Six Nebraska wresters received top five seeds in the preliminary seeding for this weekend’s 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, the Big Ten Conference announced Monday afternoon. The two-day championship event is set to begin Saturday, March 5 from Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., and will be carried on the Big Ten Network.
Pre-seeds are determined by a vote from conference coaches as they rank 14 wrestlers in all 10 weight classes. Nebraska received nine top 10 pre-seeds.
For the second year in a row, Eric Schultz, currently rated No. 3 in the nation at 197 pounds, earns the top seed at the conference championships for the Huskers. Last year, his first-place seeding marked the first time a Nebraska wrestler received a one-seed at the event since 2015.
Both Ridge Lovett (149 pounds) and Mikey Labriola (174 pounds) received No. 3 seeds for their respective weight classes. Chad Red Jr. (141 pounds) and Taylor Venz (184 pounds) both enter the 2022 conference tournament seeded fourth. Peyton Robb received a five-seed at 157 pounds.
Rounding out the top 10 seeds for the Huskers are Christian Lance, Bubba Wilson and Dominick Serrano. Lance received a sixth-place seed at heavyweight, while Wilson is seeded eighth at 165 pounds. Serrano is the 10-seed at 133 pounds.
Jeremiah Reno, who is seeded 13 at 125 pounds, Serrano and Wilson will make their first career appearances at the Big Ten Championships this weekend.
Last season at the Big Ten Championships, NU finished third with 105.5 points for the program’s seventh top-five finish at the event and sixth in as many years. Nebraska was led by second-place finishes from Ridge Lovett (149), Taylor Venz (184) and Eric Schultz (197) and eight Huskers clinched automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. Seven members of last season’s Big Ten Championships lineup will wrestle at this year’s event.
For the first time, the Huskers will host the Big Ten Championships since joining the conference in 2011-12. A double-elimination tournament will be held at each weight, with the top team finisher being determined by tournament scoring. The Big Ten Network will offer live linear and streaming coverage of the championships. Session I begins Saturday, March 5 at 10 a.m. (CT) and Session II semifinals start at 5:30 p.m. (CT). The championship coverage continues Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) with consolation matches on B1G+ and returns to BTN at 3:30 p.m. (CT) for the final bouts. Additional mat coverage can be streamed on B1G+ (additional subscription required) for every session.
