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B1G Wrestling Championship: Predicting winners for each weight class

By Chris Snyder

STATE COLLEGE, PA - FEBRUARY 5: A view of the crowd in the arena during a match between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes on February 5, 2016 at Recreation Hall on the campus of Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. Penn State won 24-14. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - FEBRUARY 5: A view of the crowd in the arena during a match between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes on February 5, 2016 at Recreation Hall on the campus of Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. Penn State won 24-14. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi, left, wrestles Minnesota’s Gable Steveson at 285 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 013 Jpg
Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi, left, wrestles Minnesota’s Gable Steveson at 285 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 013 Jpg /

285 B1G Pre-Seeds
1. Gable Steveson, Minnesota
2. Mason Parris, Michigan
3. Tony Cassioppi Iowa
4. Luke Luffman, Illinois
5. Christian Lance, Nebraska
6. Trent Hillger, Wisconsin
7. Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State
8. Tate Orndorff, Ohio State
9. Christian Rebottaro Michigan State
10. Jack Heyob, Northwestern
11. Christian Colucci, Rutgers
12. Dorian Keys, Purdue
13. Rudy Streck, Indiana
14. Garrett Kappes, Maryland

Well, here we are. The final bracket for me to break down and fittingly it’s the heavyweight division.

No surprises in the No. 1 and No. 2 pre-seeds as Steveson and Parris occupy these spots. I’d be lying if I said Kerkvliet at No. 7 isn’t head scratching. I realize he’s only wrestled in 2 total matches this year and they happened a mere 10 days ago. But I don’t think it would much of a stretch to see him slotted at the No. 4 spot.

Steveson is going to run roughshod over the top half of this bracket on his way to the finals, and the question is whether or not he’ll break a sweat. If these pre-seedings do end up being the final seedings, then we’ll find out how good Kerkvliet is fairly quick as he would have a second round match against Parris.

This match will tell you everything. As we’ve seen the past two years in the B1G heavyweight class, Steveson and Parris are the top two guys. Period. And Parris is only slight behind Steveson, evident by his loss last year in the B1G finals to Steveson 6-8 (their only head-to-head match).

Wrestling fans should also note, Kerkvliet and Steveson have one career head-to-head match. Back in February of 2018 the two met in an epic Minnesota high school match where Steveson pulled out the 3-2 victory over Kerkvliet.

Following the match, Steveson had the following parting words for Kerkvliet:

"When we get to the NCAA finals, it’s not going to look like this. The score’s not going to be 3-2 next time. All respect to him, but I’m coming for it. He’s mine."

Do you think Greg remembers this? I do and I believe Kerkvliet will stun the Minnesota faithful. Not only will he win the finals matchup, he’s going to pin Steveson in the process. Book it.

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