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College wrestling season is coming up with the No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers set to start their season on Nov. 1 against the Buffalo Bulls. The Big Ten is, once again, stacked with talent. The Iowa Hawkeyes are preseason No. 1 and there are 11 (!!!) total Big Ten teams ranked in the Intermat preseason top-25.
This season?
— Wisconsin Wrestling (@BadgerWrestling) September 15, 2021
Six home duals at the UW Field House. Back at full power and we're here for it all!
️ Full Schedule: https://t.co/qIDN5KwoUy
️ Buy Season Tickets: https://t.co/7Q3bwKXqa0 pic.twitter.com/IoRH1w72TQ
Here are the Big Ten teams that are ranked:
No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes
No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions
No. 5 Michigan Wolverines
No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes
No. 9 Nebraska Cornhuskers
No. 14 Rutgers Scarlet Knights
No. 15 Minnesota Golden Gophers
No. 17 WISCONSIN BADGERS, WOOOOOOO!
No. 18 Northwestern Wildcats
No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini
No. 22 Purdue Boilermakers
The Badgers don’t face PSU, Michigan, or OSU during the regular season, but do end the year with a dual meet against the No. 11 Cornell Big Red at the UW Field House.
Intermat also releases preseason rankings for each weight class, and the Badgers had a number of representatives on those lists as well.
125 pounds: No. 12 Eric Barnett, sophomore
133 pounds: No. 16 Kyle Burwick, freshman
141 pounds: No. 14 Austin Gomez, senior
174 pounds: No. 11 Andrew McNally, senior
184 pounds: No. 19 Chris Weiler, senior
HWT: No. 6 Trent Hillger, junior
Smile for the camera! #NCAAWrestling x @BadgerWrestling pic.twitter.com/yht5HEUB8c
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) September 9, 2021
In just about every weight class, a Big Ten wrestler was the top-ranked in the group. For instance, in the heavyweight distinction, American Olympic hero (and future WWE star) Gable Steveson of Minnesota is ranked No. 1 and at 133 Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young is ranked first.
The 108th Big Ten Wrestling Championships will be held March 5-6, 2022, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., with Nebraska playing host to the event for the first time. All 14 conference schools will participate in the championships, which begins Saturday, March 5, with the first-round, quarterfinal, semifinal and wrestleback matches taking place during Sessions I and II. Action continues Sunday, March 6, with consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches getting underway during Session III and the first-, third- and fifth-place matches highlighting Session IV.