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TrueTan Wrestling shares insight on Penn State, Big Ten Championships

By Chris Snyder

Terrell Barraclough of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates after defeating Isaac Wilcox of the Ohio State Buckeyes in overtime of their 157-pound bout at Bryce Jordan Center on February 04, 2022 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)
Terrell Barraclough of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates after defeating Isaac Wilcox of the Ohio State Buckeyes in overtime of their 157-pound bout at Bryce Jordan Center on February 04, 2022 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Wrestling
Roman Bravo-Young of the Penn State Nittany Lions  (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

Who’s flying under the radar as Big Ten Championships loom?

VBR – You mentioned some individual wrestlers in your previous answer. On that note, are there any wrestlers flying under the radar that people should be looking out for going into the Big Tens?

TTW – Oh absolutely. Illinois’ No. 22 Justin Cardani at 125, Penn State’s No. 23 Creighton Edsell at 165, and Indiana’s No. 11 Brock Hudkins to name a few. There’s also Northwestern’s Troy Fisher at 174.

I think 184 and 197 are going to be wild in the Big Ten Championships.

A couple of other names to look out for are Northwestern’s Frankie Tal-Shahar at 141, Rutgers’ No. 15 Joey Olivieri at 133, and Indiana’s Jacob Bullock at 285.

VBR – What about some individual matches. Are there any potential matchups in the Big Ten Championships you would like to see?

TTW – The semifinals at 174. No matter how you look at it, it’s going to be awesome!

This is a match we didn’t get to see in the Penn State/Iowa dual, but Drew Hildebrandt versus Drake Ayala at 125 could be fun. Keeping with the lighter weights, a matchup between Austin DeSanto (Iowa) and Lucas Byrd (Illinois) at 133 could also be good.

And how could you not want a “Part 2” between Aaron Brooks (PSU) and Myles Amine (Michigan) at 184?

At 141, I think a Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) matchup against Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) and then a Nick Lee (PSU) versus Rivera “Part 3” (maybe) would be incredible.

Overall the action at 197 and 285 in the quarterfinals are going to be crazy!

VBR – Now that the regular season has come to a close, it’s apparent the top three teams in the Big Ten (Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan) have appeared to separate themselves from the pack. What remaining teams do you think will round out the top five?

TTW – I think Nebraska and Ohio State will be battling for the fourth and fifth place spot. Both teams have some heavy scorers in their lineups.

Wisconsin also has an outside chance of top five if things break right for them.

VBR – Keeping with the team questions, which team is best positioned to surprise during the Big Ten Championships?

TTW – It’s Wisconsin. They have guys like Dean Hamiti (165) who could score major points along with Eric Barnett (285), Austin Gomez (149), and several others that could be landmines.

I feel like Head Coach Chris Bono will have them ready.

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