March 6, 2009
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -
Complete 2009 B10 WR Bracket in .pdf form!
The seeds have been finalized and the brackets drawn for the 2009 Big Ten Wrestling Championships this coming weekend, hosted by Penn State University. The host Nittany Lions received five overall seeds while top-ranked Iowa and Wisconsin led the way with three No. 1 seeds each.
Head coach Troy Sunderland and the Nittany Lions will feature five freshmen and three All-Americans in its line-up for the tournament. The event begins on Saturday, March 7, with sessions at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., and concludes on Sunday, March 8, with a 12 p.m. session.
Penn State's five seeds are highlighted by All-American Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.), who is the No. 2 seed at 149. Jenkins, the defending national runner-up, will carry an undefeated 22-0 mark into this year's tournament. Jenkins will face No. 7 seed Nick Walpole of Indiana in the quarterfinals Saturday morning as both wrestlers received first round byes.
True freshman Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) is the No. 3 seed at 174. In his first season of collegiate wrestling, Wright sports a 26-9 overall record, including a 5-3 mark in Big Ten duals. Wright will meet Nick Corpe of Purdue in the opening round on Saturday.
Sophomore Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.) is seeded No. 4 at 125. Pataky has a 26-7 record, including a superb 7-1 mark in Big Ten duals. The fourth-year sophomore received a first round by and will face the winner of the No. 5 seed Zach Sanders of Minnesota vs. Drew Hammen of Wisconsin bout in his first action on Saturday in the quarterfinals.
All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) is the No. 6 seed at 133. The seventh place finish at Nationals in 2007, Strayer is 15-5 this year and went 4-2 in Big Ten duals. He received a first round bye and will meet the winner of the No. 3 seed Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois vs. Tom Kelliher of Wisconsin bout on Saturday morning in the quarterfinals.
Junior All-American Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.), who made the move up to 165 in January, will head into the tournament as the No. 6 seed. Vallimont, who took third at Nationals last year, is 17-9 overall and 3-5 in conference duals. He will meet Northwestern's Dominic Marella in the first round.
Five Nittany Lions head into the tournament unseeded. Red-shirt freshman Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) carries an 18-13 mark into action at 141, where he went 3-5 in conference duals. He will meet No. 2 seed Kellen Russell of Michigan in his first round match-up.
Classmate Tim Darling (Nazareth, Pa.) stepped into the starting line-up at 157 in February and is 14-8 overall, including a 1-3 Big Ten dual meet record. Darling will face No. 2 seed Jason Welch of Northwestern in the opening round.
Senior Jack Decker (Roseland, N.J.), who grabbed the starting spot at 184 after Penn State lost yet another starter to injury, is unseeded at 184 and has an 8-13 overall mark, including a 2-6 record in conference duals. Decker will take on No. 3 seed Philip Keddy of Iowa in the first round Saturday morning.
Red-shirt freshman Clay Steadman (McKean, Pa.), who became Penn State's starter at 197 after its opening day starter was injured in the first dual of the season, is 5-14 overall and went 1-1 in conference duals. Steadman will battle No. 6 seed Matt Powless of Indiana in the opening round.
Classmate Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio) went 13-11 in his first year, splitting starting time at heavyweight for Penn State. Wade went 2-3 in conference duals and will take on No. 4 seed John Wise of Illinois in his first bout Saturday.
The top seeds at each weight are as follows: Brandon Precin of Northwestern at 125, Daniel Dennis of Iowa at 133, Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin at 141, Brent Metcalf of Iowa at 149, Michael Poeta of Illinois at 157, Andrew Howe of Wisconsin at 165, Steve Luke of Michigan at 174, Jake Herbert of Northwestern at 184, Dallas Herbst of Wisconsin at 197 and Dan Erekson of Iowa at heavyweight.
The Big Ten received 61 of the 278 automatic bids for the 2009 NCAA Championships, held March 19-21 in St. Louis, Mo. Utilizing a new weighted system that takes into consideration coaches rankings, winning percentage and RPI, the NCAA is using a new system for determining national qualifiers this year. Each weight at nationals will have 33 participants and the final 52 qualifiers, or wildcards, will be decided by the NCAA's national committee on Wednesday, March 11, meaning the Big Ten could very well receive more than 61 national qualifiers.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PREVIOUSLY ADVERTISED WEBCAST: Due to broadcast rights conflicts with the championship, the Big Ten Wrestling Championships will no longer be webcast from the Bryce Jordan Center this weekend. We regret any confusion that this has caused.
To follow the action, go to tournament central by clicking here.