The Big Ten Conference has announced the preliminary seeds for the 2011 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set to take place from March 5-6 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University. The pre-seeds, which rank the top eight wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes, are decided based on a vote by the conference coaches.Minnesota is the lone Big Ten team to have a seeded grappler in each of the 10 weight classes as Zach Sanders (125 lbs.), David Thorn (133), Mike Thorn (141), Danny Zilverberg (149), Matt Mincey (157), Cody Yohn (165), Scott Glasser (174), Kevin Steinhaus (184), Sonny Yohn (197) and Tony Nelson (285) look to earn Minnesota's sixth conference championship since 2000.

Steinhaus, ranked seventh in the nation by Intermat, is the highest seeded Gopher at No. 2 in the 174 lbs. division. Minnesota has four wrestlers seeded third in the Big Ten in No. 5 Sanders, No. 3 Mike Thorn, No. 12 Cody Yohn and No. 13 Glasser. Nelson, the No. 11 heavyweight in the nation, enters the Big Ten tournament as the four seed while No. 7 Sonny Yohn has been seeded fifth. David Thorn will be the sixth seed in his division while Zilverberg and Mincey are the eighth seeds in their respective weight classes.


2011 Big Ten Wrestling Championships Pre-Seeds

125 lbs.
1. Matt McDonough, IOWA
2. Brandon Precin, NU
3. Zach Sanders, MINN
4. Brad Pataky, PSU
5. Sean Boyle, MICH
6. Justin Brooks, IND
7. Camden Eppert, PUR
8. Tom Kelliher, WIS

133 lbs.
1. Andrew Long, PSU
2. Tyler Graff, WIS
3. Tony Ramos, IOWA
4. B.J. Futrell, ILL
5. Levi Mele, NU
6. David Thorn, MINN
7. Zac Stevens, MICH
8. Ian Paddock, OSU

141 lbs.
1. Kellen Russell, MICH
2. Montell Marion, IOWA
3. Mike Thorn, MINN
4. Jimmy Kennedy, ILL
5. Andrew Alton, PSU
6. Kaleb Friedly, NU
7. Jake Fleckenstein, PUR
8. Shane McQuade, WIS

149 lbs.
1. Frank Molinaro, PSU
2. Andrew Nadhir, NU
3. Kurt Kinser, IND
4. Eric Terrazas, ILL
5. Cole Schmitt, WIS
6. Eric Grajales, MICH
7. Dan Osterman, MSU
8. Danny Zilverberg, MINN

157 lbs.
1. David Taylor, PSU
2. Derek St. John, IOWA
3. Jason Welch, NU
4. Colton Salazar, PUR
5. Paul Young, IND
6. Brandon Zeerip, MICH
7. Sean McMurray, MSU
8. Matt Mincey, MINN

165 lbs.
1. Andrew Howe, WIS
2. Colt Sponseller, OSU
3. Cody Yohn, MINN
4. Aaron Janssen, IOWA
5. Conrad Polz, ILL
6. Dan Yates, MICH
7. Ryan LeBlanc, IND
8. Kevin Bialka, NU

174 lbs.
1. Ed Ruth, PSU
2. Nick Heflin, OSU
3. Scott Glasser, MINN
4. Luke Manuel, PUR
5. Ethen Lofthouse, IOWA
6. Ben Jordan, WIS
7. Justin Zeerip, MICH
8. Curran Jacobs, MSU

184 lbs.
1. Travis Rutt, WIS
2. Kevin Steinhaus, MINN
3. Grant Gambrall, IOWA
4. Ian Hinton, MSU
5. Tony Dallago, ILL
6. A.J. Kissel, PUR
7. Cody Magrum, OSU
8. Quentin Wright, PSU

197 lbs.
1. Trevor Brandvold, WIS
2. Luke Lofthouse, IOWA
3. Logan Brown, PUR
4. Matt Powless, IND
5. Sonny Yohn, MINN
6. Anthony Biondo, MICH
7. Joe Barczak, ILL
8. Peter Capone, OSU

285 lbs.
1. Cameron Wade, PSU
2. Ricky Alcala, IND
3. Blake Rasing, IOWA
4. Tony Nelson, MINN
5. Ben Apland, MICH
6. Eric Bugenhagen, WIS
7. Joe Rizqallah, MSU
8. Ben Kuhar, NU

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