The fans of Rutgers wrestling have made the RAC one of the most electric environments in college wrestling. Because of the crowds, the excitement, and the energy that Rutgers wrestling has had at their home matches, the Scarlet Knights were granted the opportunity to host the 2020 Big Ten Championships. In one of the country’s best wrestling venues, wrestling fans will get to witness the best wrestlers in the best conference go toe-to-toe for a spot in the 2020 NCAA tournament.
There are a number of deep weight classes in this year’s conference tournament. – some weights even holding 5+ of the top 10 wrestlers in the country. Every bracket will have at least one superstar that will make this tournament the price of admission, alone. Name’s such as Spencer Lee, Mark Hall, and Gable Steveson will step into the RAC for the right to call themselves a Big Ten champion.
Very few of these brackets will have a clear-cut winner, though. The semi final at 133-lbs potentially may end up being the national semi final in two weeks in Minneapolis. At 165-lbs, the potential for another match in the Vincenzo Joseph – Alex Marinelli rivalry is very possible. With such talent from top to bottom in this tournament, it makes it near impossible to predict the final outcome.
TKR, however, took a stab at it, anyway! What better way to lead into the Big Ten tournament with a weight-by-weight break down? Get an inside look at the bracket seeds, analysis, and predictions in TKR’s light weight preview for the Big Ten tournament this weekend.
*Disclaimer – predictions are assumed as if each wrestler wrestles through the tournament*
125-POUNDS.....
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
THE FAVORITE: Spencer Lee
THE DARK HORSE: Devin Schroder
THE SKINNY: This weight class is all about who is fighting for second place. Of course, anything can happen in the sport of wrestling, but safe money is that Lee walks through the bracket with ease. The rest of the field, however, is a bit more balanced. Jack Medley had some quality wins late in the season, including over Rutgers’ Nic Aguilar. Aguilar did not finish too bad himself, as he beat Michael DeAugustino at home in a dual meet against Northwestern. Liam Cronin could be a bracket buster as the 7 seed, being that he defeated Devin Schroder once already this season. Schroder could potentially see Cronin in the quarter-final round. Patrick McKee of Minnesota will most likely see DeAugustino in the quarter finals, another intriguing match-up outside of the semis. DeAugustino and McKee did not face off this year, but both have All-Americana potential.
TOP FOUR.....
Lee
Schroder
Cardani
DeAugustino
NCAA BID ALLOCATIONS FOR BIG TEN: 8
DOES THE SCARLET KNIGHT ADVANCE? Yes
133-POUNDS.....
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
THE FAVORITE: Gross
THE DARK HORSE: Rivera
THE SKINNY: For the last couple years, wrestling fans have been treated to an absolutely loaded 133-lb weight class. This group might be the most exciting of them all. Seth Gross comes in as a very slight favorite, being that there are at least four very viable contenders for the title. Gross split matches with Austin DeSanto this season, and hardly got by Rivera and Bravo-Young. Sammy Alvarez has the ability to play spoiler in this bracket, as he has proven to be a tough out for any opponent. Travis Piotrowski, who beat Alvarez earlier this year, has quietly put together a very good season with a record of 23 – 2. If you asked 10 different people to predict the outcome of this bracket, you could very well get 10 different answers. It is that tight of the race.
TOP FOUR.....
Rivera
RBY
Gross
DeSanto
NCAA BID ALLOCATIONS FOR BIG TEN: 7
DOES THE SCARLET KNIGHT ADVANCE? Yes
141-POUNDS.....
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
THE FAVORITE: Nick Lee
THE DARK HORSE: Max Murin
THE SKINNY: For most of the year, 141-lbs in the Big Ten, and maybe even the country, looked like a two-horse race. Nick Lee and Luke Pletcher were decimating everyone. But once they ran into one another at the end of the regular season, Nick Lee showed that he runs 141-lbs until proven otherwise. Lee dominated Pletcher by a score of 8 – 4 when Penn State hosted Ohio State on February 15th. Pletcher will have some work to do before Lee, as he can very well see Iowa’s Max Murin in the semi-finals. Murin was sidelined momentarily due to injury this year, but he still holds a 12-1 record, with his only loss on the season coming to Chad Red. If Chad Red can get by Wisconsin’s Tristan Moran, he will see Nick Lee in the semis. Lee already majored Red, 9 – 1, but Red is always on his A-game in the post season. So, Red may not be as easy of an out for Lee this time around.
TOP FOUR.....
Lee
Pletcher
Red
Murin
NCAA BID ALLOCATIONS FOR BIG TEN: 8
DOES THE SCARLET KNIGHT ADVANCE? No
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