Feb. 27, 2012

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IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa junior Matt McDonough has been named the top preliminary seed at 125 pounds for this weekend's Big Ten Wrestling Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. The preliminary seeds, announced today by Big Ten officials, are determined by a vote of conference head coaches. The official Big Ten tournament brackets will be set Friday afternoon.

McDonough, ranked No. 1 in nation by Amateur Wrestling News, Intermat and W.I.N. Magazine, is one of nine Hawkeyes to earn a preliminary seed. He owns a 27-1 overall record with a team-high nine falls. McDonough has won his last 19 matches and enters the tournament as the top preliminary seed for the second straight season. He won the Big Ten 125-pound title in 2011 and finished runner-up in 2010.

Sophomore Tony Ramos and redshirt freshman Mike Evans each earned No. 2 seeds. Ramos won 7-of-8 Big Ten matches at 133 pound and Evans owns a 6-2 conference mark at 165 pounds. Senior Montell Marion (149) and sophomore Ethen Lofthouse (174) each earned No. 3 seeds.

Other pre-seeded Hawkeyes include junior Grant Gambrall (184-4th), sophomore Derek St. John (157-6th), redshirt freshman Bobby Telford (285-6th) and redshirt freshman Michael Kelly (149-10th). Senior Vinnie Wagner, who has wrestled just two matches this season at 197 pounds, was the only Hawkeye without a preliminary seed.

The pre-seeds rank the top eight wrestlers in seven weight classes, but Kelly earned the No. 10 seed due to the Big Ten receiving nine or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in the 149-pound weight class. The same rule applied at 174 and 285 pounds, where all 12 schools received a seeded wrestler.

Minnesota and Penn State each enter the conference tournament with three top seeds. The Gophers are represented by Kevin Steinhaus (184), Sonny Yohn (197) and Tony Nelson (285). Penn State's top seeds include Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (165) and Ed Ruth (174). Rounding out the group of No. 1 seeds are Ohio State's Logan Stieber (133), Michigan's Kellen Russell (141) and Northwestern's Jason Welch (157). Five of this year's top seeds look to defend Big Ten titles from last season, as McDonough (125), Russell (141), Molinaro (149), Taylor (157) and Ruth (174) each took home crowns in 2011.

For more information on the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page at purduesports.com.

125 lbs.
1. Matt McDonough, IOWA
2. Zach Sanders, MINN
3. Nico Megaludis, PSU
4. Jesse Delgado, ILL
5. Levi Mele, NU
6. Johnni DiJulius, OSU
7. Camden Eppert, PUR
8. Brenan Lyon, MSU

133 lbs.
1. Logan Stieber, OSU
2. Tony Ramos, IOWA
3. B.J. Futrell, ILL
4. Chris Dardanes, MINN
5. Cashé Quiroga, PUR
6. Zac Stevens, MICH
7. Ridge Kiley, NEB
8. Frank Martelotti, PSU

141 lbs.
1. Kellen Russell, MICH
2. Hunter Stieber, OSU
3. Montell Marion, IOWA
4. Nick Dardanes, MINN
5. Jake Sueflohn, NEB
6. Daryl Thomas, ILL
7. Matt Ortega, IND
8. Bryan Pearsall, PSU

149 lbs.
1. Frank Molinaro, PSU
2. Eric Grajales, MICH
3. Dylan Ness, MINN
4. Ivan Lopouchanski, PUR
5. Cam Tessari, OSU
6. Taylor Walsh, IND
7. Eric Terrazas, ILL
8. Kaleb Friedley, NU
9. Dan Osterman, MSU
10. Michael Kelly, IOWA
11. Skylar Galloway, NEB
12. Frank Baer, WIS

157 lbs.
1. Jason Welch, NU
2. Dylan Alton, PSU
3. James Green, NEB
4. Anthony Jones, MSU
5. Josh Demas, OSU
6. Derek St. John, IOWA
7. Tommy Churchard, PUR
8. Jackson Morse, ILL

165 lbs.
1. David Taylor, PSU
2. Mike Evans, IOWA
3. Robert Kokesh, NEB
4. Ben Jordan, WIS
5. Conrad Polz, ILL
6. Dan Yates, MICH
7. Cody Yohn, MINN
8. Derek Garcia, OSU

174 lbs.
1. Ed Ruth, PSU
2. Logan Storley, MINN
3. Ethen Lofthouse, IOWA
4. Justin Zeerip, MICH
5. Nick Heflin, OSU
6. Curran Jacobs, MSU
7. Tyler Koehn, NEB
8. Jordan Blanton, ILL
9. Lee Munster, NU
10. Ryan LeBlanc, IND
11. Drake Stein, PUR
12. Frank Cousins, WIS

184 lbs.
1. Kevin Steinhaus, MINN
2. Quentin Wright, PSU
3. Josh Ihnen, NEB
4. Grant Gambrall, IOWA
5. C.J. Magrum, OSU
6. Braden Atwood, PUR
7. Tony Dallago, ILL
8. Ian Hinton, MSU

197 lbs.
1. Sonny Yohn, MINN
2. Matt Powless, IND
3. Morgan McIntosh, PSU
4. Max Huntley, MICH
5. Mario Gonzalez, ILL
6. Andrew Campolattano, OSU
7. James Nakashima, NEB
8. A.J. Kissel, PUR

285 lbs.
1. Tony Nelson, MINN
2. Cameron Wade, PSU
3. Ben Apland, MICH
4. Tucker Lane, NEB
5. Mike McMullan, NU
6. Bobby Telford, IOWA
7. Adam Chalfant, IND
8. Roger Vukobratovich, PUR
9. Peter Capone, OSU
10. Steve Andrus, MSU
11. Pat Walker, ILL
12. Cole Tobin, WIS