Penn State aims to knock off returning champion Ohio State at Big Ten Championships in Minnesota
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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
Image of NCAA champion Jason Nolf of Penn State courtesy of GoPSUSports.com
The 2019 Big Ten Championships are scheduled to take place this weekend, March 9-10, at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota’s campus in Minneapolis.
This year’s field features eight wrestlers, who have combined for 10 conference titles, as well as 31 past All-Americans. Of those 31, there are six past NCAA champions, including Penn State’s Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall and Bo Nickal, Iowa’s Spencer Lee and Ohio State’s Myles Martin.
With four No. 1-seeded wrestlers, Penn State is projected to knock off two-time defending Big Ten team champion Ohio State.
Carrying No. 1 seeds into the tournament for PSU are Nolf at 157, Joseph at 165, Hall at 174 and Nickal at 197. The Buckeyes enter the weekend with only one top-seeded wrestler, Martin at 184, and three others in the top three.
Holding top seeds at the other weights include Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern at 125, Stevan Micic of Michigan at 133, Mike Carr of Illinois at 141, Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers at 149 and Gable Steveson of Minnesota at heavyweight.
Fans can watch the first three sessions on BTN Plus and Flowrestling, while the finals will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
Below is a short breakdown of each weight class:
125 pounds
Leading the pack at 125 pounds is Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern, who is undefeated at the weight and enters the weekend as the No. 1 seed.
A 2018 NCAA All-American, Rivera is 25-1 on the season with his lone loss coming at a different weight against 2018 NCAA runner-up Stevan Micic of Michigan. The Wildcat bumped up to 133 pounds for the bout.
Rivera owns a statement win over 2018 NCAA champion and Iowa sophomore Spencer Lee, which came at the 56th Annual Midlands Championships in December.
Lee is the No. 2 seed with an overall 16-2 record. His only other loss of the year came on Feb. 24 against then-No. 4 Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State in the Hawkeyes dual finale. Lee is the highest retuning Big Ten placer at the weight, taking third last year.
Rounding out the top-five seeds are Minnesota’s Sean Russell, a past All-American for Edinboro, at No. 3, RayVon Foley of Michigan State at No. 4 and Travis Piotrowski of Illinois at No. 5.
No. 7 Zeke Moisey, a senior for Nebraska, will make his Big Ten Championships debut this weekend after transferring from West Virginia (Big 12) over the summer. Moisey was a 2015 NCAA runner-up for WVU.
133 pounds
This is perhaps one of the most loaded weights in the entire country with seven of the nation’s top-15 ranked wrestlers (including four past All-Americans) at 133 pounds set to compete against each other this weekend for a Big Ten title.
2018 NCAA runner-up and defending Big Ten champion Micic is the favorite with an unblemished 13-0 record and the No. 1 seed. The Wolverine owns wins over five of this weekend’s 133-pound entrants, including 2018 NCAA runner-up at 125 pounds Nick Suriano from Rutgers.
Earlier this season, Micic picked up a 14-1 major decision against 2018 Big Ten runner-up and NCAA All-American Luke Pletcher of Ohio State.
Holding the No. 2 seed is Iowa transfer Austin DeSanto, followed by No. 3 Suriano and No. 4 Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State. Pletcher comes in at No. 5 and 2017 NCAA runner-up Ethan Lizak from Minnesota is the No. 6 seed.
141 pounds
Earning the No. 1 seed at 141 pounds is Mike Carr of Illinois, who is the only wrestler undefeated in Big Ten action here. Carr took second at the conference tournament last season.
But lurking in the field is 2018 Big Ten champion and No. 3 seed Joey McKenna of Ohio State. The two have not met up this year, but in last year’s conference finals, McKenna defeated Carr for gold with a 13-0 major decision.
Owning a win over McKenna this season is Penn State sophomore and second-seeded Nick Lee, who defeated the Buckeye in the dual in a tight 7-6 decision.
Past NCAA All-American Chad Red from Nebraska goes into Minneapolis as the No. 8 seed.
149 pounds
Bringing a perfect record to the tournament is three-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers, who is 23-0 on the season. Ashnault, the No. 1 seed, seeks to become the Rutgers’ first NCAA champion.
Behind him is Ohio State senior Micah Jordan, who is a two-time All-American. The pair met up earlier this year in the Cliff Keen Invitational with Ashnault escaping with a 14-10 victory.
No. 3 seed Pat Lugo of Iowa is riding momentum from a great second half of the year into the postseason. The Hawkeye, who transferred from Edinboro, capped off the dual season with a 7-4 decision over No. 6 Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State. One of Lugo’s most dominant wins came against Big Ten foe and All-American Tommy Thorn of Minnesota, who is this weekend’s No. 4 seed.
Although unseeded, Alfred Bannister of Maryland is the highest returning conference placer at the weight class, finishing fifth in 2018.
157 pounds
Considered one of the most dominant wrestlers in the nation, Jason Nolf seeks his second Big Ten title this weekend. Last year, the two-time NCAA champion took fifth at the event, due to injury. This season, Nolf is back to his dominant ways, compiling a 23-0 record with 20 bonus-point wins, including 13 pins.
The only two wrestlers to hold Nolf to a decision this year are Alec Pantaleo of Michigan and Tyler Berger of Nebraska. Both are past All-Americans.
Pantaleo is the returning Big Ten champion and the No. 4 seed. He sits behind No. 2 Berger and No. 3 Ryan Deakin of Northwestern, a past Junior World medalist. Rounding out the top-five is Kaleb Young of Iowa, who is 16-3 on the year.
165 pounds
With four-time conference champion Isaiah Martinez graduating last season, the Big Ten will have a new champion at 165 pounds.
One of the favorites for the title is two-time NCAA champion and 2018 Big Ten runner-up Vincenzo Joseph from Penn State. Joseph is 7-0 against league competition; however, he has yet to face No. 2 seed Alex Marinelli of Iowa and No. 3 seed Evan Wick of Wisconsin this season, who both have shots at the title.
Both the Badger and Hawkeye captured spots on the NCAA podium last season with Wick finishing third and Marinelli taking sixth.
Against each other, the two have had some close battles this season. Wick’s two losses this season came at the hands of Marinelli, including a 6-4 overtime decision and a 4-3 decision. Marinelli is 20-0 entering the weekend.
Holding the No. 4 seed is Isaiah White of Nebraksa, followed by fifth-seeded Logan Massa, an All-American for Michigan.
174 pounds
Headlining the weight is 2017 NCAA champion and returning Big Ten champion Mark Hall of Penn State, who is 23-0 on the year. One of his marquee wins of the season came over 2018 NCAA champion Zahid Valencia of Arizona State early in the season.
Looking to challenge Hall for the title is two-time All-American Myles Amine of Michigan. Hall and Amine had a close bout in the dual, with the Nittany Lion emerging victorious with a 3-2 decision.
Dylan Lydy from Purdue is the No. 3 seed, followed by Mikey Labriola of Nebraska at No. 4 and Devin Skatzka of Minnesota at No. 5.
184 pounds
2016 NCAA champion and two-time Big Ten finalist Myles Martin of Ohio State is the heavy favorite to win the conference title. For the Buckeyes, Martin has been dominant all season, putting together a 17-0 record with 12 bonus-point wins.
There are three other All-Americans in the field, including No. 2 Shakur Rasheed of Penn State, who was the 2018 Big Ten runner-up at 197 pounds, No. 3 Taylor Venz of Nebraska and No. 4 Emery Parker of Illinois.
Martin owns wins this season over Venz and Parker as well as seven other Big Ten opponents. Martin and Rasheed have not met this year.
197 pounds
Bo Nickal, a two-time NCAA champion and two-time Big Ten champion (2017 at 174 pounds, 2018 at 184 pounds), received the No. 1 seed for this weekend.
At No. 2 is two-time defending Big Ten champion and two-time All-American Kollin Moore of Ohio State. Nickal and Moore met up in the Penn State vs. Ohio State dual in early-February, and Nickal grabbed a quick win by fall to earn the No. 1 spot.
Rounding out the top-five seeds is No. 3 Jacob Warner of Iowa, No. 4 Christian Brunner of Purdue and No. 5 Eric Schultz of Nebraska.
285 pounds
At the top of the national rankings is freshman phenom Gable Steveson from Minnesota. A true freshman, Steveson is undefeated on the year with a 28-0 mark. The Gopher has signature wins over four current top-10 wrestlers. Steveson boasts three freestyle World titles, two as a Cadet and one as a Junior.
Looking to end his run is Penn State’s Anthony Cassar, who is 21-1 on the season with his lone loss coming at the hands of No. 2 Derek White from Oklahoma State.
Taking the No. 3 seed is another true freshman Mason Parris from Michigan, while the No. 4 seed belongs to redshirt freshman Trent Hillger from Wisconsin. Ohio State’s Chase Singletary brings the No. 5 seed to the tournament.
2019 B1G Wrestling Tournament schedule
Saturday, March 9,
10:00 a.m. - Session 1
6:00 p.m. - Session 2
Sunday, March 10
12:00 noon - Session 3
The 2019 Big Ten Championships are scheduled to take place this weekend, March 9-10, at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota’s campus in Minneapolis.
This year’s field features eight wrestlers, who have combined for 10 conference titles, as well as 31 past All-Americans. Of those 31, there are six past NCAA champions, including Penn State’s Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall and Bo Nickal, Iowa’s Spencer Lee and Ohio State’s Myles Martin.
With four No. 1-seeded wrestlers, Penn State is projected to knock off two-time defending Big Ten team champion Ohio State.
Carrying No. 1 seeds into the tournament for PSU are Nolf at 157, Joseph at 165, Hall at 174 and Nickal at 197. The Buckeyes enter the weekend with only one top-seeded wrestler, Martin at 184, and three others in the top three.
Holding top seeds at the other weights include Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern at 125, Stevan Micic of Michigan at 133, Mike Carr of Illinois at 141, Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers at 149 and Gable Steveson of Minnesota at heavyweight.
Fans can watch the first three sessions on BTN Plus and Flowrestling, while the finals will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
Below is a short breakdown of each weight class:
125 pounds
Leading the pack at 125 pounds is Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern, who is undefeated at the weight and enters the weekend as the No. 1 seed.
A 2018 NCAA All-American, Rivera is 25-1 on the season with his lone loss coming at a different weight against 2018 NCAA runner-up Stevan Micic of Michigan. The Wildcat bumped up to 133 pounds for the bout.
Rivera owns a statement win over 2018 NCAA champion and Iowa sophomore Spencer Lee, which came at the 56th Annual Midlands Championships in December.
Lee is the No. 2 seed with an overall 16-2 record. His only other loss of the year came on Feb. 24 against then-No. 4 Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State in the Hawkeyes dual finale. Lee is the highest retuning Big Ten placer at the weight, taking third last year.
Rounding out the top-five seeds are Minnesota’s Sean Russell, a past All-American for Edinboro, at No. 3, RayVon Foley of Michigan State at No. 4 and Travis Piotrowski of Illinois at No. 5.
No. 7 Zeke Moisey, a senior for Nebraska, will make his Big Ten Championships debut this weekend after transferring from West Virginia (Big 12) over the summer. Moisey was a 2015 NCAA runner-up for WVU.
133 pounds
This is perhaps one of the most loaded weights in the entire country with seven of the nation’s top-15 ranked wrestlers (including four past All-Americans) at 133 pounds set to compete against each other this weekend for a Big Ten title.
2018 NCAA runner-up and defending Big Ten champion Micic is the favorite with an unblemished 13-0 record and the No. 1 seed. The Wolverine owns wins over five of this weekend’s 133-pound entrants, including 2018 NCAA runner-up at 125 pounds Nick Suriano from Rutgers.
Earlier this season, Micic picked up a 14-1 major decision against 2018 Big Ten runner-up and NCAA All-American Luke Pletcher of Ohio State.
Holding the No. 2 seed is Iowa transfer Austin DeSanto, followed by No. 3 Suriano and No. 4 Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State. Pletcher comes in at No. 5 and 2017 NCAA runner-up Ethan Lizak from Minnesota is the No. 6 seed.
141 pounds
Earning the No. 1 seed at 141 pounds is Mike Carr of Illinois, who is the only wrestler undefeated in Big Ten action here. Carr took second at the conference tournament last season.
But lurking in the field is 2018 Big Ten champion and No. 3 seed Joey McKenna of Ohio State. The two have not met up this year, but in last year’s conference finals, McKenna defeated Carr for gold with a 13-0 major decision.
Owning a win over McKenna this season is Penn State sophomore and second-seeded Nick Lee, who defeated the Buckeye in the dual in a tight 7-6 decision.
Past NCAA All-American Chad Red from Nebraska goes into Minneapolis as the No. 8 seed.
149 pounds
Bringing a perfect record to the tournament is three-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers, who is 23-0 on the season. Ashnault, the No. 1 seed, seeks to become the Rutgers’ first NCAA champion.
Behind him is Ohio State senior Micah Jordan, who is a two-time All-American. The pair met up earlier this year in the Cliff Keen Invitational with Ashnault escaping with a 14-10 victory.
No. 3 seed Pat Lugo of Iowa is riding momentum from a great second half of the year into the postseason. The Hawkeye, who transferred from Edinboro, capped off the dual season with a 7-4 decision over No. 6 Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State. One of Lugo’s most dominant wins came against Big Ten foe and All-American Tommy Thorn of Minnesota, who is this weekend’s No. 4 seed.
Although unseeded, Alfred Bannister of Maryland is the highest returning conference placer at the weight class, finishing fifth in 2018.
157 pounds
Considered one of the most dominant wrestlers in the nation, Jason Nolf seeks his second Big Ten title this weekend. Last year, the two-time NCAA champion took fifth at the event, due to injury. This season, Nolf is back to his dominant ways, compiling a 23-0 record with 20 bonus-point wins, including 13 pins.
The only two wrestlers to hold Nolf to a decision this year are Alec Pantaleo of Michigan and Tyler Berger of Nebraska. Both are past All-Americans.
Pantaleo is the returning Big Ten champion and the No. 4 seed. He sits behind No. 2 Berger and No. 3 Ryan Deakin of Northwestern, a past Junior World medalist. Rounding out the top-five is Kaleb Young of Iowa, who is 16-3 on the year.
165 pounds
With four-time conference champion Isaiah Martinez graduating last season, the Big Ten will have a new champion at 165 pounds.
One of the favorites for the title is two-time NCAA champion and 2018 Big Ten runner-up Vincenzo Joseph from Penn State. Joseph is 7-0 against league competition; however, he has yet to face No. 2 seed Alex Marinelli of Iowa and No. 3 seed Evan Wick of Wisconsin this season, who both have shots at the title.
Both the Badger and Hawkeye captured spots on the NCAA podium last season with Wick finishing third and Marinelli taking sixth.
Against each other, the two have had some close battles this season. Wick’s two losses this season came at the hands of Marinelli, including a 6-4 overtime decision and a 4-3 decision. Marinelli is 20-0 entering the weekend.
Holding the No. 4 seed is Isaiah White of Nebraksa, followed by fifth-seeded Logan Massa, an All-American for Michigan.
174 pounds
Headlining the weight is 2017 NCAA champion and returning Big Ten champion Mark Hall of Penn State, who is 23-0 on the year. One of his marquee wins of the season came over 2018 NCAA champion Zahid Valencia of Arizona State early in the season.
Looking to challenge Hall for the title is two-time All-American Myles Amine of Michigan. Hall and Amine had a close bout in the dual, with the Nittany Lion emerging victorious with a 3-2 decision.
Dylan Lydy from Purdue is the No. 3 seed, followed by Mikey Labriola of Nebraska at No. 4 and Devin Skatzka of Minnesota at No. 5.
184 pounds
2016 NCAA champion and two-time Big Ten finalist Myles Martin of Ohio State is the heavy favorite to win the conference title. For the Buckeyes, Martin has been dominant all season, putting together a 17-0 record with 12 bonus-point wins.
There are three other All-Americans in the field, including No. 2 Shakur Rasheed of Penn State, who was the 2018 Big Ten runner-up at 197 pounds, No. 3 Taylor Venz of Nebraska and No. 4 Emery Parker of Illinois.
Martin owns wins this season over Venz and Parker as well as seven other Big Ten opponents. Martin and Rasheed have not met this year.
197 pounds
Bo Nickal, a two-time NCAA champion and two-time Big Ten champion (2017 at 174 pounds, 2018 at 184 pounds), received the No. 1 seed for this weekend.
At No. 2 is two-time defending Big Ten champion and two-time All-American Kollin Moore of Ohio State. Nickal and Moore met up in the Penn State vs. Ohio State dual in early-February, and Nickal grabbed a quick win by fall to earn the No. 1 spot.
Rounding out the top-five seeds is No. 3 Jacob Warner of Iowa, No. 4 Christian Brunner of Purdue and No. 5 Eric Schultz of Nebraska.
285 pounds
At the top of the national rankings is freshman phenom Gable Steveson from Minnesota. A true freshman, Steveson is undefeated on the year with a 28-0 mark. The Gopher has signature wins over four current top-10 wrestlers. Steveson boasts three freestyle World titles, two as a Cadet and one as a Junior.
Looking to end his run is Penn State’s Anthony Cassar, who is 21-1 on the season with his lone loss coming at the hands of No. 2 Derek White from Oklahoma State.
Taking the No. 3 seed is another true freshman Mason Parris from Michigan, while the No. 4 seed belongs to redshirt freshman Trent Hillger from Wisconsin. Ohio State’s Chase Singletary brings the No. 5 seed to the tournament.
2019 B1G Wrestling Tournament schedule
Saturday, March 9,
10:00 a.m. - Session 1
6:00 p.m. - Session 2
Sunday, March 10
12:00 noon - Session 3
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