March 2, 2010
- 2010 Big Ten Championships
- Carver-Hawkeye Arena Revitalization
- 2009-10 Hawkeye Wrestling Media Guide
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
- Big Ten Network highlights
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
PARK RIDGE, IL — Hawkeye seniors Brent Metcalf (149), Jay Borschel (174) and Chad Beatty (197) have earned top preliminary seeds for this weekend’s Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Michigan. All matches will be held at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor. Conference officials announced the preliminary seeds, which are determined by a vote of conference head coaches. The official Big Ten brackets will be set Friday afternoon.
Five different schools have No. 1 seeds in the 10 weight classes, but Iowa leads the way with three. Indiana and Minnesota each have two top seeds, while Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois have one. All 10 of Iowa’s wrestlers earned pre-seeds.
Metcalf is a two-time Big Ten champion and has earned Outstanding Wrestler honors at the conference meet twice. The 2008 Jesse Owens Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Wrestler of the Year enters the tournament with a 29-0 season record and 101-2 career mark. Going 8-0 in Big Ten duals, Metcalf scored team bonus points in seven of his eight victories. He is ranked first in the nation.
Borschel, who placed third at the last two conference meets, enters the tournament with a 28-0 season record. He also scored team bonus points in seven of his eight Big Ten dual wins and has a career record of 89-10. Borschel is ranked first in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News and WIN Magazine, and second by Intermat.
Beatty, who is ranked fourth in the nation by Intermat and WIN, earned the top seed at 197 with a 13-2 season record. The Wilton, IA, native is making his return to the Hawkeye lineup after missing the last two months of competition due to injury. He placed fourth at the 2009 Big Ten meet and has a career record of 46-22.
The other top Big Ten pre-seeds are Angel Escobedo (125) and Nathan Everhart (Hwt.) of Indiana, Jayson Ness (133) and Dustin Schlatter (157) of Minnesota, Reece Humphrey (141) of Ohio State, Andrew Howe (165) of Wisconsin and John Dergo (184) of Illinois.
Hawkeye redshirt freshman Matt McDonough (125) and seniors Daniel Dennis (133), Ryan Morningstar (165) and Dan Erekson (Hwt.) all earned second seeds, while sophomore Montell Marion (141) and senior Phillip Keddy (184) are seeded third. Iowa junior Jake Kerr is seeded fifth at 157.
McDonough enters his first Big Ten tournament with a 29-0 record, going 8-0 in conference duals. Ranked third in the nation by AWN and WIN, and fourth by Intermat, McDonough has never faced Escobedo in collegiate competition. Dennis, who placed fifth at the 2009 Big Ten meet, is 16-2 this season with a 7-1 Big Ten dual record and a 63-26 career mark. Morningstar and Keddy are three-time Big Ten placewinners, both advancing to the 2009 finals. Morningstar is 23-4 this season with a 103-36 career record, going 7-1 in Big Ten dual. Keddy enters the tournament with a 97-38 career mark, going 21-6 this season and posting a 6-1 conference dual record. The defending Big Ten heavyweight champion, Erekson is also undefeated at 8-0 this season after missing the first part of his senior campaign due to injury. Going 7-0 in Big Ten duals, the Eagle, ID, native has never faced Everhart in collegiate competition. Erekson has a career record of 61-35, and also placed sixth at 197 pounds at the 2006 conference meet. Marion and Kerr will be making their first Big Ten Championships appearances. Marion is 19-4 with a 6-2 Big Ten dual record, while Kerr is 9-7 with a 2-2 mark in conference duals.
The three-session competition is set to get underway Saturday at 10 a.m. (CT) at Crisler Arena. Saturday night’s championship semifinals and consolation bouts will start at 5 p.m. Sunday’s third session will start at 11 a.m. The Big Ten Network will air the championship finals and placing matches live at 1 p.m. Brackets and team standings will be available throughout the tournament at www.bigten.org and www.mgoblue.com. All-session tickets ($30) are available from the UM Athletic Ticket Office (734-764-0247 or www.MGoBlue.com/tickets). Single-session tickets will be on sale at Crisler Arena on days of competition.
Following is a complete list of pre-seeds for the 2010 Big Ten Championships.
125 Pounds
1. Angel Escobedo, Indiana
2. Matt McDonough, Iowa
3. Zach Sanders, Minnesota
4. Brad Pataky, Penn State
5. Cashé Quiroga, Purdue
6. Nikko Triggas, Ohio State
7. John Deneen, Illinois
8. Drew Hammen, Wisconsin
133 Pounds
1. Jayson Ness, Minnesota
2. Daniel Dennis, Iowa
3. Franklin Gomez, Michigan State
4. Tyler Graff, Wisconsin
5. Eric Metzler, Northwestern
6. Zac Stevens, Michigan
7. Ian Paddock, Ohio State
8. Akif Eren, Purdue
141 Pounds
1. Reece Humphrey, Wisconsin
2. Mike Thorn, Minnesota
3. Montell Marion, Iowa
4. Adam Lynch, Penn State
5. Ryan Prater, Illinois
6. Juan Archuleta, Purdue
7. Dan Osterman, Michigan State
8. Cole Schmitt, Wisconsin
149 Pounds
1. Brent Metcalf, Iowa
2. Lance Palmer, Ohio State
3. Kyle Ruschell, Wisconsin
4. Frank Molinaro, Penn State
5. David Cheza, Michigan State
6. Andrew Nadhir, Northwestern
7. Mario Mason, Minnesota
8. Nick Bertucci, Purdue
157 Pounds
1. Dustin Schlatter, Minnesota
2. Cyler Sanderson, Penn State
3. Colton Salazar, Purdue
4. Kurt Kinser, Indiana
5. Jake Kerr, Iowa
6. David Johnson, Michigan
7. Sean Nemec, Ohio State
8. Clinton Arlis, Illinois
165 Pounds
1. Andrew Howe, Wisconsin
2. Ryan Morningstar, Iowa
3. Colt Sponselier, Ohio State
4. Dan Villamont, Penn State
5. Paul Young, Indiana
6. Kyle Bounds, Michigan State
7. Cody Yohn, Minnesota
8. Conrad Polz, Illinois
174 Pounds
1. Jay Borschel, Iowa
2. Luke Manuel, Purdue
3. Scott Glasser, Minnesota
4. Dave Rella, Ohio State
5. Jordan Blanton, Illinois
6. Brian Roddy, Northwestern
7. Ian Hinton, Michigan State
8. Justin Zeerip, Michigan
184 Pounds
1. John Dergo, Illinois
2. David Erwin, Penn State
3. Phillip Keddy, Iowa
4. Mike Pucillo, Ohio State
5. Travis Rutt, Wisconsin
6. Eric Cameron, Indiana
7. Hunter Montoya, Michigan
8. Nick Corpe, Purdue
197 Pounds
1. Chad Beatty, Iowa
2. Trevor Brandvold, Wisconsin
3. Anthony Biondo, Michigan
4. Patrick Bond, Illinois
5. Sonny Yohn, Minnesota
6. Matt Powless, Indiana
7. Logan Brown, Purdue
8. Cody Magrum, Ohio State
Heavyweight
1. Nate Everhart, Indiana
2. Dan Erekson, Iowa
3. Cameron Wade, Penn State
4. Ben Berhow, Minnesota
5. Eric Bugenhagen, Wisconsin
6. Corey Morrison, Ohio State
7. Ben Apland, Michigan
8. Alan O’Donnell, Michigan State