The wrestling coaches in the Big 12 Conference have their share of horror stories from their post-tournament wild card meetings.
Putting five of the best coaches in the country into a room and trying to get them to agree on a handful of wild-card selections for the NCAA tournament provided its share of heated discussions and hard feelings.
"It was bloody," Oklahoma coach Jack Spates said Wednesday morning on the Big 12 Wrestling Coaches' Teleconference. "I won't miss those meetings at all."
"It got pretty emotional," Missouri coach Brian Smith said with a laugh. "It was definitely wild in there. It wasn't much fun."
"We really ended up on the short end of the stick on the wild card a couple of times," Nebraska coach Mark Manning said. "We had a guy ranked in the top eight in the country in back-to-back years who didn't make it to nationals. That won't happen under this new system."
The wild-card meetings are now a thing of the past with the new NCAA tournament qualifying system. The Big 12 already has landed 37 automatic berths in the NCAA tournament, with all five spots already secured for the league at 165 pounds, 197 and heavyweight.
The Big 12 Championships are set for Saturday at the University of Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln. The NCAA Championships are set for March 19-21 in St. Louis.
After the qualifiers are held this weekend, the NCAA will pick an additional 52 wrestlers for the national tournament from the pool of remaining wrestlers who didn't secure automatic berths. Those selections will be made on March 11.
"I could see us picking up four or five additional spots," Brian Smith said.
"I could see this conference ending up with 41 to 43 qualifiers," Oklahoma State coach John Smith said. "This is a positive for us."
"I think this is a great new system," Manning said. "It's all about earning your way into the national tournament. If a guy deserves to go, he's going to go."
"This new system is tremendous," Spates said. "It's an extremely fair system. The Big 12 has been unfairly discriminated against in the past because it's a small and mighty conference. I believe it was easier for conferences like the Big Ten to qualify wrestlers for nationals. I think that's reflected in the automatic qualifiers this year. We qualified 38 in the past and have an automatic 37. The Big Ten had 72 and now have an automatic 61. It's a much more accurate reflection of the strength of the conferences from top to bottom."
John Smith said he is against having 33 national qualifiers in each weight class, because some divisions are much stronger than others. A weaker class like heavyweight should have fewer qualifiers than a stronger class like 141, Smith said.
The Big 12, as usual, is loaded again this year. Iowa State is ranked third nationally, Nebraska is fourth, Missouri is fifth, Oklahoma State is 12th and Oklahoma is 13th.
Iowa State is the favorite to win the Big 12 team title. The Cyclones have seven wrestlers ranked in the top eight in the nation.
"I don't know if we're the heavy favorites," Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson said. "This is a pretty small tournament, and with only a few rounds of wrestling one match can make a big difference in the outcome. We have to get after it and go out there and perform."
The Cyclones are seeking their third straight Big 12 tournament title. Nebraska was second in the Big 12 and Oklahoma State third in 2008.
"On paper, Iowa State is by far the favorite," Manning said. "If they perform like they have been, it may be over after the semifinals."
Oklahoma State is the winningest program in college wrestling history with 34 NCAA team titles. The Cowboys have dominated the Big 12 Conference tournament, winning it eight times since the Big 12 was formed in the 1996-97 season.
Oklahoma has won this event twice while Nebraska and Missouri are each looking for its first Big 12 tournament title.
"It's all about peaking at the right time," John Smith said. "We have the potential to take eight or more guys to nationals. If we don't compete this weekend, that number could be lower."
The heavyweight class in the Big 12 features the top three ranked wrestlers in the country. Iowa State's David Zabriskie is No. 1, Missouri's Mark Ellis is No. 2 and Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt is No. 3.
Even with all five wrestlers qualified in 3 of the 10 weight classes, the Big 12 meet is important as the way wrestlers fare in the conference tournament weighs heavily in determining seeds for the NCAAs.
The league also boasts a pair of wrestlers - Nebraska's Jordan Burroughs (157) and Iowa State's Jake Varner (197) - who are ranked No. 1 in the country. They have each bumped up a weight class this year.
Burroughs placed third in the nation last year at 149. Varner is a two-time NCAA runner-up at 184. Both are juniors.
Varner is in a tough 197 class that also includes All-Americans Craig Brester of Nebraska and Max Askren of Missouri. Brester is ranked No. 2 in the nation and Askren is fourth.
Oklahoma State's Clayton Foster also will be in the mix after beating Brester in a dual meet this season. Foster is No. 8 in the country. Oklahoma's Eric Lapotsky is ranked No. 11 nationally at 197.
The 165 division includes past All-Americans in Nick Marable of Missouri, Jon Reader of Iowa State, Stephen Dwyer of Nebraska and Brandon Mason of Oklahoma State.
The 174 class also includes two of the nation's best wrestlers in All-Americans Brandon Browne of Nebraska and Raymond Jordan of Missouri. Browne is ranked third in the nation and Jordan is fifth. Jordan beat Browne in a dual meet. Browne placed fourth at the 2008 NCAA meet. Jordan finished fifth nationally at 184, before dropping down a weight class this season.
Oklahoma also has top wrestlers in Kyle Terry (149) and Joey Fio (125). Terry is ranked sixth nationally and Fio is seventh.
Iowa State is coming off a big dual win over Nebraska in the same venue where the teams will compete on Saturday.
"We wrestled in that environment recently, and it brings familiarity and confidence," Sanderson said. "We wanted to go in there for the dual and compete well and make it a second home for us. Having wrestled well in that venue that day, it certainly doesn't hurt us."
Automatic qualifiers allotted for Big 12 for NCAA Championships
125 - 3
133 - 3
141 - 3
149 - 2
157 - 4
165 - 5
174 - 3
184 - 4
197 - 5
285 - 5
Total - 37
On March 11, an additional 52 at-large qualifiers will be announced by the NCAA.
Big 12 Wrestling Championship to air live on FSN
The Big 12 Wrestling Championship will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Kansas City and select other FSN affiliates on Saturday, March 7. The telecast marks the first time in the event's history that it will be carried live on FSN.
Coverage of the championship finals begins Saturday at 7 p.m. from NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb. Brent Stover will provide the play-by-play with analysis from J Carl Guymon.
Big 12 Championships to be broadcast on Takedown Radio
The Big 12 Championships will be broadcast on Takedown Radio.
Takedown Radio's coverage will begin at 9:05 a.m. and can be heard all day on Takedownradio.com.
Putting five of the best coaches in the country into a room and trying to get them to agree on a handful of wild-card selections for the NCAA tournament provided its share of heated discussions and hard feelings.
"It was bloody," Oklahoma coach Jack Spates said Wednesday morning on the Big 12 Wrestling Coaches' Teleconference. "I won't miss those meetings at all."
"It got pretty emotional," Missouri coach Brian Smith said with a laugh. "It was definitely wild in there. It wasn't much fun."
"We really ended up on the short end of the stick on the wild card a couple of times," Nebraska coach Mark Manning said. "We had a guy ranked in the top eight in the country in back-to-back years who didn't make it to nationals. That won't happen under this new system."
The wild-card meetings are now a thing of the past with the new NCAA tournament qualifying system. The Big 12 already has landed 37 automatic berths in the NCAA tournament, with all five spots already secured for the league at 165 pounds, 197 and heavyweight.
The Big 12 Championships are set for Saturday at the University of Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln. The NCAA Championships are set for March 19-21 in St. Louis.
After the qualifiers are held this weekend, the NCAA will pick an additional 52 wrestlers for the national tournament from the pool of remaining wrestlers who didn't secure automatic berths. Those selections will be made on March 11.
"I could see us picking up four or five additional spots," Brian Smith said.
"I could see this conference ending up with 41 to 43 qualifiers," Oklahoma State coach John Smith said. "This is a positive for us."
"I think this is a great new system," Manning said. "It's all about earning your way into the national tournament. If a guy deserves to go, he's going to go."
"This new system is tremendous," Spates said. "It's an extremely fair system. The Big 12 has been unfairly discriminated against in the past because it's a small and mighty conference. I believe it was easier for conferences like the Big Ten to qualify wrestlers for nationals. I think that's reflected in the automatic qualifiers this year. We qualified 38 in the past and have an automatic 37. The Big Ten had 72 and now have an automatic 61. It's a much more accurate reflection of the strength of the conferences from top to bottom."
John Smith said he is against having 33 national qualifiers in each weight class, because some divisions are much stronger than others. A weaker class like heavyweight should have fewer qualifiers than a stronger class like 141, Smith said.
The Big 12, as usual, is loaded again this year. Iowa State is ranked third nationally, Nebraska is fourth, Missouri is fifth, Oklahoma State is 12th and Oklahoma is 13th.
Iowa State is the favorite to win the Big 12 team title. The Cyclones have seven wrestlers ranked in the top eight in the nation.
"I don't know if we're the heavy favorites," Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson said. "This is a pretty small tournament, and with only a few rounds of wrestling one match can make a big difference in the outcome. We have to get after it and go out there and perform."
The Cyclones are seeking their third straight Big 12 tournament title. Nebraska was second in the Big 12 and Oklahoma State third in 2008.
"On paper, Iowa State is by far the favorite," Manning said. "If they perform like they have been, it may be over after the semifinals."
Oklahoma State is the winningest program in college wrestling history with 34 NCAA team titles. The Cowboys have dominated the Big 12 Conference tournament, winning it eight times since the Big 12 was formed in the 1996-97 season.
Oklahoma has won this event twice while Nebraska and Missouri are each looking for its first Big 12 tournament title.
"It's all about peaking at the right time," John Smith said. "We have the potential to take eight or more guys to nationals. If we don't compete this weekend, that number could be lower."
The heavyweight class in the Big 12 features the top three ranked wrestlers in the country. Iowa State's David Zabriskie is No. 1, Missouri's Mark Ellis is No. 2 and Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt is No. 3.
Even with all five wrestlers qualified in 3 of the 10 weight classes, the Big 12 meet is important as the way wrestlers fare in the conference tournament weighs heavily in determining seeds for the NCAAs.
The league also boasts a pair of wrestlers - Nebraska's Jordan Burroughs (157) and Iowa State's Jake Varner (197) - who are ranked No. 1 in the country. They have each bumped up a weight class this year.
Burroughs placed third in the nation last year at 149. Varner is a two-time NCAA runner-up at 184. Both are juniors.
Varner is in a tough 197 class that also includes All-Americans Craig Brester of Nebraska and Max Askren of Missouri. Brester is ranked No. 2 in the nation and Askren is fourth.
Oklahoma State's Clayton Foster also will be in the mix after beating Brester in a dual meet this season. Foster is No. 8 in the country. Oklahoma's Eric Lapotsky is ranked No. 11 nationally at 197.
The 165 division includes past All-Americans in Nick Marable of Missouri, Jon Reader of Iowa State, Stephen Dwyer of Nebraska and Brandon Mason of Oklahoma State.
The 174 class also includes two of the nation's best wrestlers in All-Americans Brandon Browne of Nebraska and Raymond Jordan of Missouri. Browne is ranked third in the nation and Jordan is fifth. Jordan beat Browne in a dual meet. Browne placed fourth at the 2008 NCAA meet. Jordan finished fifth nationally at 184, before dropping down a weight class this season.
Oklahoma also has top wrestlers in Kyle Terry (149) and Joey Fio (125). Terry is ranked sixth nationally and Fio is seventh.
Iowa State is coming off a big dual win over Nebraska in the same venue where the teams will compete on Saturday.
"We wrestled in that environment recently, and it brings familiarity and confidence," Sanderson said. "We wanted to go in there for the dual and compete well and make it a second home for us. Having wrestled well in that venue that day, it certainly doesn't hurt us."
Automatic qualifiers allotted for Big 12 for NCAA Championships
125 - 3
133 - 3
141 - 3
149 - 2
157 - 4
165 - 5
174 - 3
184 - 4
197 - 5
285 - 5
Total - 37
On March 11, an additional 52 at-large qualifiers will be announced by the NCAA.
Big 12 Wrestling Championship to air live on FSN
The Big 12 Wrestling Championship will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Kansas City and select other FSN affiliates on Saturday, March 7. The telecast marks the first time in the event's history that it will be carried live on FSN.
Coverage of the championship finals begins Saturday at 7 p.m. from NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb. Brent Stover will provide the play-by-play with analysis from J Carl Guymon.
Big 12 Championships to be broadcast on Takedown Radio
The Big 12 Championships will be broadcast on Takedown Radio.
Takedown Radio's coverage will begin at 9:05 a.m. and can be heard all day on Takedownradio.com.
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