Penn State wrestlers earn 3 top preseeds for the Big Ten tournament. Here’s where they all landed
With three wrestlers awarded the top preliminary seeds by the coaches on Monday for this weekend’s Big Ten wrestling tournament, the Nittany Lions lead the conference with most No. 1s.
Junior Nick Lee (141 pounds), senior Vincenzo Joseph (165) and freshman Aaron Brooks (184) were each awarded the top seeds in their respective weight classes. None of those three wrestlers has ever won a Big Ten tournament.
The Nittany Lions also got a pair of No. 2 seeds in sophomore Roman Bravo-Young at 133 and senior Mark Hall at 174 pounds. Hall is the lone wrestler in Penn State’s lineup to have won a Big Ten tournament title, winning in both his sophomore and junior seasons.
After Penn State, Iowa and Ohio State each have a pair of No. 1 seeds in Spencer Lee (125) and Michael Kemerer (174), and Sammy Sasso (149) and Kollin Moore (197), respectively. The Hawkeyes made out very well with the preseeds, with all 10 wrestlers earning a No. 3 seed or higher.
Penn State senior Shakur Rasheed will have little room for error this weekend, as he’s preliminarily seeded sixth at 197 pounds, which has six automatic bids to NCAAs. Freshman heavyweight Seth Nevills will be in the same boat, seeded seventh at a weight class with seven automatic bids. Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren earned the No. 8 seed at 149 pounds, where the top 10 wrestlers will advance.
Freshman Brandon Meredith and junior Bo Pipher will have some work to do to earn trips to Minneapolis March 19-21. Meredith is seeded last at No. 14 at 125 pounds, where eight wrestlers will move on, and Pipher is 13th at 157, where six wrestlers will advance.
The seeds will be finalized later this week after the coaches’ conference.
The Nittany Lions will look to defend their Big Ten tournament title Saturday and Sunday at the RAC in Piscataway, New Jersey.
125 lbs.
(Top 8 move on to NCAAs)
1. Spencer Lee, IOWA
2. Devin Schroder, PUR
3. Patrick McKee, MINN
4. Justin Cardani, ILL
5. Jack Medley, MICH
6. Michael DeAugustino, NU
7. Liam Cronin, IND
8. Nicolas Aguilar, RU
9. Eric Barnett, WIS
10. Alex Thomsen, NEB
11. Malik Heinselman, OSU
12. Logan Griffin, MSU
13. Brandon Cray, MD
14. Brandon Meredith, PSU
133 lbs.
(Top 7 move on to NCAAs)
1. Seth Gross, WIS
2. Roman Bravo-Young, PSU
3. Austin DeSanto, IOWA
4. Travis Piotrowski, ILL
5. Sebastian Rivera, NU
6. Ridge Lovett, NEB
7. Sammy Alvarez, RU
8. Joey Silva, MICH
9. Cayden Rooks, IND
10. Garrett Pepple, MSU
11. Boo Dryden, MINN
12. Travis Ford-Melton, PUR
13. King Sandoval, MD
14. Jordan Decatur, OSU
141 lbs.
(Top 8 move on to NCAAs)
1. Nick Lee, PSU
2. Luke Pletcher, OSU
3. Max Murin, IOWA
4. Chad Red, NEB
5. Tristan Moran, WIS
6. Mitch McKee, MINN
7. Dylan Duncan, ILL
8. Parker Filius, PUR
9. Cole Mattin, MICH
10. Alec McKenna, NU
11. JoJo Aragona, RU
12. Matt Santos, MSU
13. Eddie Bolivar, IND
14. Hunter Baxter, MD
149 lbs.
(Top 10 move on to NCAAs)
1. Sammy Sasso, OSU
2. Pat Lugo, IOWA
3. Brayton Lee, MINN
4. Kanen Storr, MICH
5. Graham Rooks, IND
6. Cole Martin, WIS
7. Collin Purinton, NEB
8. Jarod Verkleeren, PSU
9. Yahya Thomas, NU
10. Griffin Parriott, PUR
11. Gerard Angelo, RU
12. Alex Hrisopoulos, MSU
13. Mousa Jodeh, ILL
14. Ryan Garlitz, MD
157 lbs.
(Top 6 move on to NCAAs)
1. Ryan Deakin, NU
2. Kaleb Young, IOWA
3. Kendall Coleman, PUR
4. Will Lewan, MICH
5. Ryan Thomas, MINN
6. Jake Tucker, MSU
7. Peyton Robb, NEB
8. Eric Barone, ILL
9. Michael VanBrill, RU
10. Jahi Jones, MD
11. Elijah Cleary, OSU
12. Garrett Model, WIS
13. Bo Pipher, PSU
14. Fernie Silva, IND
165 lbs.
(Top 8 move on to NCAAs)
1. Vincenzo Joseph, PSU
2. Alex Marinelli, IOWA
3. Evan Wick, WIS
4. Isaiah White, NEB
5. Ethan Smith, OSU
6. Shayne Oster, NU
7. Danny Braunagel, ILL
8. Bailee O’Reilly, MINN
9. Drew Hughes, MSU
10. Kyle Cochran, MD
11. Brett Donner, RU
12. Tyler Meisinger, MICH
13. Tanner Webster, PUR
14. Diego Lemley, IND
174 lbs.
(Top 9 move on to NCAAs)
1. Michael Kemerer, IOWA
2. Mark Hall, PSU
3. Dylan Lydy, PUR
4. Devin Skatzka, MINN
5. Mikey Labriola, NEB
6. Kaleb Romero, OSU
7. Joey Gunther, ILL
8. Layne Malczewski, MSU
9. Tyler Morland, NU
10. Willie Scott , RU
11. Jared Krattiger, WIS
12. Philip Spadafora, MD
13. Max Maylor, MICH
14. NO ENTRY, IND
184 lbs.
(Top 10 move on to NCAAs)
1. Aaron Brooks, PSU
2. Cameron Caffey, MSU
3. Abe Assad, IOWA
4. Taylor Venz, NEB
5. Billy Janzer, RU
6. Rocky Jordan, OSU
7. Zac Braunagel, ILL
8. Owen Webster, MINN
9. Johnny Sebastian, WIS
10. Jelani Embree, MICH
11. Max Lyon, PUR
12. Jack Jessen, NU
13. Jake Hinz, IND
14. Kyle Jasenski, MD
197 lbs.
(Top 6 move on to NCAAs)
1. Kollin Moore, OSU
2. Eric Schultz, NEB
3. Jacob Warner, IOWA
4. Christian Brunner, PUR
5. Lucas Davison, NU
6. Shakur Rasheed, PSU
7. Jordan Pagano, RU
8. Jackson Striggow, MICH
9. Jaron Smith, MD
10. Hunter Ritter, MINN
11. Matt Wroblewski, ILL
12. Nick May, MSU
13. Taylor Watkins, WIS
14. Nick Willham, IND
285 lbs.
(Top 7 move on to NCAAs)
1. Mason Parris, MICH
2. Gable Steveson, MINN
3. Tony Cassioppi, IOWA
4. Trent Hillger, WIS
5. David Jensen, NEB
6. Gary Traub, OSU
7. Seth Nevillis, PSU
8. Thomas Penola, PUR
9. Luke Luffman, ILL
10. Alex Esposito, RU
11. Christian Rebottaro, MSU
12. Jake Kleimola, IND
13. Jack Heyob, NU
14. Parker Robinson, MD
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 6:39 PM.
