Who ya got? USA Wrestling's Sesker, Immel make picks for Big Tens
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Just for a little fun today, my colleague Richard Immel and I decided to make predictions for this weekend’s Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
It’s going to be another amazing event with five of the top seven ranked teams in the country hailing from the Big Ten Conference.
No. 2 Iowa still appears to have the deepest team, but look for a very close team race with top-10 teams Ohio State, Minnesota, Penn State and Illinois expected to be in the hunt as well.
The Big Ten has a whopping 86 automatic qualifiers for the NCAA tournament, but a strong performance in Columbus is still very important for seeding for the NCAAs.
It’s going to be another outstanding tournament to watch.
Here we go:
125 pounds
Iowa’s Thomas Gilman is the top seed and went unbeaten in league duals, but he hasn’t faced two-time Big Ten and two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois this season. Delgado has missed most of the season with an injury, but returned late in the season. Gilman actually beat Delgado the last time they wrestled, last season at the Midlands. No. 3 seed Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State and No. 5 seed Jordan Conaway of Penn State both lost close matches to Gilman this season.
Sesker’s finals pick: Gilman over Tomasello
Immel’s finals pick: Delgado over Gilman
133 pounds
Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes is No. 1 in the country, and he’s been very physical and very dominant all year. He’s determined to live up to the big potential he entered college with. He will likely have top wrestlers in Iowa’s Cory Clark and Ohio State’s Johnni DiJulius on his side of the bracket. The bottom half will be a great battle between Wisconsin’s Ryan Taylor, Penn State’s Jimmy Gulibon and Illinois’ Zane Richards.
Sesker’s finals pick: Dardanes over Gulibon
Immel’s finals pick: Dardanes over Richards
141 pounds
Three-time Big Ten and three-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber is clearly the favorite here, but Stieber had to hold off Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes 10-9 in a late-season dual meet. Barring a big upset, it will be a Stieber-Dardanes rematch in the finals here. Stieber will be tough to beat anywhere, and he’s competing at home for the final time this weekend.
Sesker’s finals pick: Stieber over Dardanes
Immel’s finals pick: Stieber over Dardanes
149 pounds
Iowa freshman Brandon Sorensen is the No. 1 seed here, and he will be trying to do what Northwestern’s Jason Tsirtsis did last year as a freshman – win Big Tens and NCAAs. Sorensen beat Tsirtsis during the season. Ohio State’s Hunter Stieber is a two-time All-American and a past league champion, but he’s missed most of the season with an injury. Michigan’s Alec Pantaleo also could be in the hunt.
Sesker’s finals pick: Tsirtsis over Sorensen
Immel’s finals pick: Tsirtsis over Pantaleo
157 pounds
This is one weight class that everyone wants to watch. Minnesota’s Dylan Ness placed second and Nebraska’s James Green third at the 2014 NCAA tournament. Ness and Green have both won Big Ten titles, but Illinois freshman Isaiah Martinez is the top seed. Martinez is unbeaten – he beat Green this season but he hasn’t faced Ness. Ness and Green could meet in a semifinal that may be the best match of the tournament. Green beat Ness at the 2014 Big Tens before Ness scored a stunning fall over the top-seeded Green at the 2014 NCAAs. Ness won the most recent meeting over Green in the Cliff Keen finals in Las Vegas.
Sesker’s finals pick: Ness over Martinez
Immel’s finals pick: Green over Martinez
165 pounds
This weight class could produce one of the most anticipated matches of the event as well. Cousins Bo Jordan of Ohio State and Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin grew up together and trained together in Ohio. Bo is the No. 1 pre-seed and Isaac, a returning All-American, is No. 2. The dangerous Taylor Walsh of Indiana is the No. 3 seed with returning All-American Pierce Harger of Northwestern also in the bracket. Returning Big Ten runner-up Nick Moore of Iowa also could be a factor.
Sesker’s finals pick: Isaac Jordan over Bo Jordan
Immel’s finals pick: Bo Jordan over Walsh
174 pounds
This loaded weight class features the top four ranked wrestlers in the country with returning Big Ten champion Robert Kokesh of Nebraska ranked No. 1 nationally. Kokesh is followed by Penn State’s Matt Brown, Iowa’s Mike Evans and Minnesota’s Logan Storley in the national rankings. Brown beat Evans in the 2013 league finals and Kokesh beat Evans in the 2014 finals. Storley was third at the 2014 NCAAs with Kokesh fourth, Brown fifth and Evans sixth. All four are seniors, and all are very evenly matched, so this is going to be fun to watch.
Sesker’s finals pick: Kokesh over Evans
Immel’s finals pick: Kokesh over Brown
184 pounds
This weight class isn’t considered one of the strongest in the league, and could be fairly wide open. Iowa sophomore Sammy Brooks is the No. 1 pre-seed, followed by Michigan’s Dom Abounader, Wisconsin’s Ricky Robertson, Minnesota’s Brett Pfarr, Ohio State’s Kenny Courts and Nebraska’s T.J. Dudley.
Sesker’s finals pick: Brooks over Abounader
Immel’s finals pick: Brooks over Robertson
197 pounds
This is another weight class which could produce the NCAA champion in a couple of weeks. Ohio State freshman Kyle Snyder, a Junior World champion, has come on strong late in the season to earn wins over returning All-Americans Morgan McIntosh of Penn State and Scott Schiller of Minnesota. All-American Nathan Burak of Iowa also could be in the mix. Burak owns a win over Snyder, but lost to Schiller and McIntosh.
Sesker’s finals pick: McIntosh over Snyder
Immel’s finals pick: Snyder over Schiller
285 pounds
Wisconsin’s Connor Medbery has put together a very strong season to earn the top seed in this class. He’s an athletic big man who has wrestled aggressively, and it’s paid off for him. Medbery will likely battle two-time All-American Bobby Telford of Iowa in the semis. Telford beat Medbery at the Midlands. Three-time All-American Mike McMullan of Northwestern and Junior World double medalist Adam Coon of Michigan could meet in the other semifinal.
Sesker’s finals pick: Telford over Coon
Immel’s finals pick: Coon over Telford
Team Race
Iowa was ranked No. 1 nationally all season before falling to Missouri at the National Duals. The Hawkeyes have a very deep, experienced and strong team. Ohio State also is very deep with its full lineup finally back intact, but the Buckeyes clearly aren’t 100 percent physically. Minnesota has five proven studs, but needs a lot of help from the other five weight classes. Penn State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern and Michigan are also capable of scoring a lot of points as well.
Sesker’s Top Three: Iowa, Ohio State, Minnesota
Immel’s Top Three: Ohio State, Iowa, Minnesota
It’s going to be another amazing event with five of the top seven ranked teams in the country hailing from the Big Ten Conference.
No. 2 Iowa still appears to have the deepest team, but look for a very close team race with top-10 teams Ohio State, Minnesota, Penn State and Illinois expected to be in the hunt as well.
The Big Ten has a whopping 86 automatic qualifiers for the NCAA tournament, but a strong performance in Columbus is still very important for seeding for the NCAAs.
It’s going to be another outstanding tournament to watch.
Here we go:
125 pounds
Iowa’s Thomas Gilman is the top seed and went unbeaten in league duals, but he hasn’t faced two-time Big Ten and two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois this season. Delgado has missed most of the season with an injury, but returned late in the season. Gilman actually beat Delgado the last time they wrestled, last season at the Midlands. No. 3 seed Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State and No. 5 seed Jordan Conaway of Penn State both lost close matches to Gilman this season.
Sesker’s finals pick: Gilman over Tomasello
Immel’s finals pick: Delgado over Gilman
133 pounds
Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes is No. 1 in the country, and he’s been very physical and very dominant all year. He’s determined to live up to the big potential he entered college with. He will likely have top wrestlers in Iowa’s Cory Clark and Ohio State’s Johnni DiJulius on his side of the bracket. The bottom half will be a great battle between Wisconsin’s Ryan Taylor, Penn State’s Jimmy Gulibon and Illinois’ Zane Richards.
Sesker’s finals pick: Dardanes over Gulibon
Immel’s finals pick: Dardanes over Richards
141 pounds
Three-time Big Ten and three-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber is clearly the favorite here, but Stieber had to hold off Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes 10-9 in a late-season dual meet. Barring a big upset, it will be a Stieber-Dardanes rematch in the finals here. Stieber will be tough to beat anywhere, and he’s competing at home for the final time this weekend.
Sesker’s finals pick: Stieber over Dardanes
Immel’s finals pick: Stieber over Dardanes
149 pounds
Iowa freshman Brandon Sorensen is the No. 1 seed here, and he will be trying to do what Northwestern’s Jason Tsirtsis did last year as a freshman – win Big Tens and NCAAs. Sorensen beat Tsirtsis during the season. Ohio State’s Hunter Stieber is a two-time All-American and a past league champion, but he’s missed most of the season with an injury. Michigan’s Alec Pantaleo also could be in the hunt.
Sesker’s finals pick: Tsirtsis over Sorensen
Immel’s finals pick: Tsirtsis over Pantaleo
157 pounds
This is one weight class that everyone wants to watch. Minnesota’s Dylan Ness placed second and Nebraska’s James Green third at the 2014 NCAA tournament. Ness and Green have both won Big Ten titles, but Illinois freshman Isaiah Martinez is the top seed. Martinez is unbeaten – he beat Green this season but he hasn’t faced Ness. Ness and Green could meet in a semifinal that may be the best match of the tournament. Green beat Ness at the 2014 Big Tens before Ness scored a stunning fall over the top-seeded Green at the 2014 NCAAs. Ness won the most recent meeting over Green in the Cliff Keen finals in Las Vegas.
Sesker’s finals pick: Ness over Martinez
Immel’s finals pick: Green over Martinez
165 pounds
This weight class could produce one of the most anticipated matches of the event as well. Cousins Bo Jordan of Ohio State and Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin grew up together and trained together in Ohio. Bo is the No. 1 pre-seed and Isaac, a returning All-American, is No. 2. The dangerous Taylor Walsh of Indiana is the No. 3 seed with returning All-American Pierce Harger of Northwestern also in the bracket. Returning Big Ten runner-up Nick Moore of Iowa also could be a factor.
Sesker’s finals pick: Isaac Jordan over Bo Jordan
Immel’s finals pick: Bo Jordan over Walsh
174 pounds
This loaded weight class features the top four ranked wrestlers in the country with returning Big Ten champion Robert Kokesh of Nebraska ranked No. 1 nationally. Kokesh is followed by Penn State’s Matt Brown, Iowa’s Mike Evans and Minnesota’s Logan Storley in the national rankings. Brown beat Evans in the 2013 league finals and Kokesh beat Evans in the 2014 finals. Storley was third at the 2014 NCAAs with Kokesh fourth, Brown fifth and Evans sixth. All four are seniors, and all are very evenly matched, so this is going to be fun to watch.
Sesker’s finals pick: Kokesh over Evans
Immel’s finals pick: Kokesh over Brown
184 pounds
This weight class isn’t considered one of the strongest in the league, and could be fairly wide open. Iowa sophomore Sammy Brooks is the No. 1 pre-seed, followed by Michigan’s Dom Abounader, Wisconsin’s Ricky Robertson, Minnesota’s Brett Pfarr, Ohio State’s Kenny Courts and Nebraska’s T.J. Dudley.
Sesker’s finals pick: Brooks over Abounader
Immel’s finals pick: Brooks over Robertson
197 pounds
This is another weight class which could produce the NCAA champion in a couple of weeks. Ohio State freshman Kyle Snyder, a Junior World champion, has come on strong late in the season to earn wins over returning All-Americans Morgan McIntosh of Penn State and Scott Schiller of Minnesota. All-American Nathan Burak of Iowa also could be in the mix. Burak owns a win over Snyder, but lost to Schiller and McIntosh.
Sesker’s finals pick: McIntosh over Snyder
Immel’s finals pick: Snyder over Schiller
285 pounds
Wisconsin’s Connor Medbery has put together a very strong season to earn the top seed in this class. He’s an athletic big man who has wrestled aggressively, and it’s paid off for him. Medbery will likely battle two-time All-American Bobby Telford of Iowa in the semis. Telford beat Medbery at the Midlands. Three-time All-American Mike McMullan of Northwestern and Junior World double medalist Adam Coon of Michigan could meet in the other semifinal.
Sesker’s finals pick: Telford over Coon
Immel’s finals pick: Coon over Telford
Team Race
Iowa was ranked No. 1 nationally all season before falling to Missouri at the National Duals. The Hawkeyes have a very deep, experienced and strong team. Ohio State also is very deep with its full lineup finally back intact, but the Buckeyes clearly aren’t 100 percent physically. Minnesota has five proven studs, but needs a lot of help from the other five weight classes. Penn State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern and Michigan are also capable of scoring a lot of points as well.
Sesker’s Top Three: Iowa, Ohio State, Minnesota
Immel’s Top Three: Ohio State, Iowa, Minnesota
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