Badger Draws at B1Gs

[hammen]

Big Ten Conference qualifier allocations:  5, 12, 8, 7, 8, 8, 10, 10, 9, 9

Warning: The following text includes optimism for the author's most favorite team in college athletics. Read at your own risk:

125 - (5 qualifiers) Tough draw right off the bat. Tomasello has a lot of fire power and considered one of the top guys who will compete for a championship in 2 weeks. Assuming the brackets play out to seed, Johnny will be battling Conaway or Lambert. He will likely have to get by both to earn 5th place, so it technically doesn't matter who he gets first, but I am actually hoping for a matchup with Conaway here. Lambert is very smart and technical, where Conaway will scrap. I think if someone forces the action with Johnny he will be forced to open up, and I think Johnny is at his best when he opens up. If he gets by Conaway/Lambert, he will likely match up with Welch of Purdue in the night seesion, which is a very winnable match. If he gets that one, he's in the top 6 and needs to win one more, which is likely against Lambert.

Finals Prediction: Tomasello over Gilman, fists may fly

133 - (12 qualifiers) RT is beastly as everyone knows. He seems to improve each time out, which is really scary for the field with the 2 weeks of preparation since he downed All America Earl Hall. All he has to do is pretty much make weight to auto-qualify. A matchup with Guilibon will be exciting, and I imagine an instant classic similar to his match with Hall. Guilibon is very scrappy and likes to get after his offense, so I think we'll be in for a great one. I'm also hoping for a match with Dardanes in the finals, but it would be fun to see a Clark/RT rematch from last year's B1Gs - those Iowa fans don't like RT one bit. It would be interesting to see how Dardanes opens up against a guy like RT, and to see RT go against the only other guy who I think is as strong as him at this weight.

Finals Prediction: RT over Dardanes

141 - (8 qualifiers) I like Jesse's draw here. I guarantee the coaches were smiling ear to ear for this one. He gets an opponent he is familiar with, and someone he knows he can put up points on. I'm very optimistic about Jesse's performance this tournament, and think it could mirror what we saw from him in Madison just a year ago. If he defeats Rodrigues, he have Ashnault (likely), although Shyheim Brown from Maryland is ridiculously athletic and has the potential to beat anyone at this weight. I think it will be Ashnault and Jesse in the quarters, and if seeds play out, Jesse will be on the backside with the winner of Gasca/Brown. If Jesse beats one of those guys, he auto-qualifies in the top 8, which would be awesome. If Jesse loses first round to Rodrigues, it's a tough battle against the loser of Brown/Ashnault and then the loser of Jeva/Abidin to get into the top 8. Gotta get that first one Jesse let's go!

Finals Prediction: Steiber over Dardanes

149 - (7 qualifiers) Also like Rylan's draw here. He gets a nice matchup with Trimble of MSU to start things off before battling Sorensen of Iowa in the quarters. Assuming that plays out to seed, Rylan will be on the backside against the winner of Langenderfer and Maryland. It will likely be Langenderfer, who Rylan did not wrestle in the dual. I think this is a very winnable match for Rylan, especially if he competes the way he did last year in March. He will need to beat one of Pantaleo, Theobold, Arthur Short or Beitz to place top 7. I think it's again very doable. I think we will see the Rylan of March 2014 here.

Finals Prediction: Tshirts over Sorensen

157 - (8 qualifiers) Tough draw for TJ here. He has Welch of Purdue right off the bat (who defeated James Green in the dual this year). I'm not counting out TJ one bit though - he's wrestling without pulling any weight, and is super dangerous when he gets on top. I think he can ride/turn a lot of top 20 guys at 149/157. He will need to do so here to place in the top 8. Assuming seeds play out, he will have to beat Sullivan of NW in the backside, before wrestling the loser of Demas/Green to place in the top 8. I've seen Demas really beat himself in the 3rd period in a few matches this year due to conditioning, which could very well benefit TJ if he gets to choose top in the 3rd. You better believe Ohio State will be wanting to keep this one on their feet where Demas is at his best, especially to help build a lead for that 3rd period strugglefest.

Finals Prediction: Green over Martinez

165 - (8 qualifiers) Really excited to see Zeke back out there after that Iowa State meet. He gets to sit out with a first round bye, then has the opportunity to pummel a burnt-out Moore of Iowa. Moore has been wrestling like he has been waiting for this season to end since last March. After Moore, Zeke will meet up with Walsh of Indiana in the semis. Zeke has his number, but it's super tough to beat a guy the quality of Walsh on a consistent basis, especially given how dangerous Walsh is from pretty much any position. The good thing is that Zeke is so tough and disciplined with his positioning that I can't see him losing to Walsh. This leads up to what everyone wants to see - the all-Jordan final. What a story this could play out to be, on one of the biggest stages in college wrestling. Bo will have to get by Harger of NW first, which is no easy task.

Finals Prediction: Jordan over Jordan  

174 - (10 qualifiers) Interesting spot for Frank, where he has Massa in the first match. This will be Massa's first bout at 174, and it's the B1G tournament. I'm not sure what has been wrong with Massa this season (maybe it's the new illegality of his go-to move), but the way Zeke demolished him really makes me think Frank can take this bout. If Frank wins, he will have the beastly Kokesh. Assuming seeds play out with that, Frank will likely have to beat Jackson of Indiana for his first opportunity to qualify for NCAAs. The good thing is that Frank will have multiple chaces at qualifying, since if he loses to Massa first round he will have a second round bye before wrestling the loser of Brown/Welch for an opportunity to place top 8 and qualify. I like Frank's chances to place top 8 with his draw, and I certainly like Frank's chances to qualify even if he misses the top 8.

Finals Prediction: Brown over Kokesh

184 - (10 qualifiers) I think this is Ricky's big chance to put himself in a great spot to get a top 8 seed at the NCAAs. He will have Dudley, Abounader and either Brooks or Pfarr all in one tournament. Even in his losses this year, Ricky put himself in positions to win at the end every time. He will need to get on a roll, but he is certainly capable of doing it. I know a lot of people are excited about Ricky's chances of making the finals, and I am one of those people. He needs to ride tough and get finishes off that low single. He could very well have overtime matches from the quarters to finals, so I hope he has come ready to battle.

Finals Prediction: Ricky over Pfarr

197 - (9 qualifiers) Timmy got a tough draw with Atwood right off the bat, but he's no where near as explosive or athletic as Timmy. If Timmy wants to (as with most of his matches), he can run a guy like Atwood out the arena. This would set up a match with one of the favorites for the title, Kyle Snyder. I am very intrigued with this matchup, and again I think Timmy is capable of winning this match if he pulls the trigger with his offense more than once. If Timmy loses, he will drop down to face McDiamid of MSU, and will qualify for the NCAAs with a win there. Again, I think Timmy is capable of beating anyone at this weight in this tournament, but he needs to realize that, and put together more than one offensive attempt to give himself that opportunity to get his hand raised.

Finals Prediction: Snyder over Schiller

285 - (9 qualifiers) Man is this weight going to be fun to watch come the semis. Connor will probably battle Billy Smith of Rutgers in the quarters before squaring off against big baby Bobby Telford in a rematch of the Midlands semis, where Connor got absolutely hosed. I dislike Telford, and don't think he does anything to deserve to get his hand raised. He's huge, he acts tough, but doesn't do a darn thing. I would love to see Connor beat him like he did about a year ago. This would set up a likely rematch with McMullan or Coon. I would prefer McMullan from just a fan perspective, as that match was extremely entertaining at the dual. However, I think Connor has Coon's number this year and is the easier bout. A first place here and Connor has stamped himself as a top 2 seed at NCAAs.

Finals Prediction: Connor over McMullan

[vsmf2010]

I like the way you think Drew!

[BuckyMatt]

Thanks for the insight Drew, let's hope you are right on a lot of the weights and we get a few lucky breaks along the way!!  Go Bucky!

[dad 2 5]

I hope Drew is right because the way I broke it down did not seem nearly as promising. Focus guys and go get the wins you need to to continue wrestling this year. It is March so now it counts

[Musky Hunter]

could go either way this weekend.  should be fun!!

[billymurphy]

Thanks Hammen for making the picks with so
much detail.  You spent some serious time studying the brackets.
The odds are against either Ricky or Pfarr making the finals at 184, but the pick took some guts.
I also noticed you did not specify which Jordan would win at 165. Very good.

[dad 2 5]

Thanks Hammen for making the picks with so
much detail.  You spent some serious time studying the brackets.
The odds are against either Ricky or Pfarr making the finals at 184, but the pick took some guts.
I also noticed you did not specify which Jordan would win at 165. Very good.

+1
We know Drew took, and so do I ZEKE!!!

[hammen]

Johnny lost to Tomasello 7-2 or something like that. RT had a bye. Jesse up next on mat 2

[hammen]

Jesse with the early 2-0 lead off a nice ankle pick.

[hammen]

Rylan on deck mat 3

[hammen]

Jesse up 2-1 with 22 seconds RT after the 1st. Starts on top in 2nd.

[hammen]

Jesse with the fall!!!!!!

[hammen]

Sick cement mixer to the back! Nice job Jesse way to be aggressive!

[dad 2 5]

great start so far!
Go Bucky!!!

[hammen]

Rylan finished off Trimble with some back points to win 5-0