The World's Greatest B1G Wrestling Tournament Preview Ever (part three)

For parts one and two of the World's Greatest B1G Wrestling Championships Preview Ever, click here and then here.

DJ SHANNON

Below is a list of  the awful people that DJ Shannon might have to wrestle at 174 in the Big Ten Tournament, based upon Intermat rank, followed by overall wins, conference wins, and seedingly significant wins and losses:

DEVIATIONS.  The list above is based upon Intermat rankings, then some guesses for the unranked folk. It is helpful to make assumptions about conference pre-allocations and seedings, but that information should come out later today (Thursday, February 24). 

I have a very hard time seeding Michael Kemerer at #4. It is probably the correct seed given his head-to-head losses, but as a B1G coach, I might protest and rebel against it. 

The major deviations can occur between seeds eight through ten. They have one of those crazy-weird head-to-head loss scenarios. You see, Shannon beat McNally, but Fisher beat Shannon. How will the B1G coaches deal with it? I don't know. What I've done above is put McNally at his Intermat ranking followed by Shannon and then Fisher because the ILLINI has the better Wrestlestat ranking versus the Wildcat. 

FUN FACT.  Isaiah Martinez was 14-0 at the B1G Championships as a four-time champion, beating Jason Nolf, Dylan Ness, Vincenzo Joseph (x2), Logan Massa, Isaiah White, Tyler Berger, Brian Murphy, Richie Lewis, Johnny Sebastian, Drew Hughes, TJ Ruschell, Doug Welch and Luke Frey. 

OVERALL OUTLOOK.  Over the years, Michael Kemerer has had four losses at the Big Ten Tournament. Last season, of course, he had none and beat Carter Starocci in the finals. The Nittany Lion beat the Hawk at the Big Dance, though. 

Starocci has had three one-point wins so far this season. Can he continue that trend? One-point wins are better than losses, so he'll be the favorite here. The winner of this tough bracket will be the fellow strong enough and mentally tough enough to be able to beat somebody by one point two times in a row. The semifinals should be scintillating, with the top four only challenged by Ethan Smith. 

ILLINI OUTLOOK.  The ILLINI faithful have been waiting for DJ to turn it on. He showed a lot of promise in his very first tournament as an ILLINI, pushing Kaleb Romero to the brink a couple of years ago at the MSU Open. He's turned it on late this season with big wins over Andrew McNally of Wisconsin and Nick South of Indiana (one of their good wrestlers). Shannon has even heard what the Ruth is cookin' by throwing in a cradle whenever possible. 

I expect a minimum of eight conference pre-allocations at this weight, and there could be nine or even ten, depending upon whether Shannon and South earn a favorable Coach's ranking. That means there will likely be a sort of mini-tournament between McNally, Shannon, South and Fisher for that automatic-NCAA-berth eighth spot, and the very important ninth place finish, which should earn that wrestler a wildcard. I expect the two wrestlers who finish tenth and eleventh will not get into the Big Dance. 

As for his draw, as the eighth or ninth seed, Shannon would almost certainly see Wisconsin's McNally in his opening match, followed by Starocci. With a tenth seed, he would likely face Nijenhuis or O'Reilly. 

ZAC BRAUNAGEL

Here is your lineup at 184 for the Big Ten Tournament:

DEVIATIONS.  Kyle Cochran and Donnell Washington could both see their seeds fall based upon losing conference dual records. Additionally, Washington missed three matches. As you can see above, Intermat has ranked thirteen of the fourteen wrestlers at this weight in the Big Ten. 

They all deserve it.

The major deviations in seeding will occur in the middle and lower half of the seeds. I am hoping that recency bias plays a part in the case of 184. Zac Braunagel is coming off a huge catch-and-release win over Taylor Venz that was broadcast live on BTN. Hopefully, all of the B1G coaches and the NCAA-ranking coaches saw it. I believe that's what propelled him up to the #17 ranking by Intermat. 

On the flip side, Abe Assad has a better conference dual mark than Venz or the Brawlnagel, yet his last few matches have been, well, less shiny and good. That's why Intermat has him at #20. Salazar has a 4-1 mark in conference duals, and he might also move up. 

FUN FACT.  Zac Braunagel has had his name misspelled by Wrestlestat, the NWCA, Openmat, Trackwrestling, and even the NCAA. Intermat gets it right! The sad and funny and troubling aspect of all of this is that those folks misspell the easy name and get "Braunagel" right. What does this say about America's schools:

OVERALL OUTLOOK.  It's now been more than two years and one month since Aaron Brooks lost a college wrestling match. Until he does, he will be the favorite over anybody, even an Olympic medalist. Since that loss, the Nittany Lion has had four one-point matches, including one this year. (Parker Keckeisen, Northen Iowa). He also had a two-point win over Myles Amine during the conference slate. 

But he is also a perfect 6-0 in BTT matches. 

Brooks has the better prospects because he will face a semifinalist that he has beaten relatively easily, while Amine and Romero will have to beat on each other. 

ILLINI OUTLOOK.  Zac Braunagel will need to string some wins together in this tournament. Like his twin brother Dhanny, and unlike his big brother, Jhoey, he is already an honorable mention All American, and those two have the opportunity to cement their legends this year. 

I believe that the seeds will be different as set by the B1G coaches compared to the Intermat and Wrestlestat rankings above, so I'm not sure who Big Brawny will wrestle. There is only one "easy" match, and Kaleb Romero will get that in the first round. I expect the ILLINI might could wrestle Venz, Assad, Malczewski, Weiler or Salazar in the first round. 

That's how crazy this will be. 

Now, check out some great Brawlnagel takedowns set to opera music. I'm ******* serious:

MATT WROBLEWSKI -- 197

Here are your warriors at 197 in the Big Ten Conference:

DEVIATIONS.  I would deviate like a Peeping Tom. Max Dean ducked and didn't get his full compliment of matches. The person he ducked, Eric Schultz, ended up with a perfect conference record. Moreover, Dean has a loss in a B1G dual. I would also consider putting Cam Caffey ahead of him. He ducked nobody, is the hottest wrestler at this weight in the country, and he also finished with a perfect conference record. 

As much as I hate Thomas Penola, he should probably be ahead of Bulsak and Brucki. Finally, I'd put Michael Foy ahead of Andrew Davison and Jaron Smith. Smith has that nice win against Brucki, but his conference mark is 1-3. 

FUN FACT.  The ILLINI won the Big Ten Wrestling Championship in 1952. That same season, ILLINOIS finished in a tie for sixth in the country with a total of seven points. Teams that finished ahead of the Orange and Blue included Toledo, Iowa State Teachers College and Oklahoma A&M. One of the teams ILLINOIS tied with was Waynesburg. 

Indiana finished in a three-way tie for ninth with Pittsburgh and California!

Waynesburg still exists as a private school with an enrollment of approximately 2,500. They now compete at the Division Three level. Take that you stupid Yellowjackets! 

OVERALL OUTLOOK.  Four of the top five wrestlers in the country at this weight are in the Big Ten. Any of them--and also the next two--could win the conference crown in my estimation. Heck, even Myles Amine could win the conference crown at 197. 

He did it last year. 

ILLINI OUTLOOK.  Matt Wroblewski started out the season like an eraser in a bad graphics arts class, a bigger, stronger eraser, who had added muscle to his chest and arms. He had a 4-2 record with a win over Cam Caffey at the MSU Open. 

Then, either injury or illness struck, and he was out of the lineup for weeks. 

Unfortunately, he came back just in time for the majority of B1G duals, and because of conditioning or nagging illness/injury issues, he lost all of those matches, including Indiana's Nick Wilham, a guy he had beaten four times without a loss. 

Hopefully, he's had time to resolve all of those problems, as he has an opportunity. I expect the conference will be allocated between nine and eleven spots, depending on whether Gavin Hoffman, Jaron Smith and Andrew Davison make it on the Coach's ranking. If I had to guess, I'd say at least two of them do, which would mean ten pre-allocations. 

That means a likely mini-tournament between Hoffman, Davison, Smith, Michael Foy, Nick Wilham and WroboCop for the ninth, tenth and eleventh spots. The eleventh spot is likely to get a wildcard. If he's got his conditioning in order, I like his chances against that group. 

LUUUUKE LUFFMAN -- 285

Here are the heavyweight grapplers that Luke will have to beat down to win this year's Big Ten Tournament: 

DEVIATIONS.  There is a lot to deviate from these rankings, especially as it applies to a conference-only tournament. First off, Mason Parris would be my number four seed. That second loss in conference and missing a dual has to cost him. 

Secondly, Jacob Bullock would jump up to the tenth seed, pushing everybody down one. He has a better conference record and beat two of the guys ranked ahead of him! Thirdly, I would switch Wilton and Schrader. Wilton has the better conference record (even though he did lose to Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State), and Wilton also beat Schrader. 

Finally, I would give Luke Luffman the #1 seed for life, and everybody would be an automatic forfeit against him. That's because everybody loves the Luff. 

FUN FACT:  Everybody loves Luke Luffman. Down in Mexico, the children call him "El Gato Grande," which means, "Big Man Who Brings Toys on Christmas." In Denmark, they refer to Luffman as "Den Vanilje Danske," which translates to "The Vanilla Danish."

OVERALL OUTLOOK. Sure, the champion is already crowned here. He was crowned during the Olympics--or better yet--when he decided to come back to school. It will be interesting to see the other wrestlers jockeying for second, as NCAA seeds and team points are at stake. Cassioppi, Parris and Kerkvliet all want to get those second place points for their team, and they want to set the tone for next year.

Hilger and Orndorff, multiple year All Americans, are likely to be the seventh and eighth seeds at the Big Ten Tournament. That is a lot of firepower.

ILLINI OUTLOOK. Luke Luffman came along during the Golden Era of Big Ten and NCAA heavyweights. I could see somebody like Mason Parris taking the place of Tony Nelson back in the day and winning multiple championships. Greg Kerkvliet could fill the shoes of Kurt Angle or Kerry McCoy.

They have all gathered here for our pleasure.

But not Luke's. He still has to beat them. I think he's very solidly into the NCAA tournament no matter what happens here, so now he's fighting for school pride and a great seed for the Big Dance. His most likely opponent in the first round is multiple AA Tate Orndorff--a guy who looks like he won B1G championships back in the 1980s or 1990s.

Luke is 1-1 against Orndorff, with both matches being decided by a single point. His next match, of course, would be against the Olympic Champion. So, better get some wins on the backside!