Big Ten Wrestling power rankings: Does Penn State climb to top?

Iowa's Austin DeSanto, bottom, wrestles Penn State's Roman Bravo-Young (Image via Hawk Central)
Iowa's Austin DeSanto, bottom, wrestles Penn State's Roman Bravo-Young (Image via Hawk Central) /
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Big Ten Wrestling
Iowa’s Michael Kemerer, right, wrestles Minnesota’s Devin Skatzka at 174 pounds during a NCAA Big Ten Conference wrestling dual, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.200215 Minn Iowa Wr 027 Jpg /

Last Week: 5
Rank: 9
Record: 7-2
Top 20 Wins: 3
Ranked Wrestlers: 5

125 No. 12 Patrick McKee
157 No. 6 Brayton Lee
165 No. 16 Andrew Sparks
184 No. 10 Owen Webster
Hwt No. 1 Gable Steveson

The Golden Gophers picked up a couple of big wins on their way to defeating Northwestern 29-10 this past Sunday afternoon (2/21).

No. 12 Patrick McKee picked up a decision over Northwestern’s No. 13 ranked Michael DeAugustino and unranked Michael Blackhus defeated No. 17 Yahya Thomas. The lone losses on the day were against No. 1 Ryan Deakin 157 and No. 12 Chris Cannon 133, so no real shockers there.

I still believe Minnesota has an overall better team than Ohio State, but the difference is razor thin.

The Gophers have had a stranglehold on the heavyweight division for the past two seasons. Could the emergence of Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet change this?

If so, it could also factor into Minnesota sliding down a spot behind Ohio State down the road.