Northwestern University Athletics
Seven 'Cats Receive Pre-Seeds Ahead of Big Ten Championships
2/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 28, 2011
2011 Big Ten Championships -- Pre-Seeds 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- With only five days before the start of the 2011 Big Ten Wrestling Championships hosted by Northwestern, the Big Ten announced Monday the top-eight pre-seeds at each weight class. Seven NU wrestlers were included in the list, including a pair of No. 2-seeded entrants in seniors Brandon Precin (125) and Andrew Nadhir (149).
Pre-seeds are determined by the league's head coaches after consideration of each wrestler's head-to-head competition throughout the course of the season. They are subject to change following the coaches' seeding meeting on the eve of the tournament.
This is college wrestling's third season under the new system for earning automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in which the NCAA allocates each weight class in each conference a certain number of automatic bids. Listed below is each weight class along with the number of automatic berths to the NCAA Championships out of this weekend's Big Ten meet the conference will receive at that weight division:
125: 5
133: 8
141: 6
149: 8
157: 6
165: 5
174: 8
184: 6
197: 6
285: 6
A three-time place-winner and 2009 finalist at the Big Ten Championships, Precin -- 28-1 overall in his senior campaign -- earned the No. 2 pre-seed at 125 thanks to his 7-1 record in conference dual matches.
After entering last year's Championships as the No. 6 seed at 149 pounds, Nadhir put together a 27-3 regular season and like Precin was 7-1 during Big Ten dual matches. Nadhir, currently ranked No. 7 nationally, owns wins this season over wrestlers pre-seeded No. 3-5 and did not wrestle the top seed, Penn State's Frank Molinaro.
Sophomore Jason Welch drew a No. 3 pre-seed after his 7-1 conference regular season and will be looking to duplicate his appearance in the Big Ten championship match in 2009 at Penn State.
Another sophomore who helped qualify one of the eight automatic bids for the Big Ten at 133 pounds is Levi Mele, who last season competed at 141 for Northwestern at the conference meet. Mele appears at No. 5 in the tournament pre-seeds thanks to his 3-3 record against the field during a regular season in which he finished 16-6 overall.
Freshman Kaleb Friedley earned the No. 6 pre-seed at 141 pounds, a weight class with a top five that is as challenging as any at this year's Big Ten Championships - the top four pre-seeds are also the top four ranked wrestlers in the nation, while fifth-seeded Andrew Alton of Penn State ranks No. 7 in the country. Nevertheless Friedley is 3-1 against the field this season, with his only loss coming by 7-4 decision to top-ranked Kellen Russell of Michigan.
Rounding out Northwestern's representation in the pre-seeds are two wrestlers seeded on the No. 8 line, sophomore Kevin Bialka at 165 and junior heavyweight Ben Kuhar, who is making his debut at the Big Ten Championships after missing the event the previous two seasons due to injury.
For more information on the 2011 Big Ten Championships, including session start times and ticket ordering information, visit the official tournament website on NUsports.com.
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