Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Heads To Minnesota For Big Ten Championships
3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 6, 2008
Northwestern Wrestling Notes (2008 Big Ten Championships) 
Big Ten Championships Brackets
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After months of grueling duals and tough tournaments, the 13th-ranked Wildcats are set to grapple with some of the nation's best at the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. This year's tournament runs from Saturday-Sunday, March 8-9, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.
Last season, the Wildcats finished sixth in the team race, but had three champions, a third-place finisher and six NCAA qualifiers. The tournament was a springboard for one of the most successful postseasons in program history. Following last year's Big Ten Championships, the Wildcats went on to place fourth at the NCAA Championships.
Tournament Schedule
Saturday, March 8
Session 1 - 11 a.m.
Session 2 - 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 9
Session 3 - Noon
Finals - 2 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
Bracket updates and other tournament information can be found at Minnesota's Big Ten Wrestling Championships page. Brackets will be released on Friday.
NU started the Big Ten season with three dual losses, but rallied back to post a 3-2 record down the stretch. The Wildcats' lineup for this year's tournament is multi-faceted. Mike Tamillow, Dustin Fox and Ryan Lang are returning All-Americans and have had excellent seasons.
Sophomore NCAA qualifier Brandon Precin enjoyed another 30-win season while senior Nick Hayes has been the steady veteran at 174 lbs. Keith Sulzer went undefeated in the Big Ten in his first year as a starter and Dominic Marella is enjoying a wrestling renaissance in his second year as a starter.
Tamillow takes the No. 1 pre-seed into the tournament whie Fox is No. 2, Hayes and Precin are No. 4 and Lang and Sulzer are both No. 7.
The second-ranked Tamillow takes a 27-2 record into the weekend and looks to win his second-straight Big Ten title. Tamillow went a perfect 8-0 with wins over the other pre-seeds. He scored major decisions over Iowa's Chad Beatty and Minnesota's Justin Bronson. Tamillow defeated No. 2 pre-seed Phil Davis of Penn State by a 6-1 decision in a dual.
Fox is ranked No. 3 at heavyweight and takes the No. 2 pre-seed into the weekend. Fox went 7-1 in the Big Ten with his only loss coming to No. 3 pre-seed Kyle Massey of Wisconsin. Although NU and Ohio State did not wrestle in conference action, Fox defeated No. 1 pre-seed JD Bergman when the teams faced off in non-conference action at the National Duals.
Precin -- ranked fifth in the nation at 125 lbs. -- takes the No. 4 pre-seed into the tournament. Precin fell to the top three pre-seeds in dual action, but scored wins over No. 5 pre-seed Gabe Flores of Illinois and No. 6 pre-seed Mark McKnight of Penn State and he pinned No. 8 pre-seed Colin Cudd of Wisconsin.
Sulzer went undefeated in Big Ten duals with his biggest win coming against No. 4 pre-seed Dan LeClere of Iowa, but he takes the No. 7 pre-seed at 141 lbs. Sulzer went 6-0 in Big Ten duals, but injury kept him out of the Minnesota dual so he did not get to face No. 6 pre-seed Manuel Rivera of Minnesota.
Lang, who won a Big Ten title at 141 lbs. last year, takes the No. 7 pre-seed into this year's tournament at 149. The other seeded wrestler for the Wildcats is senior Hayes at 174 with the No. 4 pre-seed. Hayes defeated all the pre-seeds below him, did not face top pre-seed Steve Luke of Michigan and fell to No. 2 Jay Borschel of Iowa and No. 3 Gabe Dretsch of Minnesota.
