B1G Preview: 125-133

With Big Ten Pre-seeds finally released, the IA Wrestle team is going to take a crack at previewing all ten weights for this weekend’s conference tournament. This morning I break down the 125 weight class, and Lars breaks down Cory Clark and the 133 weight class.

125 Pre-Seeds:
1. Thomas Gilman, IOWA
2. Jesse Delgado, ILL
3. Nathan Tomasello, OSU
4. Tim Lambert, NEB
5. Jordan Conaway, PSU
6. Conor Youtsey, MICH
7. Garrison White, NU
8. Luke Welch, PUR

Hawkeye wrestler outlook: Thomas Gilman earns the #1 pre-seed after going undefeated in conference duals, and Delgado just hasn’t gotten enough matches to really earn the #1 seed. Looking at the matches, if the pre-seeds hold Gilman would have an ideal path to reach his first conference finals.  No matter what Gilman is going to be separated from Delgado, but not having him face Nathan Tomasello until at least the finals is best case scenario – despite Gilman holding the advantage in the all-time series between the two. Lambert (Nebraska) and Conaway (PSU) won’t be pushover semifinals opponents, but Gilman holds victories over both within the last year.

Possible Semi-final Matchups:

Thomas Gilman, Iowa (24-3) vs Tim Lambert, Nebraska (20-6)

Prior meetings this year – None this year, but Gilman pinned Lambert in freestyle this summer and beat him 2-1 in last year’s dual.

Preview of match – Lambert is going to have a tough time breaking through his quarterfinal to reach Gilman in the semifinals. Lambert won the previous meeting 8-5 in the Southern Scuffle so that’s why I picked him here. Conaway could very easily end up in the semifinals to face Gilman, and the Hawkeye won that meeting 6-5 on a riding time point. Similarly Gilman won 2-1 last year over Lambert on a riding time point as well, though the Gilman on that mat looks a lot different. A year ago, Gilman looked tentative as opposed to this year where he seems to really be letting it fly.

Jesse Delgado, Illinois (6-1) vs Nathan Tomasello, Ohio State (25-4)

Prior meetings this year – The pair have not met.

Preview of match – This is looking to be an interesting match between the returning NCAA champion and one of the weight classes brightest freshmen. Delgado has a limited sample size this year with his only loss coming to #1 ranked Alan Waters (Missouri) at National Duals. Since his February return Delgado has only scored 3 points/match, contrast that to Tomasello, who averages well over 10 points a match. Given that Delgado is still trying to return to national champion caliber, I think Tomasello will be a large threat and has been waiting all season to finally break through and get his first win over the top ranked group.

Finals Prediction: Gilman vs Tomasello

133 Pre-seeds:
1. Chris Dardanes, MINN
2. Ryan Taylor, WIS
3. Jimmy Gulibon, PSU
4. Johnni DiJulius, OSU
5. Cory Clark, IOWA
6. Zane Richards, ILL
7. Danny Sabatello, PUR
8. Rossi Bruno, MICH
9. Eric Montoya, NEB
10. Scott Delvecchio, RU
11. Geoff Alexander, MD
12. Dom Malone, NU
13. Garth Yenter, MSU
14. Alonzo Shepherd, IND

Hawkeye wrestler outlook:Clark has been a little inconsistent at times this season but has looked good since losing to Gulibon in the dual meet. There is no question Clark has the talent and is capable of beating anyone in the country but he needs to learn to do it time in and time out. Hopefully Cory is focused and ready to put together a big run over the next 3 weeks.

Possible Semi-final Matchups:

Chris Dardanes, Minnesota (20-0) vs Cory Clark, Iowa (22-4) – Clark will have to get by DiJulius who beat him in the dual but we think he gets him this time.

Prior meetings this year – Dardanes won the first match between these two in the dual meet by a 5-3 score but it felt like he controlled the match the whole way.

Preview of match – Cory is not the biggest 133 pounder in the world and gives up considerable size to Dardanes who wrestled at 141 last year. He needs to figure out a way to get past the hands of the bigger and stronger Dardanes and put more points on the board.I think Clark ends up 3rd in this tough B1G bracket.

Ryan Taylor, Wisconsin (21-3) vs Jimmy Gulibon, Penn State (19-4)

Prior meetings this year – The pair have not met.

Preview of match – Taylor had a couple of odd losses early in the season but since settling into 133 he has been very good since the beginning of December. After having a somewhat disappointing freshman campaign Gulibon has been very tough in his Sophomore campaign. These are 2 very talented wrestlers and it should be a fun match to watch.

Finals Prediction: Dardanes vs Taylor