Wrestlers from four schools have been chosen as No. 1 seeds for this year's championships. Penn State leads the way with five top seeds, while Wisconsin has earned three and Iowa and Michigan have each received one No. 1 seed. Minnesota is the lone Big Ten team to have a seeded grappler in each of the 10 weight classes.
The fourth-ranked Nittany Lions will send five No. 1 seeds to the mat this weekend, as Andrew Long (11-1 overall record at 133 pounds), Frank Molinaro (25-2 at 149), David Taylor (31-0 at 157), Ed Ruth (29-1 at 174) and Cameron Wade (26-4 at 285) have each earned top billing in their respective weight classes. Ruth and Taylor enter the weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in their classes by the NCAA Coaches Panel, while Molinaro owns a No. 3 ranking, Long sits at No. 5 and Wade is ranked No. 6.
The Badgers, ranked 15th in the nation, picked up three top seeds in Andrew Howe (18-2 at 165), Travis Rutt (26-1 at 184) and Trevor Brandvold (11-0 at 197). Howe, the reigning national champion at 165, is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. After winning an individual conference title at 197 last season, Brandvold holds a No. 3 ranking entering the weekend, while Rutt is ranked No. 2 at 184.
Reigning national champion Matt McDonough holds a 20-1 record at 125 for Iowa this season en route to the class' top seed. The Hawkeye sophomore is ranked No. 2 in the country entering the championships. Michigan's Kellen Russell boasts a 30-0 record this season, earning the top seed at 141. Russell, a two-time Big Ten Champion, enters the weekend as the top-ranked grappler at 141.
Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin will each bring nine seeded wrestlers to the championships, while Penn State boasts eight and Northwestern holds seven. After clinching their fourth-straight conference regular season dual-meet title this season, the Hawkeyes will look to earn their fourth consecutive Big Ten Championships title. The 2011 Big Ten Wrestling Championships pre-seeds can be found below.
2011 Big Ten Wrestling Championships Pre-Seeds
125
1. Matt McDonough (Iowa)
2. Brandon Precin (Northwestern)
3. Zach Sanders (Minnesota)
4. Brad Pataky (Penn State)
5. Sean Boyle (Michigan)
6. Justin Brooks (Indiana)
7. Camden Eppert (Purdue)
8. Tom Kelliher (Wisconsin)
133
1. Andrew Long (Penn State)
2. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin)
3. Tony Ramos (Iowa)
4. B.J. Futrell (Illinois)
5. Levi Mele (Northwestern)
6. David Thorn (Minnesota)
7. Zac Stevens (Michigan)
8. Ian Paddock (Ohio State)
141
1. Kellen Russell (Michigan)
2. Montell Marion (Iowa)
3. Mike Thorn (Minnesota)
4. Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois)
5. Andrew Alton (Penn State)
6. Kaleb Friedly (Northwestern)
7. Jake Fleckenstein (Purdue)
8. Shane McQuade (Wisconsin)
149
1. Frank Molinaro (Penn State)
2. Andrew Nadhir (Northwestern)
3. Kurt Kinser (Indiana)
4. Eric Terrazas (Illinois)
5. Cole Schmitt (Wisconsin)
6. Eric Grajales (Michigan)
7. Dan Osterman (Michigan State)
8. Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota)
157
1. David Taylor (Penn State)
2. Derek St. John (Iowa)
3. Jason Welch (Northwestern)
4. Colton Salazar (Purdue)
5. Paul Young (Indiana)
6. Brandon Zeerip (Michigan)
7. Sean McMurray (Michigan State)
8. Matt Mincey (Minnesota)
165
1. Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)
2. Colt Sponseller (Ohio State)
3. Cody Yohn (Minnesota)
4. Aaron Janssen (Iowa)
5. Conrad Polz (Illinois)
6. Dan Yates (Michigan)
7. Ryan LeBlanc (Indiana)
8. Kevin Bialka (Northwestern)
174
1. Ed Ruth (Penn State)
2. Nick Heflin (Ohio State)
3. Scott Glasser (Minnesota)
4. Luke Manuel (Purdue)
5. Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa)
6. Ben Jordan (Wisconsin)
7. Justin Zeerip (Michigan)
8. Curran Jacobs (Michigan State)
184
1. Travis Rutt (Wisconsin)
2. Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota)
3. Grant Gambrall (Iowa)
4. Ian Hinton (Michigan State)
5. Tony Dallago (Illinois)
6. A.J. Kissel (Purdue)
7. Cody Magrum (Ohio State)
8. Quentin Wright (Penn State)
197
1. Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin)
2. Luke Lofthouse (Iowa)
3. Logan Brown (Purdue)
4. Matt Powless (Indiana)
5. Sonny Yohn (Minnesota)
6. Anthony Biondo (Michigan)
7. Joe Barczak (Illinois)
8. Peter Capone (Ohio State)
285
1. Cameron Wade (Penn State)
2. Ricky Alcala (Indiana)
3. Blake Rasing (Iowa)
4. Tony Nelson (Minnesota)
5. Ben Apland (Michigan)
6. Eric Bugenhagen (Wisconsin)
7. Joe Rizqallah (Michigan State)
8. Ben Kuhar (Northwestern)
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