NCAA Wrestling Brackets and Seeds Announced Wednesday Night

INDIANAPOLIS - The brackets and seeding for the upcoming NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Minneapolis, March 19-21, were released Wednesday by the NCAA.

Six Spartans automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships based on their performances at the Big Ten Championships last weekend in Piscataway, N.J. Redshirt senior Logan Griffin (125) joined redshirt juniors Alex Hrisopoulos (149), Jake Tucker (157) and Drew Hughes (165) along with redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey (184) and redshirt Layne Malczewski (174) as automatic qualifiers, while redshirt senior Garrett Pepple (133) was awarded an alternate spot after his performance at the championships.

A total of 330 wrestlers (33 per weight class) will wrestle in the NCAA Championships (283 automatic qualifiers; 48 at-large selections). The NCAA announced qualifier allocations prior to the start of the Big Ten Championships on Feb. 27, with the Big Ten claiming 79 spots, 25 more than the next highest conference. 10 allocations were awarded to the 149 and 184 pound weight classes and nine were given to 174 pounds. Eight spots made up 125, 141 and 165 weight-class divisions, seven to 133 and 285 pounds, and six to 157 and 197 pounds.

12 wresters from the Big Ten were given at-large bids to go along with the 79 automatic qualifiers, for a total of 91 wrestlers from the Big Ten.

Caffey, who leads the team in both wins (27) and falls (nine), will be making his second-straight appearance to the NCAA Wrestling Championships after a seecond-place finish at 184 pounds at the Big Ten Championships. A two-time NCAA Qualifier, who went 2-2 at last year's championships in Pittsburgh, earned a six seed and will face No. 27 Alan Clothier of Northern Colorado in Thursday's first round.

At 165 pounds, Hughes became Michigan State's first three-time NCAA qualifer since Dan Osterman (2011-13). Hughes holds a 3-4 overall record at the NCAA Championships in his two appearances in 2017 and 2019. Hughes, who finished in seventh place at the Big Ten Championships, enters the tournament with an 18-11 overall record and the No. 26 seed Hughes will face No. 7 David McFadden of Virginia Tech on Thursday in first round action.

Tucker, who was awarded the No. 20-seed, will wrestle a familiar opponent, No. 13 seed Peyton Robb of Nebraska in the first round at 157 pounds. Tucker defeated Robb (7-5, SV-1) in the regular dual season. Tucker, who owns a 27-9 record on the season, is making his first appearance at nationals after a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last weekend. Tucker, who earned a six-seed at the Big Ten Championships, dropped his opening round match before battling back to win three-straight. Tucker had to medical default during the second day of the championships.

Hrisopoulos, Griffin and Malczewski claimed top 8 finishes at the championships to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time in their careers. Hrisopoulos finished 3-2 in Piscataway with a fall over Wisconsin's Cole Martin in the seventh-place match at 149 pounds and will face No. 2-seed Austin O'Connor of North Carolina on day one of the championships. Malczewski, who is third on the team with 25 wins, finished seventh at 174 pounds after a 3-2 weekend and was named the No. 25-seed of the 174-pound bracket. He will face No. 8-seed Anthony Valencia of Arizona State in Thursday's first round. Griffin, a first-time qualifier, earned the 30-seed and will take on Oklahoma State's Nicholas Piccininni, the two-seed, in the first round.

MEDIA COVERAGE FOR NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Session Times: Thursday (12 p.m. & 7 p.m. ET); Friday (11 a.m. & 8 p.m. ET); Saturday (11 a.m. & 7 p.m. ET) - Evening sessions are all on ESPN, day sessions on ESPNU, and single-mat coverage of every match available on WatchESPN/ESPN App

NCAA Wrestling Brackets and Seeds Announced Wednesday Night

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Logan Griffin

Alex Hrisopoulos

Drew Hughes

Layne Malczewski

Garrett Pepple

Jake Tucker

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