Five things to know: Big Ten Championships

Saturday, March 9

Minneapolis, MN

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Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Championships Day 1

Five things to know: Big Ten Championships

March 06, 2019 | Wrestling

Badgers hit the road for postseason competition

Big Ten Championships

Mar. 9-10 | Williams Arena | Minneapolis, Minn.

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MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin wrestling team will face the best competition from the premier wrestling conference this weekend at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The tournament is split into four sessions, with the first beginning at 10 a.m. on March 9 and the final championship session beginning at 3 p.m. on March 10.

1. IT'S SHOWTIME: Head Coach Chris Bono has preached all year that the season doesn't truly start until the Big Ten Championships. In other words, the season starts this weekend for the Badgers. Ten wrestlers will compete for their shot at a Big Ten title, and a chance to qualify for the pinnacle of college wrestling, the NCAA tournament.

2. LOOKING FOR A TITLE: Sophomore Evan Wick took fourth place at last year's Big Ten Tournament after taking a medical forfeit in the third-place match. This year, Wick enters the tournament as the three seed and hungry for a title. There will be plenty of competition at his weight class, and the road to a title will most likely have to go through No. 2 Alex Marinelli of Iowa, who Wick has a 1-2 career record against, and No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph, who Wick hasn't wrestled yet.

3. TOP 5 SEEDS: In addition to Wick, the Badgers have three more wrestlers seeded top five or higher coming into the tournament that could make a run to the first place match: No. 4 Tristan Moran at 141 pounds, No. 5 Cole Martin at 149 pounds and No. 4 Trent Hillger at heavyweight. Additionally, Ryan Christensen at 174 pounds and Mason Reinhardt at 184 pounds are also seeded in the top 8, with Christensen ranked seventh and Reinhardt ranked eighth.

4. AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION: At each weight class, automatic NCAA qualification is earned by wrestlers that finish within the amount of NCAA qualification spots allocated to the Big Ten conference, which varies based on the strength of each weight class.

5. FOLLOW ALONG: The first two sessions of the Big Ten Tournament are on Saturday and will include the preliminary, quarterfinal, semifinal and wrestleback matches. Session III will begin at noon on Sunday and will include consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches. The final session will include first, third, and fifth-place matches, beginning at 3 p.m. The first three sessions will be streamed live on BTN Plus ($) and the championship rounds will be televised live on Big Ten Network.