The tournament season is finally here. The 108th Big Ten Wrestling Championships will be on full display this weekend at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska as by far the toughest conference in the country battles it out.
On the line are allocations for the NCAA National Championships. You can count on a battle at every match. The depth at some weights is impressive. The top four ranked wrestlers in the country will do battle at 174, four of the top five wrestlers in the country will go at it at 197 and Hwt. The top three at 141. You would be challenged to ever find a conference with this many highly ranked wrestlers in the history of college wrestling.
Even with all of the competition and a #2 ranking far behind #1 Penn State, I like where the Iowa Hawkeyes are right now. What has changed since Iowa started the season as the clear cut #1 team in the country? For starters Spencer Lee is not in the lineup due to injury. But still Iowa is 39.5 points behind Penn State in the final regular season InterMat Rankings of the year. That amounts to a lot more than Lee’s missed points.
Iowa has taken some losses…in the regular season. Every single wrestler enters the Big Tens tomorrow with a 0-0 record. A new season has begun and I believe too many people have given up on the 2022 Iowa Wrestling team winning the team title.
This Is the most experienced team in the history of Iowa Wrestling. Somewhere along the way it has been forgotten that Iowa is the defending national champions and were in place to win the 2020 title before the shutdown.These guys know how to win. Let’s take a look.
125 – I like Ayala’s chances of making it to the Big Ten finals. This guy is fun to watch.
133 – DeSanto in the finals. He needs to finish his shots to make it happen to win the Big Ten title.
141 – The most anticipated match of Big Tens for me is Eierman-Rivera in the semifinals. I don’t know what to expect from the semifinals and finals at 141 but it will be entertaining. Remember that Eierman is the defending Big Ten champ here and is a gamer in the bright lights and big stage.
149 – Murin has an added chip on his shoulder from how last season ended. I am looking for a strong tournament out of Murin. The Young Guns 1-2 of Murin/Young are going to score some serious points at Nationals.
157 – Kaleb Young is quietly on an eight match winning streak and looks to be a senior on a roll. With a #2 seed it is natural to pick him to make the finals.
165 – Bull will be going for his fourth Big Ten title and I believe he gets it.
174 – The biggest question is if Kemerer can get back to finishing his shots and scoring takedowns. That is what it will take to win Big Tens and an NCAA title. We shall see.
184 – Now is the time for Assad to show what he has. We need Assad to win the national team title. He certainly has the potential and all of the tools to win at this level. He needs to build confidence with each match. We need Abe Assad.
197 – Warner can beat any wrestler in the country at 197. His mat wrestling could be the difference at a loaded weight this weekend. As with Assad he needs confidence to close out the match strong for the win. All of the tools are there, it is a matter of Warner pulling the trigger and finishing holds.
Hwt. – Huge weekend for Cassioppi at another loaded weight. He is favored to make it to the finals. I can’t help but look forward to the NCAA’s where the right seed could have Cassioppi in the Finals. Let’s take care of business this weekend and go from there.
A great goal would be 10 healthy NCAA Qualifiers for Iowa when the dust settles this weekend at Big Tens. I believe in the leadership of this experienced team and they are not going down without one hell of a fight. The next step in the journey to win a national team title begins tomorrow at 10 AM CST for the first round of the 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.
I believe there is a storm brewing from a vastly underrated Iowa Wrestling team.
Let’s get ‘em in the middle.
2022 Big Ten Championships
SATURDAY, MARCH 5
10 a.m. Session I
5:30 p.m. Session II (wrestleback)
7:30 p.m. Session II (semifinals)
SUNDAY, MARCH 7
11 a.m. Session III
3:30 p.m. Championship Finals
All times are CST.
2022 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS LINEUP
#2 IOWA HAWKEYES (14-1, 7-1 BIG TEN) 2021-22
Wt. Pre-Seed Name Yr. Hometown/High School Record
125 6 Drake Ayala Fr. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge 14-4
133 2 Austin DeSanto Sr. Exeter, Pennsylvania/Exeter (Drexel) 14-2
141 2 Jaydin Eierman Sr. Columbia, Mo./Columbia (Missouri) 15-1
149 4 Max Murin Sr. Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria 8-2
157 2 Kaleb Young Sr. Punxsutawney, Pa./Punxsutawney 14-5
165 2 Alex Marinelli Sr. Miamisburg, Ohio/St. Paris Graham 18-1
174 4 Michael Kemerer Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 7-2
184 5 Abe Assad So. Carol Stream, Illinois/Glenbard North 10-6
197 4 Jacob Warner Sr. Tolono, Illinois/Washington Community 13-3
285 2 Tony Cassioppi Jr. Roscoe, Illinois/Hononegah 13-2
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
