The Penn State Nittany Lions (12-2, 8-1 B1G) will enter the 2020 Big Ten Wrestling Championship with five first or second seeds when the event begins on Saturday in Piscataway, N.J. The Nittany Lions, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, will take part in the two-day NCAA qualifier and conference championship tournament beginning at 10 a.m. at the RAC at Rutgers University. All individual rankings listed are official NCAA Coaches Poll as of Feb. 27, 2020.
The conference has finalized its seeds for the tournament and the Nittany Lions have their slots for all ten of its entrants as each weight was seeded one through 14. Penn State will have five-first round byes on Saturday thanks to its five top-two seeds.
Freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.) will be the No. 14 seed at 125. Meredith ended the year 12-13 overall and was 4-9 vs. Big Ten competition (both dual meet and tournament). He will face No. 11 Pat McKee of Minnesota in the first round.
Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Coaches Poll, will be the No. 2 seed at 133. Bravo-Young owns a 17-1 overall record, 8-1 vs. the Big Ten this season. He receives a first-round bye and will take on the winner of Rutgers' Sammy Alvarez and Michigan State's Garrett Pepple.
Junior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 1 nationally at 141, will be the No. 1 seed this weekend. Lee is 18-0 on the year and 10-0 vs. the conference. He receives a first-round bye and will meet the winner of the Purdue's Parker Filius and Cole Martin of Michigan.
Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.0, ranked No. 20 in the country at 149, will be the No. 8 seed at his first Big Ten tournament. Verkleeren is 15-6 overall and 8-4 vs. the Big Ten this season, he will meet Northwestern's Yahya Thomas, ranked No. 19 nationally, in the opening round Saturday.
Junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) will be the No. 13 seed at 157. Pipher sports a 9-11 record this season, 3-6 vs. Big Ten competition. He will meet Will Lewan of Michigan, ranked No. 8 in the nation, in the first round on Saturday.
Senior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 1 in the nation at 165, will be the No. 1 seed at this weekend's tournament. Joseph is 13-0 on the year and 8-0 against the conference. Joseph has a first-round by Saturday and will take on the winner of Minnesota's Bailee O'Reilly and Drew Hughes of Michigan State.
Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 2 nationally at 174, will be the No. 2 seed at the tournament. Hall is 20-1 on the year, 11-1 vs. Big Ten competition. He receives a first-round bye on Saturday and will meet the winner of Joey Gunther of Illinois and Jared Krattiger of Wisconsin.
True freshman Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.), ranked No. 5 by the NCAA coaches at 184, will be the No. 1 seed at his first Big Ten tournament. Brooks is 12-1 on the year, 6-1 in Big Ten action. He receives a first-round bye and will meet the winner of Owen Webster of Minnesota and Johnny Sebastian of Wisconsin.
Senior Shakur Rasheed (Corman, N.Y.), ranked No. 24 by the coaches at 197, will be the No. 6 seed in his final conference tournament. Rasheed is 5-4 on the year and 4-4 against Big Ten competition. He will take on Matt Wroblewski of Illinois in the opening round.
True freshman Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), ranked No. 16 at 285, will be the No. 7 seed at his first Big Ten tournament. Nevills sports a 13-3 record, including a 6-3 mark vs. the Big Ten. He will take on Alex Esposito of Rutgers in the opening round.
The Big Ten received 79 automatic qualifiers: eight at 125, seven at 133, eight at 141, ten at 149, six at 157, eight at 165, nine at 174, ten at 184, six at 197 and seven at 285. In all, the NCAA allocated 283 automatic bids for 330 slots (33 per 10 weight classes). The remaining spots will be announced as at-large bids on Wednesday, March 11.
Penn State closed out the dual season with a 12-2 mark, 8-1 in the Big Ten. The Big Ten tournament features action on Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8, and will decide the Big Ten's automatic qualifiers for the 2020 NCAA Championship at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Saturday features a 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. session while Sunday's action starts at 12 p.m. with consolation bouts, followed up by the Big Ten finals. The full tournament is a BTN production and can be viewed as part of the BTN's BTN+ subscription package. The finals will air live nationally on BTN.
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
