Let's examine five intriguing weight classes in the Big Ten Championships and five intriguing weight classes from conferences outside of the Big Ten.
Big Ten Championships
174 at Big Ten Championships
Penn State's Matt Brown and Iowa's Mike Evans met last month and could meet again in the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday night (Photo/Bill Ennis)Commentary: We might as well call the 174-pound weight class at the Big Tens a mini NCAA tournament since it includes the top four wrestlers in the country and nine of the top 20. The top four -- Kokesh, Brown, Evans and Storley -- know each other inside and out. These four multiple-time All-Americans are about as evenly matched as you can get and have traded wins over the past three seasons. Kokesh is the lone wrestler in the weight class without a blemish on his record this season, but has not faced Evans or Storley this season. He did edge Brown 3-2 at the Southern Scuffle.
157 at Big Ten Championships
Ranked wrestlers (8): No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), No. 2 Dylan Ness (Minnesota), No. 3 James Green (Nebraska), No. 8 Brian Murphy (Michigan), No. 9 Doug Welch (Purdue), No. 10 Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers), No. 13 Josh Demas (Ohio State) and No. 15 Mike Kelly (Iowa)
Commentary: Like 174 pounds, 157 pounds is very top-heavy in the Big Ten. It includes the nation's top three wrestlers: Martinez, Ness and Green. Coming into this season most expected Ness and Green to meet in the Big Ten finals and possibly the NCAA finals. However, the freshman Martinez had other ideas. He comes into his first postseason undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Martinez has been crushing his competition all season. Against Big Ten competition, Martinez won eight of his matches by major decision or greater, including five technical falls and two pins. He already notched a win over Green, but has not yet faced Ness. If the seeds hold, Ness and Green will meet in the Big Ten semifinals for the second straight year. Green beat Ness last year at the Big Tens, but Ness has won the last two meetings.
285 at Big Ten Championships
Ranked wrestlers (10): No. 2 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), No. 3 Mike McMullan (Northwestern), No. 4 Bobby Telford (Iowa), No. 6 Adam Coon (Michigan), No. 7 Jimmy Lawson (Penn State), No. 10 Spencer Myers (Maryland), No. 12 Nick Tavanello (Ohio State), No. 14 Michael Kroells (Minnesota), No. 15 Billy Smith (Rutgers) and No. 17 Collin Jensen (Nebraska)
Northwestern's Mike McMullan and Iowa's Bobby Telford have split two matches this season (Photo/Mark Lundy)197 at Big Ten Championships
Ranked wrestlers (9): No. 3 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State), No. 4 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State), No. 5 Scott Schiller (Minnesota), No. 6 Nathan Burak (Iowa), No. 8 Max Huntley (Michigan), No. 13 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska), No. 14 Timmy McCall (Wisconsin), No. 15 Braden Atwood (Purdue) and No. 18 Alex Polizzi (Northwestern)
Commentary: Four of the nation's top six 197-pounders are in the Big Ten. Three of those wrestlers, McIntosh, Schiller, and Burak, are returning All-Americans, and the other is the top-seeded Snyder. The Buckeye freshman dropped a match to Kyven Gadson of Iowa State at the Southern Scuffle and took a loss to Burak, but otherwise has been perfect this season. McIntosh comes in with a 24-2 record, with his losses coming to No. 1 J'den Cox of Missouri and Snyder. Schiller has lost to both Snyder and McIntosh, but notched a win over Burak. Michigan's Huntley has been competitive with the top four and will be looking to play the role of spoiler.
133 at Big Ten Championships
Ranked wrestlers (11): No. 1 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), No. 3 Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin), No. 6 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State), No. 7 Cory Clark (Iowa), No. 8 Zane Richards (Illinois), No. 9 Rossi Bruno (Michigan), No. 11 Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State), No. 12 Danny Sabatello (Purdue), No. 15 Eric Montoya (Nebraska), No. 17 Scott DelVecchio (Rutgers) and No. 19 Dominick Malone (Northwestern)
Commentary: No conference tournament weight class has more ranked wrestlers (11) than 133 pounds in the Big Ten. Undefeated Chris Dardanes of Minnesota enters as the favorite, but he's far from a sure thing to finish on top of the heap in this deep weight class. Wisconsin's Taylor might be the hottest wrestler in the Big Ten, and arguably the country. His last loss came to Edinboro's A.J. Schopp at the Midlands. Taylor went 9-0 in Big Ten competition, with all nine of those wins being bonus-point victories. Gulibon, Clark, Richards, Bruno, DiJulius and Sabatello have all registered big wins this season, but have not shown the consistency of Dardanes and Taylor.
Other Championships
Virginia's Blaise Butler defeated Minnesota's Logan Storley (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Ranked wrestlers (3): No. 6 Blaise Butler (Virginia), No. 7 Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) and No. 8 Tyler Wilps (Pitt)
Commentary: While many of the elite 174-pounders come from the Big Ten, the ACC has three strong All-American candidates in Butler, Epperly and Wilps. Butler defeated Minnesota's Storley at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and Epperly topped Penn State's Brown in a dual meet. Wilps, a returning All-American, is pre-seeded No. 1 and has a win over Butler, but took a loss to Epperly. Butler and Epperly will likely battle in the ACC semifinals, with the winner getting Wilps in the finals. Butler is 2-0 against Epperly this season, with both meetings ending with a 3-2 score.
184 at EIWA Championships
Ranked wrestlers (3): No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell), No. 3 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) and No. 7 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn)
Commentary: This weight class includes three of the nation's top 184-pounders, including No. 1-ranked Dean. The Cornell sophomore had a disappointing performance this season in Las Vegas, where he dropped two matches, but otherwise has looked like the man to beat all season long. Brown, who will be wrestling at home this weekend, has only lost this season to the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked wrestlers in the nation, Dean (twice) and Pitt's Max Thomusseit (twice). Thomas, a returning All-American, enters this weekend with a 22-4 record, but recently took a surprise loss to Princeton's Brett Harner, which dropped the Penn All-American to the fourth seed and places him one same side of the EIWA bracket as Dean. This weight class also includes returning All-American Ophir Bernstein, who comes into this weekend's competition with a 25-12 record.
133 at Big 12 Championships
Ranked wrestlers (2): No. 4 Earl Hall (Iowa State) and No. 5 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma)
Commentary: Hall and Brewer are both All-Americans and are expected to meet for the second time this season this weekend. Hall pinned Brewer in the first period in a dual meet held in Norman earlier this season. It was Brewer's second match back from injury and remains his only loss on the season. Hall, a 125-pounder last season, enters this weekend with a 24-5 record, while Brewer is 15-1.
Alex Dieringer is undefeated and looking for his second straight NCAA title (Photo/Jim Bowen)Ranked wrestlers (2): No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) and No. 2 Michael Moreno (Iowa State)
Commentary: While the Big 12 brackets are small (four wrestlers), the 165-pound bracket will likely feature a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown. The top-ranked Dieringer is a perfect 26-0 this season and in the discussion for InterMat Wrestler of the Year. Of his 26 wins, 23 have been bonus-point victories, including the last 11. Dieringer earned a 13-3 major decision over the two-time All-American Moreno on Jan. 25 in a dual meet in Ames. Moreno will be on his home mat again this weekend at the Big 12 Championships.
125 at West Regional/WWC
Ranked wrestlers (4): No. 12 Tyler Cox (Wyoming), No. 14 Josh Martinez (Air Force), No. 15 Chasen Tolbert (Utah Valley) and No. 16 Josh Rodriguez (North Dakota State)
Commentary: This weight class earned five NCAA tournament allocations. It's conceivable that the WWC could have four seeded wrestlers at 125 pounds in St. Louis later this month. Cox, Martinez, Tolbert and Rodriguez have put together similar productive seasons and all four will be in the hunt to win the conference title this weekend in Fargo. Rodriguez was pre-seeded No. 1, but has lost two of his last three matches. However, Rodriguez does have wins this season over both Cox and Martinez. Cox, an All-American, has beaten Tolbert and Nebraska's Tim Lambert twice. Martinez, a sixth seed at the NCAAs last season, is 19-3 this season, with losses to Cornell's Nahshon Garrett, Ohio State's Nathan Tomasello and Rodriguez. Tolbert has a recent win over Rodriguez, but has lost to both Martinez and Cox. Another wrestler to keep an eye on in this weight class is Northern Colorado's Trey Andrews. Andrews has a record of 18-9 and was ranked earlier this season.
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