March 6, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The seeds have been finalized for the 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. The Penn State Nittany Lions, four-time defending Big Ten Champions, now know their first round opponents for the event, beginning Saturday in Ohio State's St. John Arena.
Junior Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.), the No. 5 seed at 125, will have a first round bye and then wrestle the winner of Tim Lambert of Nebraska (the fourth seed) and Rutgers' Sean McCabe. Sophomore Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), the No. 3 seed at 133, faces Alonzo Shepherd of Indiana. Red-shirt freshman Kade Moss (South Jordan, Utah), the No. 9 seed at 141, takes on No. 8 seed Nick Lawrence of Purdue. Sophomore Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.), the No.6 seed at 149, gets a first round bye and meets the winner of Ohio State's Hunter Stieber, the No. 3 seed, and Purdue's Brandon Nelsen. Junior Luke Frey (Montoursville, Pa.), the No. 9 seed at 157 battles No. 8 seed Anthony Perrotti of Rutgers.
Red-shirt freshman Garett Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.), the No. 6 seed at 165 tangles with Rutgers' Nick Visicaro. Senior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah), the No. 2 seed at 174 gets a first round bye and meets the winner of No. 7 seed Chad Welch of Purdue and No. 10 seed Nathan Jackson of Indiana. Red-shirt freshman Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.) will be the No. 8 seed at 184 and will meet No. 9 seed John Rizqallah of Michigan State. Junior Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), the No. 2 seed at 197, gets a first round bye and will meet the winner of seventh-seed Alex Polizza of Northwestern and 10th-seed Nick McDiarmid of Michigan State. Senior Jimmy Lawson (Toms River, N.J.), the No. 5 at 285, will take on 12th-seed Chris Nash of Michigan State.
The Nittany Lions will feature five wrestlers making their Big Ten Championship debuts: Moss at 141, Beitz at 149, Frey at 157, Hammond at 165 and McCutcheon at 184.
The Nittany Lions have won the last four Big Ten titles and will battle for this year's crown at the two day event on Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8, in Columbus, Ohio. The event, hosted by Ohio State University, will be held in St. John Arena starting at 10 a.m. Eastern on Saturday. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstateWREST and on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2014-15 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.