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No. 1 Penn State Defeats Iowa in Thrilling Big Ten Wrestling Match

Penn State a Big Favorite to Win Big Ten Wrestling Championships

But here's a question: Why have Cael Sanderson's teams won more NCAA titles than Big Ten championships?

Here's a quirk: Penn State has won eight NCAA wrestling championships under head coach Cael Sanderson but six titles at the Big Ten championships.

So is the Big Ten tournament really more difficult to win than NCAAs?

"It's a little different because ultimately you probably don't, maybe you do, but you don't necessarily dream about being a Big Ten champion when you're a kid. You're dreaming about being an NCAA champion," Sanderson said this week. "So your focus is on the NCAA tournament. You're not going to win the NCAA tournament if you can't wrestle well at the Big Tens, qualify and get there.

"And so the ultimate goal obviously is the national tournament. That's our focus and that's the way we design our training. But you've still got to be able to wrestle well at the conference meet."

Penn State heads to this weekend's Big Ten wrestling championships seeking its first team title since 2019, when it also won its most recent NCAA title. The Nittany Lions bring a tournament-best four No. 1 seeds to the championships, scheduled for March 5-6 at Nebraska. In all, seven Penn State wrestlers are seeded among the top three in their weight classes.

Penn State, the nation's top-ranked team and Big Ten regular-season champ, is the team title's clear favorite. However, stranger things have happened at Big Tens in the past.

For instance, Penn State won the NCAA title in 2017 after finishing second to Ohio State at the Big Ten championships. The same thing happened the following year, when the Lions won their seventh NCAA title under Sanderson.

Matchups play a large role, as does the prospect of rematches in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. Rutgers' Nick Suriano and Penn State's Drew Hildebrandt are the top two seeds at 125 pounds. Likewise Penn State's Roman Bravo-Young and Iowa's Austin DeSanto at 133.

Penn State's Nick Lee and Iowa's Jaydin Eierman are in the same situation at 141, as are the Lions' Carter Starocci and Michigan's Logan Massa (174) and Penn State's Aaron Brooks and Michigan's Myles Amine (184). They all could face rematches in the NCAA finals after squaring off Sunday afternoon at Nebraska.

"You can just kind of get lost in thought if you're trying to figure out what matters and, 'Are we going to hold back and save it for the end?'" Sanderson said. "I think you just do your best in the next match, make adjustments and we'll just keep improving."

Here's the schedule and preliminary seeds for the Big Ten wrestling championships. The conference will release brackets later this week.

Big Ten Wrestling Championships Schedule

Saturday (All times EST)

11 a.m.: Session 1 (Big Ten Network)

6:30 p.m.: Session 2 Wrestlebacks (B1G+)

8:30 p.m.: Session 2 Semifinals (BTN)

Sunday

Noon: Session 3 Consolation Semifinals (B1G+)

4:30 p.m.: Championships (BTN)

4:30 p.m.: Championship and medal finals (B1G+)

Big Ten Wrestling Championships Preliminary Seeds

125 Pounds

1. Nick Suriano (MICH)

2. Drew Hildebrandt (PSU)

3. Eric Barnett (WIS)

4. Malik Heinselman (OSU)

5. Devin Schroder (PUR)

6. Drake Ayala (IOWA)

7.  Michael DeAugustino (NU)

8. Patrick McKee (MINN)

9. Dylan Shawver (RU)

10. Justin Cardani (ILL)

11. Tristan Lujan (MSU)

12. Jacob Moran (IND)

13. Jeremiah Reno (NEB)

14. Zach Spence (MD)

133 Pounds

1. Roman Bravo-Young (PSU)

2. Austin DeSanto (IOWA)

3. Lucas Byrd (ILL)

4. RayVon Foley (MSU)

5. Dylan Ragusin (MICH)

6. Brock Hudkins (IND)

7.  Chris Cannon (NU)

8. Joe Olivieri (RU)

9. Matt Ramos (PUR)

10. Dominick Serrano (NEB)

11. Kyle Burwick (WIS)

12. Jake Gliva (MINN)

13. King Sandoval (MD)

14. Dylan Koontz (OSU)

141 Pounds

1. Nick Lee (PSU)

2. Jaydin Eierman (IOWA)

3. Sebastian Rivera (RU)

4. Chad Red (NEB)

5. Jakob Bergeland (MINN)

6. Stevan Micic (MICH)

7.  Dylan D’Emilio (OSU)

8. Joseph Zargo (WIS)

9. Dylan Duncan (ILL)

10. Frankie Tel Shahar (NU)

11. Parker Filius (PUR)

12. Matt Santos (MSU)

13. Cayden Rooks (IND)

14. Danny Bertoni (MD)

149 Pounds

1. Sammy Sasso (OSU)

2. Austin Gomez (WIS)

3. Ridge Lovett (NEB)

4. Max Murin (IOWA)

5. Yahya Thomas (NU)

6. Mike Van Brill (RU)

7.  Beau Bartlett (PSU)

8. Christian Kanzler (ILL)

9. Graham Rooks (IND)

10. Michael Bockhus (MINN)

11. Kanen Storr (MICH)

12. Michael North (MD)

13. Payton Omania (MSU)

14. Alec White (PUR)

157 Pounds

1. Ryan Deakin (NU)

2. Kaleb Young (IOWA)

3. Will Lewan (MICH)

4. Kendall Coleman (PUR)

5. Peyton Robb (NEB)

6. Chase Saldate (MSU)

7.  Garrett Model (WIS)

8. Robert Kanniard (RU)

9. Bryce Hepner (OSU)

10. Brady Berge (PSU)

11. Derek Gilcher (IND)

12. Joe Roberts (ILL)

13. Lucas Cordio (MD)

14. Sebas Swiggum (MINN)

165 Pounds

1. Carson Kharchla (OSU)

2. Alex Marinelli (IOWA)

3. Dean Hamiti (WIS)

4. Cameron Amine (MICH)

5. Caleb Fish (MSU)

6. Dan Braunagel (ILL)

7.  Hayden Lohrey (PUR)

8. Clayton Wilson (NEB)

9. Cael Carlson (MINN)

10. Creighton Edsell (PSU)

11. David Ferrante (NU)

12. Andrew Clark (RU)

13. Kasper McIntosh (IND)

14. Gaven Bell (MD)

174 Pounds

1. Carter Starocci (PSU)

2. Logan Massa (MICH)

3. Mikey Labriola (NEB)

4. Michael Kemerer (IOWA)

5. Ethan Smith (OSU)

6. Bailee O’Reilly (MINN)

7.  Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR)

8.  Troy Fisher (NU)

9.  Dominic Solic (MD)

10. DJ Shannon (ILL)

11. Andrew McNally (WIS)

12. Nick South (IND)

13. Connor O’Neill (RUT)

14. Nate Jimenez (MSU)

184 Pounds

1. Aaron Brooks (PSU)

2. Myles Amine (MICH)

3. Kaleb Romero (OSU)

4. Taylor Venz (NEB)

5. Abe Assad (IOWA)

6. Layne Malczewski (MSU)

7.  John Pozanski (RU)

8. Kyle Cochran (MD)

9. DJ Washington (IND)

10. Isaiah Salazar (MINN)

11. Christopher Weiler (WIS)

12. Zach Braunagel (ILL)

13. Max Lyon (PUR)

14. Jack Jessen (NU)

197 Pounds

1. Eric Schultz (NEB)

2. Max Dean (PSU)

3. Cameron Caffey (MSU)

4. Jacob Warner (IOWA)

5. Patrick Bucki (MICH)

6. Thomas Penola (PUR)

7.  Greg Bulsak (RU)

8. Braxton Amos (WIS)

9. Gavin Hoffman (OSU)

10. Andrew Davison (NU)

11. Jaron Smith (MD)

12. Michial Foy (MINN)

13. Nick Willham (IND)

14. Matt Wroblewski (ILL)

285 Pounds

1. Gable Steveson (MINN)

2. Tony Cassioppi (IOWA)

3. Greg Kerkvliet (PSU)

4. Mason Parris (MICH)

5. Lucas Davison (NU)

6. Christian Lance (NEB)

7.  Trent Hillger (WIS)

8. Tate Orndorff (OSU)

9. Luke Luffman (ILL)

10. Jacob Bullock (IND)

11. Michael Woulfe (PUR)

12. Boone McDermott (RU)

13. Brad Wilton (MSU)

14. Zach Schrader (MD)

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