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2021 Big Ten/Big 12 Championship Watch Party

Big Ten & Big 12 Roundup For NCAA Conference Weekend #2

Big Ten & Big 12 Roundup For NCAA Conference Weekend #2

The Big Ten and Big 12 Championships completed NCAA conference action and set the stage for St. Louis. Here are the biggest storylines of the weekend.

Mar 8, 2021 by David Bray
Big Ten & Big 12 Roundup For NCAA Conference Weekend #2
The Big Ten and Big 12 Championships completed NCAA conference tournament action and set the stage for the 2021 NCAA Championships in a couple of weeks. We now know how every team stacks up in its conference and have a complete list of automatic qualifiers for NCAAs. Check out the biggest stories from conference weekend #2.

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The Big Ten and Big 12 Championships completed NCAA conference tournament action and set the stage for the 2021 NCAA Championships in a couple of weeks. We now know how every team stacks up in its conference and have a complete list of automatic qualifiers for NCAAs. Check out the biggest stories from conference weekend #2.

Competitive Conference Weekend Sets NCAA Stage

Both the Big Ten and Big 12 tournaments were action-packed and upset-filled. We'll have a complete list of upsets later, but for now, it's important to know that four teams were still in the running to win the Big 12 title at the beginning of the championship final in Tulsa and that just 8 points separated the 5th and 9th place teams in the Big Ten.

The fallout from these tournaments is immense, so it's worth digging into complete results from the Big Ten Championships and the Big 12 Championships. We also already know the complete list of NCAA automatic qualifiers. Check that out before at-large bids are released on Tuesday.

Big Ten Results

Big 12 Results

NCAA Automatic Qualifiers

Steveson & Lee Look Hodge-Ready

Gable Steveson and Spencer Lee have been the nation's most dominant wrestlers this year, and both were ridiculously impressive this weekend at the Big Ten Championships. Lee continued his perfect early-match termination streak by teching Dylan Ragusin and Devin Schroder and pinning Rayvon Foley in 24 seconds.

While Gable Steveson doesn't have the early match termination stats of Spencer, he does have a 100% bonus rate against a tougher field. This weekend, he teched Jack Heyob, earned an injury default win over Christian Lance (who competed in every other match in which he was entered), and majored Junior World champ Mason Parris in the finals. 

If these two continue their dominant seasons in St. Louis, the Hodge committee will have to decide between Spencer Lee who has been more dominant, and Gable Steveson, who has also been dominant but against a stronger set of opponents.

Iowa Too Much For Strong Penn State Squad

Penn State's team surpassed their projected point total based on seeds, and Nittany Lion Fans have a lot to be excited about. Roman Bravo-Young and Aaron Brooks won titles, Nick Lee, and Carter Starocci made the finals, and a total of 9 Nittany Lions qualified for the NCAA Championships. Their effort earned them second place in the Big Ten and 124 points.

Despite the solid showing from Penn State, Iowa earned 159.5 points and ran away with the Big Ten title. The Hawks got titles from Spencer Lee, Jaydin Eierman, Alex Marinelli, and Michael Kemerer, and they won two of three finals matchups against Penn State. They also punched 9 automatic qualifiers through to St. Louis. While anything can happen at nationals, the Hawkeyes seem poised to take the 2021 NCAA team title.

Crazy Big 12 Team Race Ends in Bedlam Tie

At the start of the Big 12 finals, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Wyoming all had legitimate chances of winning the Big 12 team title. This created a lot of drama, but when Dom Demas knocked off Ian Parker in the 141 finals, the pressure was on Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys got a hard-fought title from Boo Lewallen over Oklahoma's Mitch Moore at 149 lbs which set the stage for true freshman AJ Ferrari in the 197 lbs final. Ferrari needed a win to give Oklahoma State a share of the trophy and bonus points to win it outright. While Wyoming's Stephen Buchanan proved to tough to give up a major, Ferrari's impressive effort gave him the wins and cemented the Cowboys as co Big 12 champs.

AJ Ferrari Starts Cowboy Legacy with a Bang

Ferrari's Big 12 title was impressive. He beat #14 Jake Woodley, #9 Tanner Sloan, and #6 Stephen Buchanan in succession, but he also proved that he's willing to wrestle an incredible pace for seven minutes when he needs to.

With the team score in the balance, Ferrari took the mat against #6 Stephen Buchanan, a guy who has three wins this year over Noah Adams, the only man to beat Ferrari in his young college career. Ferrari not only beat Buchanan, he pushed for the major for seven hard minutes in an effort to give the Cowboys the outright Big 12 team title. Ultimately, he fell short of his goal of a major decision, but his win gave Oklahoma State a share of the conference title and earned Ferrari the outstanding wrestler award.

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