PARK RIDGE, Ill. - The preliminary seeds for the 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships were announced today by conference officials. The pre-seeds are determined by a vote amongst the conference's head wrestling coaches after consideration of regular-season results. The 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will take place on Saturday, March 3, and Sunday, March 4, at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.  The official Big Ten Championships bracket will be set on Friday, March 2.

Top-ranked Minnesota leads all Big Ten teams with four top pre-seeds, as Jayson Ness (33-3 at 125 pounds), Manuel Rivera (34-0 at 141), Dustin Schlatter (29-0 at 149) and Cole Konrad (26-0 at HWT) all earned the top billing for the Golden Gophers.  Last season, Konrad was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and has won his last 67 matches.  Schlatter was the conference's Freshman of the Year in 2005-06, while Ness and Rivera have both earned Wrestler of the Week accolades this season.  

Penn State earned a pair of top pre-seeds, while Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern and were all represented with one selection.

The Nittany Lions boast top pre-seeds in James Yonushonis (27-3 at 174) and defending Big Ten Champion Phil Davis (22-1 at 197).  The remaining No. 1 pre-seeds consist of Illinois' Michael Poeta (19-0 at 157), Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum (21-0 at 165), Michigan State's Nick Simmons (31-1 at 133) and Northwestern's Jake Herbert (24-0 at 184).

Less than one week remains until all 11 conference schools will take to the mats for the 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.  Ten conference squads are currently ranked in the nation's top 25, including unanimous No. 1 Minnesota.  Illinois is ranked seventh, followed by No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 10 Iowa, No. 11 Penn State, No. 15 Northwestern, No. 18 Indiana, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 23 Michigan.

Last year at Indiana, Minnesota claimed the 2005-06 conference championship with a score of 138 points.  Illinois (125) placed second and Michigan (115), Penn State (91) and Northwestern (87.5) rounded out the top five.  Iowa (86) and Wisconsin (76.5) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while Michigan State (68), Purdue (45.5), Indiana (43.5) and Ohio State (40) rounded out the field.

Tickets may be purchased by contacting the Michigan State University Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or online at www.msuspartans.com.

2007 BIG TEN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS PRELIMINARY SEEDS

125 lbs.
1.   Jayson Ness, Minnesota
2.   Charlie Falck, Iowa
3.   Angel Escobedo, Indiana
4.   Franklin Gomez, Michigan State
5.   Gabriel Flores, Illinois
6.   Brandon Precin, Northwestern
7.   Mark McKnight, Penn State
8.   Brandon Tucker, Purdue

133 lbs.
1.   Nick Simmons, Michigan State
2.   James Kennedy, Illinois
3.   Mack Reiter, Minnesota
4.   Zach Tanelli, Wisconsin
5.   Jake Strayer, Penn State
6.   Andrae Hernandez, Indiana
7.   Mario Galanakis, Iowa
8.   T.J. Enright, Ohio State

141 lbs.
1.   Manuel Rivera, Minnesota
2.   Ryan Lang, Northwestern
3.   Andy Simmons, Michigan State
4.   Cassio Pero, Illinois
5.   Kyle Ruschell, Wisconsin
6.   Alex Tsirtsis, Iowa
7.   J Jaggers, Ohio State
8.   Justin Chrzanowski, Michigan

149 lbs.
1.   Dustin Schlatter, Minnesota
2.   Joshua Churella, Michigan
3.   Lance Palmer, Ohio State
4.   Jake Patacsil, Purdue
5.   Tyler Turner, Wisconsin
6.   Dan Vallimont, Penn State
7.   Troy Tirapelle, Illinois
8.   Matt Coughlin, Indiana
 
157 lbs.
1.   Michael Poeta, Illinois
2.   Brandon Becker, Indiana
T3.  C.P. Schlatter, Minnesota
T3.  Craig Henning, Wisconsin
5.   Ryan Morningstar, Iowa
6.   Bubba Jenkins, Penn State
7.   Jacob Murphy, Purdue
8.   Jeff Marsh, Michigan

165 lbs.
1.   Eric Tannenbaum, Michigan
2.   Mark Perry, Iowa
3.   Tyler Safratowich, Minnesota
4.   Roger Smith-Bergsrud, Illinois
5.   Chris Vondruska, Ohio State
6.   Justin Fraga, Purdue
7.   Dave Rella, Penn State
8.   Max Dean, Indiana

174 lbs.
1.   James Yonushonis, Penn State
2.   Eric Luedke, Iowa
3.   Steve Luke, Michigan
4.   Gabriel Dretsch, Minnesota
5.   Trevor Perry, Indiana
6.   Nick Hayes, Northwestern
7.   Matthew Winterhalter, Illinois
8.   Matthew Maciag, Wisconsin

184 lbs.
1.   Jake Herbert, Northwestern
2.   Roger Kish, Minnesota
3.   Mike Pucillo, Ohio State
4.   Tyrel Todd, Michigan
5.   Marc Bennet, Indiana
6.   Joseph Williams, Michigan State
7.   John Dergo, Illinois
8.   Trevor Brandvold, Wisconsin

197 lbs.
1.   Phil Davis, Penn State
2.   Mike Tamillow, Northwestern
3.   Patrick Bond, Illinois
4.   James Bergman, Ohio State
5.   Dallas Herbst, Wisconsin
6.   Nathan Moore, Purdue
7.   Nick Roy, Michigan
8.   Nathan Everhart, Indiana

HWT
1.   Cole Konrad, Minnesota
2.   Aaron Anspach, Penn State
3.   Dustin Fox, Northwestern
4.   Matt Fields, Iowa
5.   Kyle Massey, Wisconsin
6.   Josh Buuck, Indiana
7.   John Wise, Illinois
8.   Corey Morrison, Ohio State