Penn State Wrestling: Big Ten Championship Preview

Big Ten Seedings (preliminary)

125 lbs.
1. Spencer Lee (IOWA)
2. Liam Cronin (NEB)
3. Matt Ramos (PUR)
4. Eric Barnett (WIS)
5. Patrick McKee (MINN)
6. Michael DeAugustino (NU)
7. Malik Heinselman (OSU)
8. Braxton Brown (MD)
9. Dean Peterson (RU)
10. Jack Medley (MICH)
11. Gary Steen (PSU)
12. Tristan Lujan (MSU)
13. Jacob Moran (IND)
14. Maximo Renteria (ILL)

133 lbs.
1. Roman Bravo-Young (PSU)
2. Jesse Mendez (OSU)
3. Lucas Byrd (ILL)
4. Chris Cannon (NU)
5. Dylan Ragusin (MICH)
6. Aaron Nagao (MINN)
7. Joe Heilmann (RU)
8. Brody Teske (IOWA)
9. RayVon Foley (MSU)
10. Taylor LaMont (WIS)
11. Henry Porter (IND)
12. Kyle Burwick (NEB)
13. Dustin Norris (PUR)
14. Jackson Cockrell (MD)

141 lbs.
1. Real Woods (IOWA)
2. Beau Bartlett (PSU)
3. Brock Hardy (NEB)
4. Frankie Tal Shahar (NU)
5. Jakob Bergeland (MINN)
6. Danny Pucino (ILL)
7. Joseph Olivieri (RU)
8. Parker Filius (PUR)
9. Dylan D’Emilio (OSU)
10. Cole Mattin (MICH)
11. Joseph Zargo (WIS)
12. Jordan Hamdan (MSU)
13. Cayden Rooks (IND)
14. Kal Miller (MD)

149 lbs.
1. Sammy Sasso (OSU)
2. Austin Gomez (WIS)
3. Yahya Thomas (NU)
4. Max Murin (IOWA)
5. Shayne Van Ness (PSU)
6. Michael Blockhus (MINN)
7. Graham Rooks (IND)
8. Ethen Miller (MD)
9. Chance Lamer (MICH)
10. Tony White (RU)
11. Dayne Morton (NEB)
12. Jake Harrier (ILL)
13. Peyton Omania (MSU)
14. Jaden Reynolds (PUR)

157 lbs.
1. Peyton Robb (NEB)
2. Levi Haines (PSU)
3. Kendall Coleman (PUR)
4. Chase Saldate (MSU)
5. Cobe Siebrecht (IOWA)
6. Will Lewan (MICH)
7. Michael Carr (ILL)
8. Trevor Chumbley (NU)
9. Garrett Model (WIS)
10. Derek Gilcher (IND)
11. Brayton Lee (MINN)
12. Paddy Gallagher (OSU)
13. Andrew Clark (RU)
14. Michael North (MD)

165 lbs.
1. Dean Hamiti (WIS)
2. Cameron Amine (MICH)
3. Patrick Kennedy (IOWA)
4. Alex Facundo (PSU)
5. Carson Kharchla (OSU)
6. Caleb Fish (MSU)
7. Maxx Mayfield (NU)
8. Danny Braunagel (ILL)
9. Andrew Sparks
10. Bubba Wilson (NEB)
11. Nick South (IND)
12. Robert Kanniard (RU)
13. Stony Buell (PUR)
14. John Martin Best (MD)

174 lbs.
1. Carter Starocci (PSU)
2. Mikey Labriola (NEB)
3. Ethan Smith (OSU)
4. Bailee O’Reilly (MINN)
5. Edmond Ruth (ILL)
6. DJ Washington (IND)
7. Nelson Brands (IOWA)
8. Troy Fisher (NU)
9. Max Maylor (MICH)
10. Jackson Turley (RU)
11. Ceasar Garza (MSU)
12. Dominic Solis (MD)
13. Josh Otto (WIS)
14. Cooper Noehre (PUR)

184 lbs.
1. Aaron Brooks (PSU)
2. Kaleb Romero (OSU)
3. Isaiah Salazar (MINN)
4. Matt Finesilver (MICH)
5. Abe Assad (IOWA)
6. Layne Malczewski (MSU)
7. Lenny Pinto (NEB)
8. Brian Soldano (RU)
9. Dylan Connell (ILL)
10. Tyler Dow (WIS)
11. Evan Bates (NU)
12. Ben Vanadia (PUR)
13. Clayton Fielden (IND)
14. Kevin Makosy (MD)

197 lbs.
1. Max Dean (PSU)
2. Silas Allred (NEB)
3. Zac Braunagel (ILL)
4. Cameron Caffey (MSU)
5. Jacob Warner (IOWA)
6. Jaxon Smith (MD)
7. Gavin Hoffman (OSU)
8. Braxton Amos (WIS)
9. Michial Foy (MINN)
10. Nick Willham (IND)
11. Billy Janzer (RU)
12. Andrew Davison (NU)
13. Brendin Yatooma (MICH)
14. Hayden Filipovich (PUR)

285 lbs.
1. Mason Parris (MICH)
2. Greg Kerkvliet (PSU)
3. Tony Cassioppi (IOWA)
4. Lucas Davison (NU)
5. Trent Hillger (WIS)
6. Boone McDermott (RU)
7. Tate Orndoff (OSU)
8. Jacob Bullock (IND)
9. Jaron Smith (MD)
10. Hayden Copass (PUR)
11. Garrett Joles (MINN)
12. Ryan Vasbinder (MSU)
13. Matt Wroblewski (ILL)
14. Austin Emerson (NEB)

As stated above, these seedings are not officially set but I don’t see much changing if they do. Also keep in mind that the top two seeds in each bracket will receive opening round byes.

But there are some questions I have.

At 165, Dean Hamiti is the overall No. 1 seed even though he has three losses on the year with one of them being at the hands of the No. 2 seed Cameron Amine. And the reason this is important is because Alex Facundo sits at No. 4 and he would potentially face Hamiti in the semi finals and not Amine.

Hamiti and Facundo have not faced each other however Alex did best Amine earlier in the season in a close 6-5 decision.

In the log jam that is the 197 group, Max Dean takes the top spot but the biggest surprise is Jacob Warner coming in at No. 5. As I stated in my NCAA Power Rankings from last week, Warner has not looked like the same guy who made the finals in last year’s NCAA’s. But I figured he would still be somewhere in the top three which means he would be on the other side of the bracket.

And if the current seedings hold true then Dean would likely face either Warner or Caffey in the semi finals, which is no easy task.

Am I nitpicking slightly? Yep. But I’m simply pointing out some items.

And lastly, no matter how you slice it, Gary Steen is going to have to run through a proverbial gauntlet to make any headway in the 125 bracket. On paper his opening round match will be against the No. 6 seed, Northwestern’s Michael DeAugustino. And if he somehow gets past that round then his next opponent would most likely be Matt Ramos from Purdue.

But hey, anything’s possible, right?