Big Ten Wrestling Set to Compete in NCAA Championships

Wrestlers from all 14 Big Ten schools will head to Scottrade Center in St. Louis this weekend to compete in the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

The tournament begins which begin Thursday, March 19, 2015 and conclude on Saturday evening.The Big Ten is sending 96 wrestlers, including 58 seeded grapplers, and four No. 1 seeds across the 10 weight classes. The Iowa Hawkeyes are sending ten wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

All six sessions of the NCAA Wrestling Championships will be streamed on ESPN3.com, and will provide live mat-by-mat coverage. Thursday’s sessions, along with Friday and Saturday’s first session, will air on ESPNU. Friday and Saturday’s second session, featuring the championship bouts, will be broadcast on ESPN.

Eighty-six Big Ten wrestlers earned spots in the NCAA Championships field by virtue of their Big Ten Championships finish, while 10 others received at-large bids. The conference is sending at least seven wrestlers in each weight class, including 10 grapplers in the 141-, 174-, 184- and 197-pound bracket, 11 wrestlers in the 285-pound weight class and 12 participants in the 133-pound bracket.

Four Big Ten wrestlers hold the top seed in their respective weight classes, including Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes (133), Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (141), Illinois’ Isaiah Martinez (157) and Nebraska’s Robert Kokesh (174). Stieber (141) looks for his fourth consecutive national title, while Dardanes, Martinez and Kokesh will look to claim their first individual national championship.

Five Big Ten schools have claimed NCAA Championships, led by Iowa with 23. Penn State is the four-time defending national champion and has won five national championships. Minnesota boasts three national titles, while Indiana and Michigan State have each earned one NCAA Championship. A Big Ten school has taken home the national title in each of the past eight years.

The three-day, six-session event will begin with preliminary matches at Noon ET on Thursday and will continue into the evening session beginning at 7 p.m. The third session will begin Friday at 11 a.m., with quarterfinal action and wrestlebacks highlighting the schedule. The fourth session begins at 8 p.m. and will feature semifinal action.

Saturday morning marks the conclusion of the consolation bracket as third-, fifth- and seventh-place winners will be decided beginning at 11 a.m. The sixth and final session is scheduled for Saturday evening at 8 p.m., where NCAA weight class champions will be crowned.