Feb. 27, 2017
The Big Ten Conference released today its pre-seeds for this weekend’s Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind. Based on today’s release, nine Gophers will be seeded for the tournament, including seven in places that would automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Brett Pfarr leads the way for Minnesota by locking down the top seed at 197 pounds. Pfarr is undefeated against the field, including a 5-0 record against the wrestlers seeded second through fifth (Pfarr has two wins over second seed Kollin Moore from Ohio State).
The most common seed for Minnesota wrestlers is fourth, which is the spot assigned to three different Gophers: Ethan Lizak at 125, Jake Short at 157 and Michael Kroells at heavyweight. For Lizak and Short, fourth-place finishes would be career-best marks at the conference tournament. Taking fourth would match Kroells’ best career finish in the event.
Outside of Pfarr, Tommy Thorn has the highest seed of any Gopher. He’ll compete off the three-line at 141 pounds.
Other Gophers seeded to place high enough for automatic NCAA qualification are Nick Wanzek, who will be No. 6 at 165 pounds, and Mitch McKee, who is No. 7 at 133.
At 174 and 184 pounds, the two other pre-seeded Minnesota wrestlers are seeded one spot out of automatic qualification. Both Chris Pfarr and Bobby Steveson are pre-seeded tenth at weights that will send their top-nine finishers to St. Louis.
At 149 pounds, the Gophers will have an unseeded entrant in the field.
The Big Ten Championships get started from Assembly Hall on the University of Indiana campus this Saturday (March 4) at 9 a.m. Central time.
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