Penn State wrestling: Where are the Lions in the Big Ten Wrestling tournament pre-seeds?

Penn State wrestlers have learned where they are preliminarily seeded for this weekend’s Big Ten tournament.

Head coach Cael Sanderson has hopes of qualifying all 10 of his starters for the national tournament. Doing so will require a good weekend in Lincoln, Neb., where the conference will gather to start the postseason this year.

“Winning the Big Ten takes a team effort,” Sanderson said Monday. “The makeup of our team has been kind of more aimed at the nationals than the conference. You need 10 guys scoring points. The last time we won, we had a pretty stinkin’ good team. But, we have a pretty good team right now.

“We have to go wrestle with a smile on our face. Enjoy being out there, be the best we can be, and be excited about the opportunity that we have. Winning a Big Ten championship is a big deal and definitely something worth fighting for.”

Here is what you need to know about the preseeds, which were released on Monday but are not finalized until Friday. They were made up by a coaches’ vote. Fourteen starters were ranked in each weight class.

Four Penn State wrestlers lead the way

No conference school has more top-seeded wrestlers than Penn State does.

All four defending NCAA champions lead their respective weight classes. That’s Roman Bravo-Young at 133 pounds, Nick Lee at 141 pounds, Carter Starocci at 174, and Aaron Brooks at 184.

Here’s how those weight classes break down by seeds:

133 lbs.

1. Roman Bravo-Young (PSU)
2. Austin DeSanto (IOWA)
3. Lucas Byrd (ILL)
4. RayVon Foley (MSU)
5. Dylan Ragusin (MICH)
6. Brock Hudkins (IND)
7. Chris Cannon (NU)
8. Joe Olivieri (RU)
9. Matt Ramos (PUR)
10. Dominick Serrano (NEB)
11. Kyle Burwick (WIS)
12. Jake Gliva (MINN)
13. King Sandoval (MD)
14. Dylan Koontz (OSU)

141 lbs.

1. Nick Lee (PSU)
2. Jaydin Eierman (IOWA)
3. Sebastian Rivera (RU)
4. Chad Red (NEB)
5. Jakob Bergeland (MINN)
6. Stevan Micic (MICH)
7. Dylan D’Emilio (OSU)
8. Joseph Zargo (WIS)
9. Dylan Duncan (ILL)
10. Frankie Tel Shahar (NU)
11. Parker Filius (PUR)
12. Matt Santos (MSU)
13. Cayden Rooks (IND)
14. Danny Bertoni (MD)

174 lbs.

1. Carter Starocci (PSU)
2. Logan Massa (MICH)
3. Mikey Labriola (NEB)
4. Michael Kemerer (IOWA)
5. Ethan Smith (OSU)
6. Bailee O’Reilly (MINN)
7. Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR)
8. Troy Fisher (NU)
9. Dominic Solic (MD)
10. DJ Shannon (ILL)
11. Andrew McNally (WIS)
12. Nick South (IND)
13. Connor O’Neill (RUT)
14. Nate Jimenez (MSU)

184 lbs.

1. Aaron Brooks (PSU)
2. Myles Amine (MICH)
3. Kaleb Romero (OSU)
4. Taylor Venz (NEB)
5. Abe Assad (IOWA)
6. Layne Malczewski (MSU)
7. John Pozanski (RU)
8. Kyle Cochran (MD)
9. DJ Washington (IND)
10. Isaiah Salazar (MINN)
11. Christopher Weiler (WIS)
12. Zach Braunagel (ILL)
13. Max Lyon (PUR)
14. Jack Jessen (NU)

Two Nittany Lions draw No. 2 seed

A pair of Nittany Lions were voted second in their respective weight classes.

Drew Hildebrandt, who joined the roster at the semester break, is second at 125 pounds behind Michigan’s Nick Suriano, who is a former Penn State wrestler, of course. Then, Max Dean, who transferred in before the year began for Cornell, is No. 2 at 197. Eric Schultz of Nebraska earned the top spot there. The two did not meet during the regular season as Dean was out for the match with the Cornhuskers.

Here’s a closer look at those weight class preseeds.

1. Nick Suriano (MICH)
2. Drew Hildebrandt (PSU)
3. Eric Barnett (WIS)
4. Malik Heinselman (OSU)
5. Devin Schroder (PUR)
6. Drake Ayala (IOWA)
7. Michael DeAugustino (NU)
8. Patrick McKee (MINN)
9. Dylan Shawver (RU)
10. Justin Cardani (ILL)
11. Tristan Lujan (MSU)
12. Jacob Moran (IND)
13. Jeremiah Reno (NEB)
14. Zach Spence (MD)

1. Eric Schultz (NEB)
2. Max Dean (PSU)
3. Cameron Caffey (MSU)
4. Jacob Warner (IOWA)
5. Patrick Bucki (MICH)
6. Thomas Penola (PUR)
7. Greg Bulsak (RU)
8. Braxton Amos (WIS)
9. Gavin Hoffman (OSU)
10. Andrew Davison (NU)
11. Jaron Smith (MD)
12. Michial Foy (MINN)
13. Nick Willham (IND)
14. Matt Wroblewski (ILL)

Kerlvliet is No. 3

Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet checks in at No. 3. He’s behind top-ranked Gable Steveson from Minnesota, of course and also Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi, who beat Kerkvliet during the regular season. The Penn State wrestler is ahead of Michigan’s Mason Parris, who he topped during the regular season.

Here’s that pre-seed:

285 lbs.

1. Gable Steveson (MINN)
2. Tony Cassioppi (IOWA)
3. Greg Kerkvliet (PSU)
4. Mason Parris (MICH)
5. Lucas Davison (NU)
6. Christian Lance (NEB)
7. Trent Hillger (WIS)
8. Tate Orndorff (OSU)
9. Luke Luffman (ILL)
10. Jacob Bullock (IND)
11. Michael Woulfe (PUR)
12. Boone McDermott (RU)
13. Brad Wilton (MSU)
14. Zach Schrader (MD)

Where are the rest of the Penn State wrestlers?

At 149 pounds, Beau Bartlett is No. 7, while Brady Berge and Creighton Edsell are both No. 10 at 157 and 165, respectively. Remember that Berge, who beat Edsell for the latter starting job back in January, dropped down to 157 for the postseason.

Those three preseeds are as follows:

149 lbs.

1. Sammy Sasso (OSU)
2. Austin Gomez (WIS)
3. Ridge Lovett (NEB)
4. Max Murin (IOWA)
5. Yahya Thomas (NU)
6. Mike Van Brill (RU)
7. Beau Bartlett (PSU)
8. Christian Kanzler (ILL)
9. Graham Rooks (IND)
10. Michael Bockhus (MINN)
11. Kanen Storr (MICH)
12. Michael North (MD)
13. Payton Omania (MSU)
14. Alec White (PUR)

157 lbs.

1. Ryan Deakin (NU)
2. Kaleb Young (IOWA)
3. Will Lewan (MICH)
4. Kendall Coleman (PUR)
5. Peyton Robb (NEB)
6. Chase Saldate (MSU)
7. Garrett Model (WIS)
8. Robert Kanniard (RU)
9. Bryce Hepner (OSU)
10. Brady Berge (PSU)
11. Derek Gilcher (IND)
12. Joe Roberts (ILL)
13. Lucas Cordio (MD)
14. Sebas Swiggum (MINN)

165 lbs.

1. Carson Kharchla (OSU)
2. Alex Marinelli (IOWA)
3. Dean Hamiti (WIS)
4. Cameron Amine (MICH)
5. Caleb Fish (MSU)
6. Dan Braunagel (ILL)
7. Hayden Lohrey (PUR)
8. Clayton Wilson (NEB)
9. Cael Carlson (MINN)
10. Creighton Edsell (PSU)
11. David Ferrante (NU)
12. Andrew Clark (RU)
13. Kasper McIntosh (IND)
14. Gaven Bell (MD)

How to watch the Big Ten tournament

The Big Ten Tournament is this Saturday and Sunday at Nebraska. Here’s how to watch, courtesy of a conference news release:

“From 11 a.m. ET to 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 5, BTN will once again carry the opening session on television with whip-around coverage and quad box views highlighting the most compelling matchups. On B1G+, individual mat cameras, as well as the quad box, will also be available to provide a comprehensive look at session one. For session two on Saturday night, coverage of the wrestleback matches begins at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed exclusively on B1G+. Television coverage resumes for Saturday night’s semifinals from 8:30 p.m. ET through 10:30 p.m. ET, while B1G+ will continue with individual mat coverage for the semifinals and wrestleback matches. 

“On Sunday, March 6, competition begins at noon ET on B1G+ with individual mat cameras for the consolation semifinals. At 4:30 p.m. ET, television coverage resumes as Big Ten champions are crowned while streaming coverage of the third and fifth-place bouts will be available on B1G+.”