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Pre-Seed Announced for 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships
Feb. 26, 2007
PARK RIDGE, Ill. - The preliminary seeds for the 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships were announced today by conference officials. The pre-seeds are determined by a vote amongst the conference's head wrestling coaches after consideration of regular-season results. The 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will take place on Saturday, March 3, and Sunday, March 4, at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. The official Big Ten Championships bracket will be set on Friday, March 2. Top-ranked Minnesota leads all Big Ten teams with four top pre-seeds, as Jayson Ness (33-3 at 125 pounds), Manuel Rivera (34-0 at 141), Dustin Schlatter (29-0 at 149) and Cole Konrad (26-0 at HWT) all earned the top billing for the Golden Gophers. Last season, Konrad was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and has won his last 67 matches. Schlatter was the conference's Freshman of the Year in 2005-06, while Ness and Rivera have both earned Wrestler of the Week accolades this season. Penn State earned a pair of top pre-seeds, while Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern and were all represented with one selection. The Nittany Lions boast top pre-seeds in James Yonushonis (27-3 at 174) and defending Big Ten Champion Phil Davis (22-1 at 197). The remaining No. 1 pre-seeds consist of Illinois' Michael Poeta (19-0 at 157), Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum (21-0 at 165), Michigan State's Nick Simmons (31-1 at 133) and Northwestern's Jake Herbert (24-0 at 184). Less than one week remains until all 11 conference schools will take to the mats for the 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. Ten conference squads are currently ranked in the nation's top 25, including unanimous No. 1 Minnesota. Illinois is ranked seventh, followed by No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 10 Iowa, No. 11 Penn State, No. 15 Northwestern, No. 18 Indiana, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 23 Michigan. Last year at Indiana, Minnesota claimed the 2005-06 conference championship with a score of 138 points. Illinois (125) placed second and Michigan (115), Penn State (91) and Northwestern (87.5) rounded out the top five. Iowa (86) and Wisconsin (76.5) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while Michigan State (68), Purdue (45.5), Indiana (43.5) and Ohio State (40) rounded out the field. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the Michigan State University Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or online at www.msuspartans.com. The complete list of pre-seeds follows. 2007 BIG TEN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS PRELIMINARY SEEDS 141 lbs. 149 lbs. 165 lbs. 174 lbs. 184 lbs. 197 lbs. HWT
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