Tens.

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184 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Myles Martin - Ohio State

2. Shakur Rasheed - Penn State

3. Emery Parker - Illinois

4. Taylor Venz - Nebraska

5. Cash Wilcke - Iowa

6. Nick Gravina - Rutgers

7. Max Lyon - Purdue

8. Mason Reinhardt - Wisconsin

2019-2020 Preseason Rankings

The Breakdown

Shakur Rasheed is back after receiving another year of eligibility. We weren’t sure if Sugar Shak was returning, but now that he is, he’ll definitely be looking to get rid of that bad taste of disappointment in his mouth. At the end of last season, Rasheed was upset in round 16 last year at the NCAAs and then dropped another match in the wrestle-backs.

Rasheed is ranked No. 1, but the guys behind him aren’t that far behind at all. Nebraska’s Taylor Venz took fourth in the Big Ten last season after he suffered a one-point loss to Rasheed. Cash Wilcke seems to be right alongside these guys: Wilcke and Venz split matches last year and both bouts were within three points.

The top three guys have separated themselves from the rest of the field, but there’s plenty of time for the field to close the distance. Purdue’s Max Lyon and Cameron Caffey of Michigan State both finished strong and won a few matches at the NCAAs. Sophomore Jelani Embree out of Michigan had a tough freshman season. Embree went 13-7 last year and wasn’t able to qualify for nationals, but if you followed Embree during his high school career, you know he’s got plenty of talent and potential.

The Departed

This weight had to say goodbye to some storied seniors last year with Myles Martin and Emery Parker. Martin won a national title as a true freshman over Bo Nickal and was a four-time All-American, and Emery Parker was a two-time All-American with a third-place finish he got after losing his first match and then winning seven straight to get the bronze.

New Blood

There’s a solid group of freshmen at 184 this year: Rutgers' Billy Janzer, llinois’ Zach Braunagel, and Northwestern’s Jack Jessen will all be making their debut this season. But the feature freshman in the group seems to be Gavin Hoffman after winning a myriad of different open tournaments in his redshirt season and his only losses coming to Mason Reinhardt, Emery Parker, and Drew Foster.

197 Pounds

Last year’s results

1. Bo Nickal - Penn State

2. Kollin Moore - Ohio State

3. Jacob Warner - Iowa

4. Eric Schultz - Nebraska

5. Christian Brunner - Purdue

6. Beau Breske - Wisconsin

7. Brad Wilton - Michigan State

8. Jake Kleimola - Indiana

2019-2020 Pre-Season Rankings

The Breakdown

Ohio State Buckeye Kollin Moore will be going for third 3rd Big Ten title this year, and would have been going for No. 4 if it wasn’t for Bo Nickel moving up to 197 last year. Moore is an NCAA finalist, a three-time All-American who never placed lower than fourth, and probably the consensus pick to win it all. But even still, Moore is no shoo-in for a Big Ten championship.

Most were not expecting Jacob Warner to be a strong contender, but when he started the season off beating Willie Miklus, a three-time All-American at the time, he showed us all he had arrived. The sophomore out of Iowa continued to impress all season long, with an impressive 22-6 on his way to an All-American finish. One of those losses was to Kollin Moore; Warner wrestled him tough but lost by a score of 5-2.

Warner isn’t the only guy in the Big Ten who wrestled Kollin Moore in a close match. When the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Buckeyes met for their dual meet, Eric Shultz went into overtime with Moore, but Moore was able to pull out the 7-5 win in sudden victory. Schultz also lost to Warner in sudden victory by the same score of 7-5. If Schultz would have been able to flip those two close results he may have found himself sitting atop of the Big Ten rankings. 

The Departed

No one is happier to see Bo Nickal move on to the senior circuit than his Big Ten counterparts after Bo Nickal terrorized the 197 weight class last year. We aren’t quite sure who will be taking over for the dominant Nickal, though. Refer to the section below for more on that.

New Blood

One young wrestler I’m excited to see is Penn State freshman Michael Beard. Beard was a blue-chip recruit coming out of high school and is coming off one of those Penn State greyshirt seasons. We may see Kyle Conel, the national finalist transfer from Kent State, at the 197 spot for the Nittany Lions. This would still work for Beard since he’ll still be able to take a redshirt since last year’s greyshirt didn’t count toward his eligibility. 

Watch Kollin Moore and Jacob Warner scrap it out in the Big Ten semifinals.

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285 Pounds

Last year’s posts

1. Anthony Cassar - Penn State

2. Gable Steveson - Minnesota

3. Youssif Hemida - Maryland

4. Trent Hilger - Wisconsin

5. Conan Jennings - Northwestern

6. David Jensen - Nebraska

7. Mason Parris - Michigan

8. Jacob Aven - Purdue

2019-2020 Pre-Season Rankings

The Breakdown

Heavyweight can be one of the most exciting weights in the Big Ten. Putting the legal issues of Gable aside, the weight will still be loaded. Mason Parris was an impressive true freshman, making it all the way to the round of 12 in a big man’s weight, where true freshmen don’t usually perform well. 

Speaking of freshman heavyweights, Wisconsin’s Trent Hilger is another talented young heavyweight. The sophomore took eighth in Pittsburgh last season to earn his All-American honors. 

With all that being said, Anthony Cassar is the class of the division. Cassar beat Gable twice on his way to a Big Ten title and an NCAA title where he capped off his season with a 10-1 major decision over Derek White in the national finals. Cassar’s future was up in the air after last season, but now that he received two more years of eligibility he’s back and looking to repeat as national champion, and I don’t see anyone in the Big Ten stopping him.

The Departed

The one major departure for the heavyweights is Youssif Hemida for Maryland. Parker Robinson will take over but will have some big shoes to fill. Hemida finished off his career with two straight All-American finishes.

New Blood

The new heavyweight herd coming in is a hefty one. Eli Pokorney, Jack Heyob, and Parker Robinson will all be making their college debut this season, but the guy to watch his year is Anthony Cassioppi. Big Tony is a part of that new breed of heavyweights who are both big and quick and coming off an impressive redshirt season where he only dropped two matches.