Big Ten Championships Central
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, this weekend to take part in the 2017 Big Ten Championships. Action gets underway Saturday, March 4 and continues on Sunday, March 5, concluding with the championship round at 2 p.m. CT.
Competition will be stiff, as the Big Ten has boasted more ranked teams than any other conference throughout the season. Currently eleven members crack the top 25 dual rankings, in addition to four in the top six in the tournament rankings.
Preliminary seeds for the tournament were released Monday, and the full brackets will be finalized on Friday.
The top eight wrestlers are seeded in five weight classes (125, 149, 165, 197, 285), while all fourteen are seeded in the other five (133, 141, 157, 174, 184). The number of seeds in each weight class are determined by the number of automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Ohio State and Penn State lead the way with three top-seeded wrestlers each.
Chicago's Big Ten Team will enter the weekend with several individuals looking to carry strong campaigns into the postseason.
Two Wildcats finished the regular season ranked in the national polls, with Jacob Berkowitz and Mitch Sliga slated No. 23 and No. 21 at their respective weight classes by TrackWrestling. Berkowitz compiled an impressive 22-7 record in his senior season, while Sliga racked up 16 wins in a highly competitive 184-pound weight class.
Northwestern has had recent success at the conference championships, with champions in two of the last three years. Jason Tsirtsis won his weight class in 2014 and then again in 2015, the same year in which NU's Mike McMullan was the heavyweight champion as well.
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, this weekend to take part in the 2017 Big Ten Championships. Action gets underway Saturday, March 4 and continues on Sunday, March 5, concluding with the championship round at 2 p.m. CT.
Competition will be stiff, as the Big Ten has boasted more ranked teams than any other conference throughout the season. Currently eleven members crack the top 25 dual rankings, in addition to four in the top six in the tournament rankings.
Preliminary seeds for the tournament were released Monday, and the full brackets will be finalized on Friday.
The top eight wrestlers are seeded in five weight classes (125, 149, 165, 197, 285), while all fourteen are seeded in the other five (133, 141, 157, 174, 184). The number of seeds in each weight class are determined by the number of automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Ohio State and Penn State lead the way with three top-seeded wrestlers each.
Chicago's Big Ten Team will enter the weekend with several individuals looking to carry strong campaigns into the postseason.
Two Wildcats finished the regular season ranked in the national polls, with Jacob Berkowitz and Mitch Sliga slated No. 23 and No. 21 at their respective weight classes by TrackWrestling. Berkowitz compiled an impressive 22-7 record in his senior season, while Sliga racked up 16 wins in a highly competitive 184-pound weight class.
Northwestern has had recent success at the conference championships, with champions in two of the last three years. Jason Tsirtsis won his weight class in 2014 and then again in 2015, the same year in which NU's Mike McMullan was the heavyweight champion as well.