Big Ten Wrestling Championships pre-seeds released

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced the preliminary seeds for the 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 7-8 at Ohio State.


Six schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Iowa and Ohio State leading the way with three each. Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin each boast a seeded grappler in nine classes.


The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in two weight classes, along with all 14 starters in eight weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving eight or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes.


Iowa holds three No. 1 seeds, with 125-pounder Thomas Gilman, 149-pounder Brandon Sorensen and 184-pounder Sam Brooks earning top billing in their weight classes. Ohio State boasts three top-seeded grapplers in Logan Stieber (141), Bo Jordan (165) and Kyle Snyder (197). The Illini’s Isaiah Martinez (157), Gophers’ Chris Dardanes (133), Huskers’ Robert Kokesh (174) and Badgers’ Connor Medbery (285) round out the group of top-ranked grapplers.


Two of this year’s top seeds claimed titles at last year’s Big Ten Championships, with Kokesh (174) and Stieber (141) earning conference crowns last season. This season, four freshmen earned No. 1 seeds entering the championships, including Martinez, Sorensen, Jordan and Snyder.


For more information on the 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page on Ohio State’s website. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below.

125 lbs.

1. Thomas Gilman, IOWA

2. Jesse Delgado, ILL

3. Nathan Tomasello, OSU

4. Tim Lambert, NEB

5. Jordan Conaway, PSU

6. Conor Youtsey, MICH

7. Garrison White, NU

8. Luke Welch, PUR

133 lbs.

1. Chris Dardanes, MINN

2. Ryan Taylor, WIS

3. Jimmy Gulibon, PSU

4. Johnni DiJulius, OSU

5. Cory Clark, IOWA

6. Zane Richards, ILL

7. Danny Sabatello, PUR

8. Rossi Bruno, MICH

9. Eric Montoya, NEB

10. Scott Delvecchio, RU

11. Geoff Alexander, MD

12. Dom Malone, NU

13. Garth Yenter, MSU

14. Alonzo Shepherd, IND

141 lbs.

1. Logan Stieber, OSU

2. Nick Dardanes, MINN

3. Anthony Abidin, NEB

4. Steven Rodrigues, ILL

5. Anthony Ashnault, RU

6. Josh Dziewa, IOWA

7. Jameson Oster, NU

8. Nick Lawrence, PUR

9. Kade Moss, PSU

10. George Fisher, MICH

11. Javier Gasca III, MSU

12. Shyhiem Brown, MD

13. Jessie Thielke, WIS

14. Sean Brown, IND

149 lbs.

1. Brandon Sorensen, IOWA

2. Jason Tsirtsis, NU

3. Hunter Stieber, OSU

4. Ken Theobold, RU

5. Alec Pantaleo, MICH

6. Zack Beitz, PSU

7. Justin Arthur, NEB

8. Rylan Lubeck, WIS


157 lbs.

1. Isaiah Martinez, ILL

2. Dylan Ness, MINN

3. James Green, NEB

4. Brian Murphy, MICH

5. Doug Welch, PUR

6. Josh Demas, OSU

7. Mike Kelly, IOWA

8. Anthony Perrotti, RU

9. Luke Frey, PSU

10. Louis Mascola, MD

11. Luke Blanton, IND

12. TJ Ruschell, WIS

13. Ben Sullivan, NU

14. Travis Curley, MSU

165 lbs.

1. Bo Jordan, OSU

2. Isaac Jordan, WIS

3. Taylor Walsh, IND

4. Pierce Harger, NU

5. Jackson Morse, ILL

6. Garett Hammond, PSU

7. Nick Moore, IOWA

8. Nick Wanzek, MINN

9. Austin Wilson, NEB

10. Pat Robinson, PUR

11. Nick Visicaro, RU

12. Garrett Sutton, MICH

13. Roger Wildmo, MSU

14. Justin Alexander, MD

174 lbs.

1. Robert Kokesh, NEB

2. Matt Brown, PSU

3. Mike Evans, IOWA

4. Logan Storley, MINN

5. Zach Brunson, ILL

6. Mark Martin, OSU

7. Chad Welch, PUR

8. Frank Cousins, WIS

9. Taylor Massa, MICH

10. Nathan Jackson, IND

11. Josh Snook, MD

12. Phil Bakuckas, RU

13. Nick Proctor, MSU

184 lbs.

1. Sam Brooks, IOWA

2. Dom Abounader, MICH

3. Ricky Robertson, WIS

4. Brett Pfarr, MINN

5. Kenny Courts, OSU

6. TJ Dudley, NEB

7. Nikko Reyes, ILL

8. Matt McCutcheon, PSU

9. John Rizqallah, MSU

10. Patrick Kissel, PUR

11. Anthony Pafumi, RU

12. Mitch Sliga, NU

13. Matt Irick, IND

14. Tony Gardner, MD

197 lbs.

1. Kyle Snyder, OSU

2. Morgan McIntosh, PSU

3. Scott Schiller, MINN

4. Nathan Burak, IOWA

5. Aaron Studebaker, NEB

6. Max Huntley, MICH

7. Alex Polizzi, NU

8. Timmy McCall, WIS

9. Braden Atwood, PUR

10. Nick McDiarmid, MSU

11. Jeff Koepke, ILL

12. Hayden Hrymack, RU

13. Rob Fitzgerald, MD

14. Luke Sheridan, IND

285 lbs.

1. Connor Medbery, WIS

2. Adam Coon, MICH

3. Mike McMullan, NU

4. Bobby Telford, IOWA

5. Jimmy Lawson, PSU

6. Michael Kroells, MINN

7. Spencer Myers, MD

8. Billy Smith, RU

9. Nick Tavanello, OSU

10. Brooks Black, ILL

11. Collin Jensen, NEB

12. Chris Nash, MSU

13. Garret Goldman, IND

14. Gelen Robinson, PUR