UNIVERSITY PARK – Redshirt junior 125-pounder Brad Pataky of Clearfield is one of seven Penn State wrestlers pre-seeded in the top four of their weight classes for the Big Ten Conference Tournament Saturday and Sunday in the University of Michigan’s Crisler Arena.
Pataky (24-6) was 7-1 in Big Ten dual meets, but the head coaches rated him No. 4 behind three of the nation’s top six bantams, No. 1-ranked Angel Escobedo (30-0) of Indiana, No. 3-ranked Matt McDonough (29-0) of Iowa and No. 6-ranked Zach Sanders (20-4) of Minnesota.
Final seeds will be made at Friday’s pre-tourney coaches meeting.
Pataky, ranked No. 11 by Amateur Wrestling News and Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine and No. 12 by InterMat.com, did not meet Escobedo or Sanders this season. His lone conference loss was 7-2 to McDonough on Jan. 29.
Escobedo is the defending champion, while Pataky placed fourth and Sanders fifth last year.
Other pre-seeds at 125 are No. 5 Cashé Quiroga (23-9) of Purdue, No. 6 Nick Triggas (23-15) of Ohio State, No. 7 John Deneen (9-11) of Illinois and No. 8 Drew Hammen (6-19) of Wisconsin. Hammen placed eighth last year.
Penn State’s top pre-seeds are No. 6-ranked Cyler Sanderson (25-4), second at 157, and No. 9-ranked David Erwin (26-6), second at 184. Both are seniors
No. 17-ranked Cameron Wade (18-7), a sophomore, is No. 3 at heavyweight.
The No. 4 seeds, in addition to Pataky, are senior 141-pounder Adam Lynch (11-10) of Mifflinburg, No. 4-ranked soph 149-pounder Frank Molinaro (27-3) and No. 7-ranked senior 165-pounder Dan Vallimont (23-6).
Only No. 1-ranked Iowa (12-0 in duals) boasts more pre-seeds in the top four than Penn State (13-6-1). The defending champion Hawkeyes have nine, including top seeds Brent Metcalf (24-0) at 149, Jay Borschel (28-0) at 174 and Chad Beatty (13-2) at 197.
Metcalf, the 2009 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, is seeking his third conference gold medal.
Minnesota (12-5) has six seeds in the top four, and Ohio State (18-2) has four.
Ohio State was No. 3 and Minnesota No. 5 in the final dual meet rankings, while Penn State was No. 10, Indiana (16-3) No. 13, Wisconsin (8-1) No. 14, Purdue (11-10) No. 21 and Illinois (8-8) No. 23.
The Nittany Lions were 5-3 in Big Ten meets in the first season under coach Cael Sanderson, a marked improvement over last year’s 1-5-2 finish.
The quarterfinals will get under way at 11 a.m. Saturday, with semifinals and wrestlebacks at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, the consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches will start at noon, followed by the championship, third-place and fifth-place bouts at 2 p.m.
The Big Ten will received 56 automatic bids, inluding six at 125 pounds, to the NCAA Division I Championships March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb.
For live action, tune into radio stations WRSC (1390 AM) or 3WZ (95.3 FM), or check the www.GoPSUSports.com website.
