MINNEAPOLIS - How valuable is Iowa's Brent Metcalf?

Sure, he's the top-ranked wrestler in what is the toughest weight class in the country at 149 pounds.

He's never won a postseason match in college, but the high-energy, sophomore standout from Davison, Mich., has had a far-reaching impact on the nation's top-ranked team.

Metcalf and returning national champion Mark Perry lead the Hawkeyes into the Big Ten Championships on Saturday and Sunday at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena.

"Metcalf is a great leader," Iowa coach Tom Brands said during a pre-meet press conference Friday afternoon. "His standards are high - not only how he competes, which is evident by the results, but also how he approaches the sport. In the training room, in all facets of the sport of wrestling, in his lifestyle, with his discipline - it has all rubbed off on his teammates. His leadership has made this entire team better."

Metcalf's influence has helped transform an Iowa team that finished eighth at the 2007 NCAA Championships into a team favored to win the 2008 national title.

The No. 1 ranking changed hands a handful of times over the first two months of the season before Iowa seized the top spot with a dominating performance at January's National Duals.

Iowa has remained on top ever since.

There is still a lot of talk about parity continuing to be a recurring theme as we head into the college postseason, but you won't hear that talk in Iowa City.

"From the outside looking in, it is closely matched," Brands said of the Big Ten team race. "If we get ready to compete like we have all year and continue to be consistent, it's probably not as wide-open as everyone thinks. That might be a bold statement, but I do believe in our guys and they believe in themselves."

Minnesota, the consensus No. 1 team to start the season, has been plagued by injuries to key performers.

The Gophers, the 2007 Big Ten and NCAA team champions, have slipped to No. 8 in the national rankings and dropped an unthinkable seven dual meets this season as their lineup was never at full strength.

The good news for Minnesota, led by a strong and proven senior class, is that its entire lineup is finally back together now. And the six seniors in the Gopher lineup should be fired up as they wrestle in front of their home fans for the final time this weekend.

"We've had a pretty up-and-down year," Minnesota coach J Robinson said. "We are the defending national champions and had most of our team back, but we've had a lot of adversity to say the least. This will be the first time all year our entire team has been on the mat together this season." 

Robinson has led the Gophers to three NCAA team titles since 2001.

"It's been a frustrating year," he said. "If somebody would have bet me before the season that we would lose seven dual meets, I probably would have bet everything I had because I would have thought that would be impossible. But we had one guy get hurt and then another guy get hurt . . . that makes it tough."

The Gophers also boast one of the nation's best wrestlers in any weight class in top-ranked Jayson Ness at 125. Ness, a returning Big Ten champion, is 33-0 with 18 pins. Ness beat Iowa's Charlie Falck, the No. 2 seed, for the Big Ten title last year. Ness then beat him 14-2 in a dual this season. Falck is 30-2 this year.

The top seven finishers in each weight class at Big Tens, plus two wild cards overall, will advance to the NCAA Championships on March 20-22 in St. Louis.

Nine of the 11 Big Ten teams are ranked in the nation's top 20 by InterMat. They include No. 1 Iowa, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 10 Illinois, No. 11 Michigan, No. 13 Northwestern and No. 20 Indiana.

Williams Arena will provide an excellent setting for Big Ten fans this weekend. An elevated platform was built to accommodate the four full-sized mats needed for the tournament. The $70,000 project was necessary to create enough room to fit four mats onto the arena's court area. The platform also will bring the action even closer to the fans.

"This is big for us because it gives us a chance to wrestle in the state of Minnesota," Robinson said of hosting Big Tens. "The best wrestlers in the country are here and we want people to come and watch this tournament. There is going to be some great wrestling. There are a couple of really stacked weight classes. It will be exciting."

Metcalf and the Hawkeyes have been one of the biggest stories of the college season. Metcalf suffered an early-season loss to North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell, when he was caught and pinned, but has been virtually untouchable ever since. Metcalf is 26-1 in his first college season and has won his last 23 matches.

He is the favorite in a 149 class so loaded it is almost hard to fathom this many top-caliber competitors in one division.

149 is so strong that two-time returning Big Ten champion Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota is the No. 2 seed behind Metcalf. Schlatter, a 2006 NCAA champion who placed third at the 2007 NCAAs, has missed much of his junior season with a hamstring injury.

Schlatter and Metcalf have still not met since Schlatter won their matchup nearly three years ago in the finals of Senior High School Nationals.

2007 Junior World freestyle champion Bubba Jenkins of Penn State is seeded fourth at 149. Michigan's Josh Churella, an NCAA runner-up in 2007, is seeded third.

Also at 149, Ohio State's Lance Palmer placed fourth at nationals last year but is only seeded fifth in the Big Ten. Northwestern's Ryan Lang, an NCAA runner-up at 141 last year, is seeded seventh in the conference tournament at 149.

157 features similar strength with returning Big Ten champion C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota seeded fourth and returning NCAA runner-up Craig Henning of Wisconsin the No. 5 seed. All-American Mike Poeta of Illinois is the top seed.

165 also will be interesting with Perry returning to the mat for the first time in nearly two months after undergoing knee surgery. Perry, a returning Big Ten champion, has placed second, third and first in his three trips to the NCAA Championships.

"He's prepared - this is the Mark Perry time of year," Brands said. "He's shines this time of year, he thrives this time of year and he lives for this time of year."

Iowa is seeking its 32nd conference tournament title and first since 2004. The Hawkeyes have won the Big Ten tournament just once since 2000. Iowa's last NCAA title came in 2000.

Metcalf is one of seven sophomores in Iowa's starting lineup. Metcalf followed Brands from Virginia Tech to Iowa two years ago along with Hawkeyes Joey Slaton (ranked No. 4 nationally at 133), Dan LeClere (No. 6 at 141) and Jay Borschel (No. 3 at 174). Those wrestlers each lost a year of eligibility last season after Virginia Tech refused to release them from their scholarships when they left for Iowa.

"These guys have been winning big matches and winning championships their entire lives," Brands said. "A lot of these guys were four-time state champions in high school. They love to compete and they will be ready."

The Hawkeye who has made quantum leaps in improvement since last year is sophomore Phillip Keddy, who is ranked seventh nationally at 184. Keddy is 21-7 this season after going 14-16 as a freshman. Keddy is seeded third at Big Tens.

"The biggest difference with Phil Keddy is he can go the entire match because of his dedication in the offseason and because of his mental maturity," Brands said. "He's been able to knock those barriers down where he can wrestle hard for seven minutes. He's been our most improved guy. Another factor is the Metcalf factor. When you see a guy having the type of season Metcalf is having and see how hard he works, it makes everybody on our team better."