Spartans Head to Big Ten Championships at Ohio State
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
| 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships | |
| Location | Columbus, Ohio | St. John Arena |
| Brackets | Complete Brackets |
| Session 1 | Saturday, 10 a.m. (first round, quarterfinals) |
| Session 2 | Saturday, 6 p.m. (semifinals, wrestlebacks) |
| Session 3 | Sunday, 1 p.m. (consolation semifinals, seventh-place matches) |
| Session 4 | Sunday, 3 p.m. (First-, third- and fifth-place matches) |
| Notes | Michigan State |
| Statistics | Michigan State |
| Internet/TV Coverage | All matches available live at BTN2Go |
| Social Media | @wrestlingmsu  |
| Tickets | Visit ohiostatebuckeyes.com for more information. |
SPARTANS HEAD TO BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS AT OHIO STATE
Michigan State will travel to Columbus, Ohio, this weekend (Saturday-Sunday, March 7-8) for the 101st edition of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships. The Spartans (5-13) finished the dual season at home on Feb. 20-21 at Jenison Field House with two hard-fought losses to Duke and Central Michigan.
The Big Ten Championships are the most prestigious conference championships in the nation, year in and year out. Ten teams from the Big Ten are currently ranked in the Top 25 of the NWCA/USA Today Coaches' Poll, including eight in the top 15 (No. 2 Iowa, No. 4 Minnesota, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 11 Nebraska, No. 12 Illinois, No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 21 Rutgers and No. 23 Purdue).
"In some ways, it's tougher than the NCAA Championships," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "The NCAAs has 33 wrestlers in a weight class, and the talent is spread out a little bit. In the Big Ten (Championships), it's very, very concentrated. There aren't any places where you look at it and say `that's an easy win, or we can get through that match OK.' Every match has the potential to be very tough. We're trying to prepare accordingly, but we're looking forward to it. You work all year to get to this weekend, and it's here."
Michigan State has two wrestlers who earned top-10 seeds for the Big Ten Championships, led by ninth-seeded senior John Rizqallah at 184 pounds. Senior Nick McDiarmid was tabbed a No. 10 seed at 197 pounds.
The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference's coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in two weight classes, along with all 14 starters in eight weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving eight or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes.
McDiarmid and Rizqallah, along with 174-pounder Nick Proctor, are fifth-year seniors who will be wrestling in their final Big Ten Championships.
"They realize that, but in the back of your mind, you don't want to ramp up your stress - it's stressful enough as it is," remarked Minkel about the three seniors and their mindset about competing in their last Big Ten Championships. "Then you starting thinking, `oh, this is my last chance.' We've actually spent a lot of time talking about what we should be thinking about. Really, our emphasis is not thinking about the outcome, but thinking about what we can do, how we can compete, our positioning, and visualize ourselves executing well. The results will take care of themselves. If you wrestle well, you'll have good results."
In addition to the three seniors, four Spartans - Mitch Rogaliner at 125, Javier Gasca at 141, Travis Curley at 157 and Chris Nash at heavyweight - will be wrestling in the Big Ten Championships for the first time.
"I think the only way you do that is hearing from the guys that have been there and how they feel about it," said Minkel about getting the young wrestlers prepared for the environment at the conference championships. "The last few practices, we've talked a lot about how to prepare for Big Tens and what it's going to be like. I think for the guys who haven't been there, they have a pretty good sense of what it's going to be like, and hopefully those lessons sink in."
Every match of the 2015 Big Ten Championships will be available live on BTN2Go and BTN Plus. For more coverage information, click here.
SPARTANS TO WATCH
• Senior 184-pounder John Rizqallah, who has qualified for the past two NCAA Championships (2013, 2014), is tied for the team lead with 16 wins and led the team during the dual season with 10 victories. Rizqallah placed seventh at last year's Big Ten Championships to automatically qualify for nationals; he earned an at-large bid in 2013. Rizqallah is ranked 23rd in the NCAA Coaches rankings and 26th in the RPI.
• Junior 197-pounder Nick McDiarmid has won five straight matches entering the Big Ten Championships, including wins over No. 15 Aaron Studebaker of Nebraska and No. 9 Braden Atwood of Purdue. McDiarmid (11-10 overall record) tied for the team lead with 34 dual points and had four Big Ten dual wins, most on the team. He is looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time in his career. McDiarmid is ranked No. 27 in the NCAA RPI and 32nd in the NCAA Coaches rankings.
• Junior Chris Nash, who entered the starting lineup at heavyweight midway through the season due to an injury to Luke Jones, brings a four-match winning streak into the Big Ten Championships. Nash (14-7 overall record) posted a 7-6 dual record and ranks tied for second on the team with five falls. He is wrestling in his first Big Ten Championships.
• Red-shirt freshman Javier Gasca began the season at 133 pounds and reached as high as No. 11 in the national rankings. Gasca defeated Iowa State's Earl Hall (currently ranked No. 4 at 133) in the dual against the Cyclones on Nov. 23 and took first place in the Northern Iowa Open on Dec. 13. After suffering a knee injury, however, Gasca wrestled in just one dual (Jan. 11 vs. Michigan) in nearly a two-month span before returning to the lineup full-time at 141 pounds on Feb. 8. He owns a 14-5 record entering his first Big Ten Championships.
• In his first season in the lineup at 125 pounds, red-shirt freshman Mitch Rogaliner tied for the team lead with 34 dual points and ranked second with nine dual wins. He also is tied for the team lead with 16 victories and is currently ranked 28th in the NCAA RPI.
MICHIGAN STATE: BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
• Michigan State has won eight Big Ten titles, including seven in a row from 1966-72.
• Spartans have won 68 Big Ten individual championships in program history.
• MSU's first Big Ten title came in 1961 under Coach Fendley Collins, while the rest came under the guidance of Grady Peninger.
• Coach Tom Minkel's highest finish at the Big Ten Championships was second in 1995; MSU also placed third in 1996 and tied for third in 2003.
• MSU's last Big Ten Champion was Franklin Gomez, who won two 133-pound titles (2008, 2009).
NCAA QUALIFIER INFORMATION
• The NCAA announced the qualifier allocations for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Feb. 26. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage; rating percentage index (RPI); and coaches ranking. For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class.
• Each qualifying tournament, with automatic qualifying status, was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish.
• This year, the following allocation numbers per weight class for the Big Ten are: 125 (5), 133 (12), 141 (8), 149 (7), 157 (8), 165 (8), 174 (10), 184 (10), 197 (9), and heavyweight (9). The Big Ten leads all conference with 86 qualifiers; the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association is second with 43.
• After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 70 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 11. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; qualifying event placement; quality wins; results against common opponents; winning percentage; RPI; coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class.
• MSU head coach Tom Minkel is serving his fourth and final year on the NCAA Wrestling Championships Committee.
• The NCAA Championships will be held March 19-21 in St. Louis.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
The NCAA released the final coaches' panel rankings and the final Rating Percentage Index (RPI) for the 2014-15 wrestling season on Feb. 26. The final rankings and the RPI will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Three Spartans were ranked in the final poll: John Rizqallah (184) - No. 26 RPI/No. 23 Coaches; Nick McDiarmid (197) - No. 27 RPI/No. 32 Coaches; and Mitch Rogaliner (125): No. 28 RPI/NR Coaches.
Players Mentioned
