Penn State, Minn. lead 2012 Big Ten championship pre-seeds with 3 top seeds each

Penn State and University of Minnesota each have three top-seeded wrestlers among the pre-seeds announced Monday for the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Purdue University's Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. March 4-5.

The three No. 1 pre-seeds for the Nittany Lions include Frank Molinaro at 149 pounds, David Taylor at 165, and Ed Ruth at 174. The Golden Gophers' three top pre-seeds are all at the top three weights: Kevin Steinhaus, Sonny Yohn, and Tony Nelson at 184, 197 and heavyweight, respectively.

In addition to tying for the most top seeds, Penn State and Minnesota both tied for the best dual-meet records in Big Ten competition this season, with 7-1 records. 

A total of six schools can claim at least one No. 1 pre-seeded wrestler, including Iowa (Matt McDonough at 125 pounds), Ohio State (Logan Stieber, 133), Michigan (Kellen Russell, 141), and Northwestern (Jason Welch, 157), in addition to Penn State and Minnesota.

Last year, Penn State won the Big Ten team title by a one-point margin over Iowa. It was the first conference crown for the Nittany Lions since joining the Big Ten in 1993.

2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships pre-seeds: 

125:

1. Matt McDonough, Iowa
2. Zach Sanders, Minnesota
3. Nico Megaludis, Penn State
4. Jesse Delgado, Illinois
5. Levi Mele, Northwestern
6. Johnni DiJulius, Ohio State
7. Camden Eppert, Purdue
8. Brenan Lyon, Michigan State

133:

1. Logan Stieber, Ohio State
2. Tony Ramos, IOWA
3. B.J. Futrell, Illinois
4. Chris Dardanes, Minnesota
5. Cashé Quiroga, Purdue
6. Zac Stevens, Michigan
7. Ridge Kiley, Nebraska
8. Frank Martelotti, Penn State

141:

1. Kellen Russell, Michigan
2. Hunter Stieber, Ohio State
3. Montell Marion, Iowa
4. Nick Dardanes, Minnesota
5. Jake Sueflohn, Nebraska
6. Daryl Thomas, Illinois
7. Matt Ortega, Indiana
8. Bryan Pearsall, Penn State

149:

1. Frank Molinaro, Penn State
2. Eric Grajales, Michigan
3. Dylan Ness, Minnesota
4. Ivan Lopouchanski, Purdue
5. Cam Tessari, Ohio State
6. Taylor Walsh, Indiana
7. Eric Terrazas, Illinois
8. Kaleb Friedley, Northwestern
9. Dan Osterman, Michigan State
10. Mike Kelly, Iowa
11. Skylar Galloway, Nebraska
12. Frank Baer, Wisconsin

157:

1. Jason Welch, Northwestern
2. Dylan Alton, Penn State
3. James Green, Nebraska
4. Anthony Jones, Michigan State
5. Josh Demas, Ohio State
6. Derek St. John, Iowa
7. Tommy Churchard, Purdue
8. Jackson Morse, Illinois

165:

1. David Taylor, Penn State
2. Mike Evans, Iowa
3. Robert Kokesh, Nebraska
4. Ben Jordan, Wisconsin
5. Conrad Polz, Illinois
6. Dan Yates, Michigan
7. Cody Yohn, Minnesota
8. Derek Garcia, Ohio State

174:

1. Ed Ruth, Penn State
2. Logan Storley, Minnesota
3. Ethen Lofthouse, Iowa
4. Justin Zeerip, Michigan
5. Nick Heflin, Ohio State
6. Curran Jacobs, Michigan State
7. Tyler Koehn, Nebraska
8. Jordan Blanton, Illinois
9. Lee Munster, Northwestern
10. Ryan LeBlanc, Indiana
11. Drake Stein, Purdue
12. Frank Cousins, Wisconsin

184:

1. Kevin Steinhaus, Minnesota
2. Quentin Wright, Penn State
3. Josh Ihnen, Nebraska
4. Grant Gambrall, Iowa
5. C.J. Magrum, Ohio State
6. Braden Atwood, Purdue
7. Tony Dallago, Illinois
8. Ian Hinton, Michigan State

197:

1. Sonny Yohn, Minnesota
2. Matt Powless, Indiana
3. Morgan McIntosh, Penn State
4. Max Huntley, Michigan
5. Mario Gonzalez, Illinois
6. Andrew Campolattano, Ohio State
7. James Nakashima, Nebraska
8. A.J. Kissel, Purdue

Hwt:

1. Tony Nelson, Minnesota
2. Cameron Wade, Penn State
3. Ben Apland, Michigan
4. Tucker Lane, Nebraska
5. Mike McMullan, Northwestern
6. Bobby Telford, Iowa
7. Adam Chalfant, Indiana
8. Roger Vukobratovich, Purdue
9. Peter Capone, Ohio State
10. Steve Andrus, Michigan State
11. Pat Walker, Illinois
12. Cole Tobin, Wisconsin

Want to know more? For details on the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the official event website sponsored by Purdue wrestling.

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