A BIG 10 Preseason Preview

125 - The 125 lbs weight class in the BIG 10 is going to be lead by seniors Jesse Delgado of Illinois and Nico Megaludis of Penn State, as Delgado goes for this third BIG 10 title and Megaludis for his first, in their highly decorated careers.  Iowa sophomore Cory Clark who already has a victory of Delgado, could possibly knock off either one or both for a BIG 10 title.   Look for Wisconsin sophomore Ryan Taylor, who has a victory over Clark, to make some noise this upcoming year as well.   Rounding out the weight class is NCAA qualifiers, Tim Lambert of Nebraska, Connor Youtsey of Michigan and Joey Duca of Indiana.  While he did not qualify for last year's NCAA championships,  sophomore Sam Brancale of Minnesota proved just how dangerous he can be when he stuck Clark during a duel meet in Iowa City. 

133 - Graduation has certainly made this weight class more up for grabs and as of right now it looks to be as if Iowa sophomore Thomas Gilman, who sat behind Clark and Ramos last season, could be the forerunner.  I believe that Ohio State's talented, but often inconsistent Johnni DiJulius could have something to say about that too though.  DiJulius had two rather decisive wins over Northern Iowa's Joe Colon who finished third last year and he could very well be a darkhorse national champion.  Maryland returns Geoff Alexander off of a redshirt, as Penn State has either senior Jordan Conaway or sophomore Jimmy Gulibon either of which can come in and do some damage.   The weight class rounds off with Michigan's Rossi Bruno, Northwestern's Dom Malone,  Illinois's Zane Richards and Rutgers Vinne Dellafave.  Although he didn't see any varsity action last year, Nebraska's Eric Montoya a transfer from Campbell, could possibly open up some eyes this year as well. 

141 - Head and heels above the rest, a God among men, will be three time BIG 10 and NCAA champion Logan Stieber.   Wrestling is as much known for it's heartbreak as it is it's triumph however and looking to ruin the moment for Stieber is Penn State sophomore Zain Retherford.  Retherford not only had a phenomenal season last year as a true freshman, finishing fourth at the NCAA's, but he also did the unthinkable when he defeated Stieber in a duel meet.   Look for Chris Dardanes of Minnesota, to perhaps shock the wrestling world by not even giving Retherford a chance to face Stieber in the finals.    Rounding out this weight class will be All American Stephen Dutton of Michigan, and NCAA qualifier Josh Dziewa of Iowa.   With Rutgers coming into the BIG 10 it'll be interesting to see exactly where Anthony Ashnault finishes among his contemporaries.  Although he didn't qualify last season,  Wisconsin's Jesse Theilke is one of the most dangerous throwers in NCAA wrestling today.  One wrong move and before you know it, Theilke has you on your back.  

149 - Definitely an extremely tough and interesting weight class, 149 seems to be in the clutches of returning NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern.  However, the weight class has proven to have an ample amount of parity and their are a number of individuals who could take the crown here.   Many wrestling fans conclude Nebraska senior Jake Sueflohn to perhaps be the best wrestler going into the 2014-2015 season who has yet to make All American.  He can beat anyone at his weight class.   Also look for Nick Dardanes of Minnesota to throw a wrench into things and as always Hunter Stieber will be gunning for the title as well.   Lastly I'll say that what makes this weight class so interesting is that we also have three individuals who could also make a run for the title, who didn't even qualify for the NCAA last season.   Iowa fans have put a ton of faith into Brody Grothus, who has multiple wins over All Americans and qualifiers, despite not qualifying himself.   Penn State fans are hopeful to finally get out of Andrew Alton what they've been hoping for since his freshman season and if you want to talk about a plausible sleeper, look no further than Illinois's Caleb Ervin.    Wisconsin's T.J. Ruschell could possibly throw in an upset or two as well. 

157 - Without a doubt this is the toughest weight class in the BIG 10.   Matter of fact, I'll go as far as to say that anyone finishing in the top eight in this weight class, has as much ability and predictability to finish as an All American at the NCAA tournament, as does anyone.   That is how tough this weight class is.    First the weight class returns NCAA finalist, Dylan Ness of Minnesota and last year's BIG 10 champion and NCAA third place finisher James Green of Nebraska.   All American Anthony Perrotti of Rutgers makes his way into the BIG 10 as well, after wrestling in the EIWA the last two seasons.   Indiana's Taylor Walsh, who led the nation in falls last year, could headlock his way to a title as well.   What I'm really interested to see here is the return of Ohio State's Josh Demas, who always gave Iowa's Derek St. John a lot of trouble and how a healthy Brian Murphy of Michigan will do.   The biggest question here, is without a doubt Penn State's Dylan Alton.   After an extremely successful freshman campaign which saw third place finishes at both the BIG 10 tournament and NCAA tournament, as well as victories over James Green, he has had less than stellar, very disappointing seasons as a sophomore and junior.   If he is on, and wrestling to his full potential, he'll be a serious threat for a BIG 10 title.   Not sure if Iowa will place Mike Kelly or Aaron Sorenson here and look for possible qualification out of Michigan State's Ryan Watts and Illinois's Zac Bunson. 

165 - Polar opposite of 149 and 157, is 165, which looks to be the weakest out of the BIG 10 weights.   I'd like to go ahead and pencil in Iowa senior Nick Moore as the 2015 champion, but while he has proven his ability to beat anyone during the regular season, he has thus far disappointed in the post.   Ohio State fans, already are picking Bo Jordan to perhaps be freshman of the year, and I'm sure that Michigan fans aren't to happy that too many critics are over looking the ability of Taylor Massa.  Illinois's Jackson Morse looks to be the sleeper in this weight class, and the Minnesota faithful have confidence in Chris Pfarr. 

174 - Four individuals in this weight class, each of which are about dead tied with the other in terms of head to head competition amongst one another.   Nebraska's Robert Kokesh looks to defend his title but Penn State's Matt Brown who won the title two years ago as a sophomore, would like to add another one to his resume as well.   Perhaps it won't be either one of them though, as Iowa's Mike Evans and Minnesota's Logan Storley both look to be crowned king of the BIG 10 as well.    The weight class really drops off after the top four here though,  and fifth through eighth place are really up for grabs.   Among those in contention will be Wisconsin's Scott Liegel, Purdue's Pat Kissel, Ohio State's Mark Martin and Michigan's Collin Zeerip. 

184 - Michigan sophomore Dominic Abounader who finished a very impressive third at last year's BIG 10 tournament, looks poised to win his first of what could be three BIG 10 titles this season.  While it may not seem so as of today based on prior results,  challenging him for the title could very well be Michigan State's John Rizqallah who in spite of his inconsistency has proven his ability to beat top tier competition before.   The BIG 10 gives out medals for the top three wrestlers per weight class, and the fight for the third place bronze medal will be interesting as well.   It could be Ohio State's Kenny Courts, Iowa's Sammy Brooks, Indiana's Luke Sheridan or Nebraska's T.J. Dudley.  

197 - Minnesota senior Scott Schiller has earned his right as the clear favorite and I don't see anyone knocking him off for a BIG 10 title.   I can already hear Ohio State fan's in my ear going on and on about how good Kyle Snyder is going to be this year, but I'll have to actually see him actually defeat Schiller on the mat before I just go ahead and believe it.   Rumors like to circulate in the wrestling world like they do anywhere else, and from what I've heard there is a possibility we could see former Ohio State Buckeye Andrew Campolattano in a Rutger's singlet this season.    Iowa fan's sure would like to see Nathan Burak step it up a notch, and while I see him as a possible finalist, I do not see him taking Schiller for the title.   I tell you who I will grant a slight dark horse's chance to though and that is Purdue's Braden Atwood.  Rounding out this weight class is the continuously improving Alex Polizzi and Timmy McCall of Wisconsin. 

HWT - Northwestern's Mike McMullan will go into the season ranked #1 in the BIG 10 and most likely #2 in the NCAA, but don't kid yourself, he hasn't walked away with the 2015 HWT BIG 10 championship yet.  Michigan sophomore Adam Coon, who looked extremely promising as a potential BIG 10 and NCAA champion last year during the regular season, completely fell apart at the BIG 10 tournament and finished one match shy of All American honors at the NCAA tournament.   Look for the MichCoon Redemption as I don't think he'll ever let that happen to him again and he'll be making runs for titles at every tournament he enters from here on out.   Also looking for his first BIG 10 title will be Iowa's Bobby Telford and coming to the BIG 10 for the first time from the ACC Maryland's Spencer Myers.   Penn State senior Jon Gingrich has shown his worth to the Nittany Lion wrestling program on more than one occasion with his ability to upset higher ranked opponents.  He's done it before, he'll do it again.   Lastly look for possible upsets out of Wisconsin's Connor Medberry, Rutger's Will Smith and Ohio State's Nathan Tavanello. 

I see Iowa being the team to beat in the BIG 10 and while it may tick off a lot of Penn State fans,  I see Minnesota and Ohio State giving the Hawkeyes more of a challenge for that team title than I do the Nittany Lions.   Those in the know, already have Nebraska penciled in as a dark horse team that could take the BIG 10 title.   I personally look for Michigan to surprise everyone and finish as high as third.    I don't see either Rutgers or Maryland making much noise in their first year in the BIG 10, but perhaps they could finally give Michigan State an opportunity to finish something other than dead last for once.