March 3, 2014
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa wrestling team placed eight wrestlers in the top four when the Big Ten Championships preliminary seeds were released Monday by the conference office. The conference tournament is March 8-9 in Madison, Wis.
Senior Tony Ramos, the NCAA runner-up in 2013, is the top seed at 133. He has finished second at the Big Ten tournament in each of the past two seasons, and takes a 24-2 overall and 8-0 Big Ten record into the postseason.
Junior Nick Moore also recorded a perfect 8-0 mark in the conference and earned the No. 2 seed at 165. Moore enters the tournament with a 19-2 record and a 10-match win streak.
Iowa has three wrestlers pre-seeded No. 3. Redshirt freshman Cory Clark was 3-0 in the Big Ten and 15-0 overall at 125. Junior Mike Evans, last year’s runner-up at 174, enters his third conference tournament with a 23-3 overall and 5-1 conference record. Senior Ethen Lofthouse, who placed third at the Big Ten Championships in each of the last three seasons, is 18-2 overall and seeded third at 184.
Sophomore Brody Grothus is making his Big Ten Championships debut as the No. 4 seed at 149. Defending NCAA champion Derek St. John, who won the Big Ten title in 2012, is seeded No. 4 at 157. St. John is 23-3 overall, with all three losses coming to the top three seeds at the conference tournament (Isaac Jordan, James Green, Dylan Ness).
Junior Bobby Telford is the No. 4 seed at 285 for the second straight year. Telford is 18-4 overall, 5-3 in the conference. His bracket includes seven of the top eight wrestlers in the country.
Josh Dziewa and Nathan Burak earned No. 5 seeds at their respective weight classes. Dziewa is 21-6 overall and 6-1 in the Big Ten at 141. Burak is 13-3 overall and 6-2 in the conference at 197. Both wrestlers are making their second Big Ten tournament appearance.
Five schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Penn State leading the way with five. Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin each boast a seeded grappler in nine classes.
The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in five weight classes, along with all 12 starters in five weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving eight or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes. Each team enters the championships with a seeded wrestler in the 133-, 157-, 165-, 197- and 285-pound weight classes.
For more information on the 2014 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships page at uwbadgers.com. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below.
125 lbs.
1. Nico Megaludis, PSU
2. Jesse Delgado, ILL
3. Cory Clark, IOWA
4. Bradley Taylor, WIS
4. Conor Youtsey, MICH
6. Tim Lambert, NEB
7. Camden Eppert, PUR
8. Nick Roberts, OSU
133 lbs.
1. Tony Ramos, IOWA
2. Tyler Graff, WIS
3. David Thorn, MINN
4. Cashe Quiroga, PUR
5. Zane Richards, ILL
6. Johnni DiJulius, OSU
7. Jimmy Gulibon, PSU
8. Rossi Bruno, MICH
9. Shawn Nagel, NEB
10. Dom Malone, NU
11. Joe Duca, IND
12. Garth Yenter, MSU
141 lbs.
1. Zain Retherford, PSU
2. Logan Stieber, OSU
3. Chris Dardanes, MINN
4. Stephen Dutton, MICH
5. Josh Dziewa, IOWA
6. Steven Rodrigues, ILL
7. Danny Sabatello, PUR
8. Jessie Thielke, WIS
149 lbs.
1. Jake Sueflohn, NEB
2. Nick Dardanes, MINN
3. Jason Tsirtsis, NU
4. Brody Grothus, IOWA
5. Eric Grajales, MICH
6. Ian Paddock, OSU
7. James English, PSU
8. Brandon Nelsen, PUR
157 lbs.
1. Isaac Jordan, WIS
2. James Green, NEB
3. Dylan Ness, MINN
4. Derek St. John, IOWA
5. Dylan Alton, PSU
6. Taylor Walsh, IND
7. Zac Brunson, ILL
8. Brian Murphy, MICH
9. Alex Griffin, PUR
10. Ben Sullivan, NU
11. Randy Languis, OSU
12. Roger Wildmo, MSU
165 lbs.
1. David Taylor, PSU
2. Nick Moore, IOWA
3. Pierce Harger, NU
4. Dan Yates, MICH
5. Jackson Morse, ILL
6. Danny Zilverberg, MINN
7. Ryan LeBlanc, IND
8. Austin Wilson, NEB
9. Pat Robinson, PUR
10. Joe Grandominico, OSU
11. Bobby Nash, MSU
12. Ben Cox, WIS
174 lbs.
1. Robert Kokesh, NEB
2. Matt Brown, PSU
3. Mike Evans, IOWA
4. Logan Storley, MINN
5. Tony Dallago, ILL
6. Mark Martin, OSU
7. Scott Liegel, WIS
8. Collin Zeerip, MICH
184 lbs.
1. Ed Ruth, PSU
2. Kevin Steinhaus, MINN
3. Ethen Lofthouse, IOWA
4. TJ Dudley, NEB
5. Domenic Abounader, MICH
6. Kenny Courts, OSU
7. Jackson Hein, WIS
8. John Rizqallah, MSU
197 lbs.
1. Morgan McIntosh, PSU
2. Nick Heflin, OSU
3. Scott Schiller, MINN
4. Braden Atwood, PUR
5. Nathan Burak, IOWA
6. Mario Gonzalez, ILL
7. Alex Polizzi, NU
8. Timmy McCall, WIS
9. Nick McDiarmid, MSU
10. Caleb Kolb, NEB
11. Chris Heald, MICH
12. Garret Goldman, IND
285 lbs.
1. Adam Coon, MICH
2. Adam Chalfant, IND
3. Mike McMullan, NU
4. Bobby Telford, IOWA
5. Tony Nelson, MINN
6. Mike McClure, MSU
7. Connor Medbery, WIS
8. Jon Gingrich, PSU
9. Collin Jensen, NEB
10. Nick Tavanello, OSU
11. Alex White, PUR
12. Chris Lopez, ILL