Big Ten Tournament Wrestling Preview

The Big Ten Championships are this Saturday and Sunday. Bragging rights and automatic qualifier berths for the national tournament are at stake. I will be posting updates throughout the weekend, and you can catch the finals live from 4 to 7 on the Big Ten Network on Sunday. Here is how I see the Hoosiers stacking up against the competition this weekend:

• 125 pounds: With four ranked wrestlers and five automatic qualifier spots for nationals, there figures to be a dogfight for the fifth slot. Redshirt freshman Justin Brooks, seeded sixth, looks to be in the mix for that last spot with Michigan's Sean Boyle perhaps his biggest competition for it.
• 133 pounds: With eight automatic qualifier spots at this weight, any wrestler who gets hot could potentially snag a spot at nationals. Junior Matt Ortega, though unseeded, could do just that. He has narrow losses this year to the sixth and seventh seeds, but rematches could go either way.

• 141 pounds: True freshman Mitchell Richey is unseeded and will have a difficult time placing in the top six to qualify for nationals. Five of the top seven wrestlers in the country at this weight reside in the Big Ten. Richey narrowly lost against Northwestern's Kaleb Friedley, the sixth seed, by a 6-5 score in December.
• 149 pounds: Now recovered from a nagging injury that kept him out of several conference matches, senior Kurt Kinser is squarely in the mix for the championship at this weight and will look to avenge losses to Penn State's Frank Molinaro and Northwestern's Andrew Nadhir, his prime competition for the title. With eight qualifier spots, Kinser is a near-lock for nationals.
• 157 pounds: Penn State freshman phenom David Taylor is the heavy favorite here, but senior Paul Young, seeded fifth, should grab one of the six spots for nationals and looks to avenge losses to higher-seeded wrestlers from Iowa, Purdue and Northwestern. After Taylor, this weight is a virtual toss-up.
• 165 pounds: Wisconsin's Andrew Howe returns from injury as a heavy favorite in a weight with four ranked wrestlers and five qualifier spots. Redshirt freshman Ryan LeBlanc, seeded seventh, has close losses to Conrad Polz of Illinois and Michigan's Dan Yates, his main competition for the last spot.
• 174 pounds: Winless in the conference this season, senior Nick Avery will need to wrestle his best all season to qualify for nationals, even at a weight with eight qualifier spots. Penn State's Ed Ruth is the favorite.
• 184 pounds: Senior Eric Cameron faces an uphill battle as he tries to return to the national tournament for a third year, though he defeated several of his potential opponents in previous years.
• 197 pounds: In a wide-open but tough weight class, defending champion Trevor Brandvold of Wisconsin is again favored. Junior Matt Powless, 32-4 this season and seeded fourth, has not faced Brandvold this year. The six qualifier spots at this weight will likely be filled by the six ranked wresters, all in the top 11.
• Heavyweight (285): Graduate student Ricky Alcala is the second seed in his first Big Ten tournament and has lost only to top-seeded Cameron Wade of Penn State in conference action. Alcala has avenged losses to opponents several times and will look to do the same against Wade, likely in the conference finals.