Big Ten Wrestling Pre-Seeds Announced
Penn State paces conference with four top-seeded wrestlers
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced the preliminary seeds for the 2018 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 3-4 at Michigan State. Six schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Penn State leading the way with four top-seeded wrestlers.
Ohio State and Penn State will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Michigan boasts a seeded grappler in nine classes.
The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in seven weight classes, along with all 14 starters in three weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving nine or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes.
Penn State boasts four top-seeded wrestlers, with 149-pounder Zain Retherford, 157-pounder Jason Nolf, 174-pounder Mark Hall and 184-pounder Bo Nickal. Ohio State and Michigan each hold a pair of top seeds. The 133-pounder Stevan Micic and 285-pounder Adam Coon pace the Wolverines, while 141-pounder Joey McKenna and 197-pounder Kollin Moore earned top billing in their weight classes for the Buckeyes. The Fighting Illini’s Isaiah Martinez (165), the Hawkeyes’ Michael Kemerer (157) and the Scarlet Knights’ Nick Suriano (125) round out the group of top-ranked grapplers.
This year’s field contains a combined 15 Big Ten individual championships (nine wrestlers) and 11 NCAA individual championships (eight wrestlers). In addition, Illinois’ Martinez and Ohio State’s Nathan Tomasello are looking to become only the 15th and 16th wrestlers in conference history to win four individual titles.
For more information on the 2018 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page HERE. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below.
125 lbs.
- Nick Suriano, RU
- Spencer Lee, IOWA
- Nathan Tomasello, OSU
- Sebastian Rivera, NU
- Ethan Lizak, MINN
- Luke Welch, PUR
- RayVon Foley, MSU
- Drew Mattin, MICH
- Travis Piotrowski, ILL
- Elijah Oliver, IND
- Mitch Maginnis, NEB
- Johnny Jimenez, WIS
- Brandon Cray, MD
- Carson Kuhn, PSU
133 lbs.
- Stevan Micic, MICH
- Luke Pletcher, OSU
- Mitch McKee, MINN
- Jason Renteria, NEB
- Scott Delvecchio, RU
- Corey Keener, PSU
- Dylan Duncan, ILL
- Ben Thornton, PUR
141 lbs.
- Joey McKenna, OSU
- Nick Lee, PSU
- Michael Carr, ILL
- Chad Red, NEB
- Nate Limmex, PUR
- Tommy Thorn, MINN
- Cole Weaver, IND
- Eli Stickley, WIS
149 lbs.
- Zain Retherford, PSU
- Brandon Sorensen, IOWA
- Ryan Deakin, NU
- Colton McCrystal, NEB
- Ke-Shawn Hayes, OSU
- Eleazar Deluca, RU
- Alfred Bannister, MD
- Malik Amine, MICH
- Steve Bleise, MINN
- Cole Martin, WIS
- Austin Nash, PUR
- Eric Barone, ILL
- Jwan Britton, MSU
- AJ Raya, IND
157 lbs.
- Michael Kemerer, IOWA
- Jason Nolf, PSU
- Alec Pantaleo, MICH
- Micah Jordan, OSU
- Tyler Berger, NEB
- Andrew Crone, WIS
- Jake Short, MINN
- John Vanschenkbrill, RU
165 lbs.
- Isaiah Martinez, ILL
- Alex Marinelli, IOWA
- Vincenzo Joseph, PSU
- Richie Lewis, RU
- Evan Wick, WIS
- Nick Wanzek, MINN
- Logan Massa, MICH
- Isaiah White, NEB
- Te’Shan Campbell, OSU
- Jacob Morrissey, PUR
- Bryce Martin, IND
- Austin Hiles, MSU
- Brendan Burnham, MD
- Mike Sepkle, NU
174 lbs.
- Mark Hall, PSU
- Bo Jordan, OSU
- Myles Amine, MICH
- Dylan Lydy, PUR
- Johnny Sebastian, NU
- Devin Skatzka, IND
- Joey Gunther, IOWA
- Ryan Christensen, WIS
184 lbs.
- Bo Nickal, PSU
- Myles Martin, OSU
- Dom Abounader, MICH
- Emery Parker, ILL
- Nick Gravina, RU
- Tyler Venz, NEB
- Ricky Robertson, WIS
- Mitch Bowman, IOWA
197 lbs.
- Kollin Moore, OSU
- Shakur Rasheed, PSU
- Cash Wilcke, IOWA
- Kevin Beazley, MICH
- Hunter Ritter, WIS
- Christian Brunner, PUR
- Zack Chakonis, NU
- Eric Schultz, NEB
285 lbs.
- Adam Coon, MICH
- Kyle Snyder, OSU
- Nick Nevills, PSU
- Sam Stoll, IOWA
- Youssif Hemida, MD
- Conan Jennings, NU
- Shawn Streck, PUR
- Rylee Streifel, MINN
