Feb. 27, 2014
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The NCAA announced Thursday the qualifier allocations for the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The Big Ten is receiving 74 of the 290 automatic qualifying bids for the March 20-22 NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City. It is the third year in a row the Big Ten received 74 automatic bids, more than any other conference.
The Big Ten will receive at least six automatic qualifiers at every weight, including a conference-high nine qualifiers at 285 pounds, and a conference-low six qualifiers at 141 and 149 pounds. The top eight wrestlers at 133, 157, 165 and 197 earn automatic bids, as do the top seven wrestlers at 125, 174 and 184.
The Big Ten Championships on March 8-9 in Madison, Wis., is one of nine qualifying tournaments across the country. After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 40 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; qualifying event placement; quality wins; results against common opponents; winning percentage; RPI; coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class.
The NCAA also released its 2014 RPI rankings. The Hawkeyes have five wrestlers ranked in the top five, including No. 2 Nick Moore (165), No. 3 Josh Dziewa (141), No. 3 Derek St. John (157), No. 3 Mike Evans (174), and No. 4 Tony Ramos (133).
Click HERE for a complete list of automatic qualifiers by conference/qualifying tournament.