NCAA Wrestling Conference Allocations Released

Here we go - one step closer to the post season. The NCAA released its official conference allocations. The table below tells the full tale. Quick shout out to the MAC, who just missed squaring the 2nd most bids of any conference. Watch out, EIWA.

Conference	125	133	141	149	157	165	174	184	197	285	TOTAL
ACC	3	2	5	4	2	2	3	4	5	4	34
Big 12	3	2	3	3	2	2	4	1	2	2	24
Big Ten	7	8	6	6	8	8	7	7	8	9	74
EIWA	6	4	5	4	5	5	3	4	7	4	47
EWL	2	3	2	3	2	2	2	3	1	2	22
MAC	4	5	5	4	5	3	5	5	2	3	41
Pac-12	1	3	1	1	1	1	3	2	2	2	17
SoCon	1	1	1	3	2	3	1	1	1	2	16
WWC	2	1	1	1	2	3	1	2	1	1	15
TOTAL	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	290

There weren't a ton of surprises. But let's dig into the Penn State and Big Ten side of things anyhow.

125 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
2	2	92%	Nico Megaludis	Penn State
3	5	91%	Jesse Delgado	Illinois
5	NR	81%	Thomas Gilman	Iowa
9	6	87%	Bradley Taylor	Wisconsin
12	29	65%	Tim Lambert	Nebraska
15	14	63%	Conor Youtsey	Michigan
20	25	69%	Nick Roberts	Ohio State
31	26	59%	Samuel Brancale	Minnesota

Seven bids for seven qualifiers - makes sense. The surprise here is that it's Thomas Gilman in the last Coaches' Poll / RPI for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and not recent pinfall machine Cory Clark.

133 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
3	4	89%	Tony Ramos	Iowa
5	5	88%	Tyler Graff	Wisconsin
7	8	79%	David Thorn	Minnesota
8	6	85%	Johnni DiJulius	Ohio State
9	NR	67%	Cashé Quiroga	Purdue
13	11	79%	Zane Richards	Illinois
15	12	52%	James Gulibon	Penn State
17	16	57%	Rosario Bruno	Michigan
33	NR	43%	Dominick Malone	Northwestern

Eight bids for the Big Ten at 133. But I count 7 guys with at least two of the three criteria. So how about that. Just when I thought I had autobid stuff figured out, Cashe Quiroga pulls down an autobid - I'm guessing. Because it wasn't Dom Malone, right? Whatever - 8 bids is good news for Jimmy Gulibon, who I think might just surprise a couple of folks at Big Tens.

141 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
2	1	100%	Zain Retherford	Penn State
3	4	94%	Logan Stieber	Ohio State
5	9	76%	Christopher Dardanes	Minnesota
11	NR	75%	Stephen Dutton III	Michigan
13	3	71%	Josh Dziewa	Iowa
20	19	68%	Danny Sabatello	Purdue
23	NR	70%	Steven Rodrigues	Illinois
30	31	52%	Jesse Thielke	Wisconsin

Color me shocked. At 141, the Big Ten sports 8 - eight - wrestlers who square with at least two of the three criteria, and end up with 6 bids. I thought we'd get 7 or 8, but the injuries to Dutton and Rodrigues didn't help. Sabatello quietly had a heck of a last half of the season.

149 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
2	1	90%	Nick Dardanes	Minnesota
4	7	89%	Jake Sueflohn	Nebraska
6	14	87%	Jason Tsirtsis	Northwestern
7	11	67%	Brody Grothus	Iowa
8	8	67%	Eric Grajales	Michigan
18	17	64%	Ian Paddock	Ohio State
26	NR		James English	Penn State
NR	28		Rylan Lubeck	Wisconsin

Six bids, just like we figured. And there's Jim English with the #26 Coaches rank, just like we figured (for the last 6 or 7 days, I mean; not the first 4 or 5 months). Jim's gonna have a tough, but doable, climb. He has to place 6th. He can do it. In reality, 7th is probably his absolute floor at Big Tens. Nobody's worked harder for this opportunity, that's for certain. Go take it, Jim.

157 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
1	1	100%	James Green	Nebraska
3	8	82%	Isaac Jordan	Wisconsin
4	3	89%	Derek St. John	Iowa
7	4	75%	Dylan Ness	Minnesota
8	12	89%	Taylor Walsh	Indiana
11	6	88%	Dylan Alton	Penn State
13	11	74%	Brian Murphy	Michigan
21	18	70%	Zach Brunson	Illinois

Eight bids for eight wrestlers, seven of whom are top 15. That's crazy deep. Dylan Alton, a past AA ranked as high as 4th this season, is now the 6th highest ranked wrestler in his own conference. The returning National Champion is 3rd. Sheer lunacy. From the quarterfinals on, the Big Ten tournament will look an awfully lot like the NCAAs.

165 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
1	1	100%	David Taylor	Penn State
4	2	89%	Nick Moore	Iowa
6	10	78%	Pierce Harger	Northwestern
10	21	76%	Daniel Yates	Michigan
13	16	81%	Jackson Morse	Illinois
20	13	54%	Austin Wilson	Nebraska
21	20	50%	Daniel Zilverberg	Minnesota
24	19	74%	Ryan Leblanc	Indiana

Could I interest you in 8 more bids? Why yes, thank you very much. The crazy part here at 165, as opposed to 157, is that no one in the Big Ten has ever beaten David Taylor. Ever. I'm not even going to bother with a "knock on wood". Alright - maybe one. Knock on wood. But that's it.

174 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
3	4	96%	Robert Kokesh	Nebraska
4	6	86%	Logan Storley	Minnesota
5	5	88%	Mathew Brown	Penn State
6	3	82%	Michael Evans	Iowa
13	13	74%	Mark Martin	Ohio State
20	NR	60%	Leroy Munster	Northwestern
23	20	65%	Scott Liegel	Wisconsin
28	19	60%	Tony Dallago	Illinois
NR	14	56%	Collin Zeerip	Michigan
NR	27	45%	Patrick Kissel	Purdue

There are nine wrestlers in the table, and 7 bring bids to Big Tens. But this looks like a 4-man race to me.

184 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
2	3	96%	Ed Ruth	Penn State
4	NR	85%	Ethen Lofthouse	Iowa
7	4	83%	Kevin Steinhaus	Minnesota
8	7	84%	Timothy Dudley	Nebraska
12	8	80%	Kenny Courts	Ohio State
21	NR	50%	Domenic Abounader	Michigan
24	12	67%	John Rizqallah	Michigan State
26	NR	69%	Jackson Hein	Wisconsin
29	18	67%	Lazarus Reyes	Illinois
29	24	66%	Lucas Sheridan	Indiana

Here's another sneaky deep weight, with nine wrestlers earning consideration, even though only 7 bring a bid. But, uh, this weight lists Ed Ruth at the top. And he's pretty good.

197 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
3	2	92%	Morgan McIntosh	Penn State
4	1	95%	Scott Schiller	Minnesota
5	5	79%	Nick Heflin	Ohio State
9	NR	88%	Mario Gonzalez	Illinois
12	13	74%	Braden Atwood	Purdue
13	NR	79%	Nathan Burak	Iowa
16	10	68%	Alex Polizzi	Northwestern
33	27	65%	Nick McDiarmid	Michigan State
NR	28	55%	Timothy McCall	Wisconsin

Eight bids here at 197. At first blush, that might sound like more than you expected. But when Nick McDiarmid, the #8 guy in the conference, nearly brings a 3-for-3 Gold bid to the party, you realize that the Big Ten has some serious firepower at this weight.

285 LBS

Coaches	RPI	Win%	Wrestler	School
1	1	96%	Adam Coon	Michigan
2	NR	High	Michael McMullan	Northwestern
4	2	91%	Adam Chalfant	Indiana
5	NR	80%	Bobby Telford	Iowa
6	4	82%	Anthony Nelson	Minnesota
7	6	81%	Mike McClure	Michigan State
8	5	76%	Connor Medbery	Wisconsin
14	12	Good	Jonathan Gingrich	Penn State
22	27	68%	Collin Jensen	Nebraska
32	32	56%	Nick Tavanello	Ohio State
NR	26	35%	Chris Lopez	Illinois

Speaking of firepower, the Big Ten lands 9 bids at heavy. Having 7 of the national top 10 doesn't hurt the weight's case. And yes, that's Jon Gingrich in the blue and white singlet for Penn State. Not a surprising move after seeing Jimmy Lawson against Clarion. Law Dog just couldn't beat the knee injury, and that sucks for him because he had really wrestled well prior to that. Get well soon, Law Dog. And here's your chance, Big Jon. We're behind you.