The college wrestling postseason is officially on the horizon, as the Big Ten conference released pre-seeds for this weekend’s 2023 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Maroon & Gold enters the weekend with eight wrestlers seeded within the conference allocations determined by the NCAA last week, including six Gophers who slot in within the top six in their weight class.
The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, rank 14 starters in all 10 weight classes. Official final brackets for the tournament are set to be released later this week.
Headlining the Golden Gopher bunch is Isaiah Salazar, who claims the third seed at 184 pounds following a 15-1 regular season mark and an unblemished conference record on the season.
Bailee O’Reilly is the next-highest seed for Minnesota, slotting in at No. 4 in the 174-pound field. O’Reilly had a breakout sixth-year senior season with a 15-3 record and is currently ranked eighth nationally in the InterMat polls.
At 125 pounds, Patrick McKee earns the fifth seed in what will once again be a deep Big Ten field in collegiate wrestling’s lightest weight division. Jake Bergeland also holds the No. 5 seed at 141 pounds, as he looks to build off last season’s third-place performance.
Two Gophers will enter the weekend as the No. 6 seed in their respective weight classes, as both Aaron Nagao and Michael Blockhus look to be in prime position to make some noise on the Big Ten stage.
Andrew Sparks and Michial Foy will take the nine-seeds at 165 and 197 pounds, respectively, while Brayton Lee and Garrett Joles round out the squad as the No. 11 seed in each of their weight brackets.
The 2023 Big Ten Championships, hosted by the University of Michigan, will begin on Saturday at 9 a.m. CST with live coverage across both days on Big Ten Network and B1G+. Fans can also follow along for live match-by-match updates of all Gopher Wrestling action on Twitter at @GopherWrestling.
(info courtesy of Gopher Sports)
