BTN.com staff, February 27, 2012

The Big Ten Conference announced the preliminary seeds for the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 3-4 at Purdue. Six schools boast at least one top seeded wrestler, with Minnesota and Penn State leading the way with three each. Illinois, Ohio State and Penn State will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Iowa and Minnesota each have seeded wrestlers in nine classes.

The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference?s coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in seven weight classes, along with all 12 schools? starters in three weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving nine or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes. Each team enters the championships with a seeded wrestler in the 149-, 174- and 285-pound weight classes.

The top-ranked Golden Gophers hold three No. 1 seeds, with 184-pounder Kevin Steinhaus, 197-pounder Sonny Yohn and heavyweight Tony Nelson earning top billing in their weight classes. The No. 2 Nittany Lions also claim three top seeds, with Frank Molinaro taking the top spot at 149, David Taylor earning the top seed at 165 and Ed Ruth doing the same at 174.

Rounding out the group of No. 1 seeds are Iowa?s Matt McDonough (125), Ohio State?s Logan Stieber (133), Michigan?s Kellen Russell (141) and Northwestern?s Jason Welch (157). Five of this year?s top seeds look to defend Big Ten titles from last season, as McDonough (125), Russell (141), Molinaro (149), Taylor (157) and Ruth (174) each took home crowns in 2011.

For more information on the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page on Purdue?s web site here.

BigTen.org

125 lbs.

  1. Matt McDonough, IOWA
  2. Zach Sanders, MINN
  3. Nico Megaludis, PSU
  4. Jesse Delgado, ILL
  5. Levi Mele, NU
  6. Johnni DiJulius, OSU
  7. Camden Eppert, PUR
  8. Brenan Lyon, MSU

133 lbs.

  1. Logan Stieber, OSU
  2. Tony Ramos, IOWA
  3. B.J. Futrell, ILL
  4. Chris Dardanes, MINN
  5. Cashé Quiroga, PUR
  6. Zac Stevens, MICH
  7. Ridge Kiley, NEB
  8. Frank Martelotti, PSU

141 lbs.

  1. Kellen Russell, MICH
  2. Hunter Stieber, OSU
  3. Montell Marion, IOWA
  4. Nick Dardanes, MINN
  5. Jake Sueflohn, NEB
  6. Daryl Thomas, ILL
  7. Matt Ortega, IND
  8. Bryan Pearsall, PSU

149 lbs.

  1. Frank Molinaro, PSU
  2. Eric Grajales, MICH
  3. Dylan Ness, MINN
  4. Ivan Lopouchanski, PUR
  5. Cam Tessari, OSU
  6. Taylor Walsh, IND
  7. Eric Terrazas, ILL
  8. Kaleb Friedley, NU
  9. Dan Osterman, MSU
  10. Mike Kelly, IOWA
  11. Skylar Galloway, NEB
  12. Frank Baer, WIS

157 lbs.

  1. Jason Welch, NU
  2. Dylan Alton, PSU
  3. James Green, NEB
  4. Anthony Jones, MSU
  5. Josh Demas, OSU
  6. Derek St. John, IOWA
  7. Tommy Churchard, PUR
  8. Jackson Morse, ILL

165 lbs.

  1. David Taylor, PSU
  2. Mike Evans, IOWA
  3. Robert Kokesh, NEB
  4. Ben Jordan, WIS
  5. Conrad Polz, ILL
  6. Dan Yates, MICH
  7. Cody Yohn, MINN
  8. Derek Garcia, OSU

174 lbs.

  1. Ed Ruth, PSU
  2. Logan Storley, MINN
  3. Ethen Lofthouse, IOWA
  4. Justin Zeerip, MICH
  5. Nick Heflin, OSU
  6. Curran Jacobs, MSU
  7. Tyler Koehn, NEB
  8. Jordan Blanton, ILL
  9. Lee Munster, NU
  10. Ryan LeBlanc, IND
  11. Drake Stein, PUR
  12. Frank Cousins, WIS

184 lbs.

  1. Kevin Steinhaus, MINN
  2. Quentin Wright, PSU
  3. Josh Ihnen, NEB
  4. Grant Gambrall, IOWA
  5. C.J. Magrum, OSU
  6. Braden Atwood, PUR
  7. Tony Dallago, ILL
  8. Ian Hinton, MSU

197 lbs.

  1. Sonny Yohn, MINN
  2. Matt Powless, IND
  3. Morgan McIntosh, PSU
  4. Max Huntley, MICH
  5. Mario Gonzalez, ILL
  6. Andrew Campolattano, OSU
  7. James Nakashima, NEB
  8. A.J. Kissel, PUR

285 lbs.

  1. Tony Nelson, MINN
  2. Cameron Wade, PSU
  3. Ben Apland, MICH
  4. Tucker Lane, NEB
  5. Mike McMullan, NU
  6. Bobby Telford, IOWA
  7. Adam Chalfant, IND
  8. Roger Vukobratovich, PUR
  9. Peter Capone, OSU
  10. Steve Andrus, MSU
  11. Pat Walker, ILL
  12. Cole Tobin, WIS