The Big Ten Tournament picks up again this evening, with a pair (I think) of consolation rounds and the semifinals in the championship bracket. Iowa has nine guys alive in the semifinals, which is as good as we could have hoped for, really. Ballweg is in do or die action in his consolation match -- win and he's in the NCAA Tournament. Lose and his season is done. Iowa has a solid 19-point lead in the team race right now, but that could evaporate in a hurry with a bad showing in the semis. Action gets underway at 5pm CST.
TV: none
AUDIO: 800 KXIC (free), Hawkeye All-Access ($$$), TheOpenMat (free)
liveblog: Andy Hamilton
updated standings/brackets: Penn State Wrestling Club
TEAM STANDINGS
Iowa 79 (9 semis/1 consos)
Penn State 60 (6 semis/4 consos)
Minnesota 57.5 (6 semis/4 consos)
Wisconsin 42 (4 semis/6 consos)
Illinois 38
Michigan 36
Northwestern 28
Indiana 19
Michigan State 17
Ohio State 17
Purdue 13
CONSOLATION BRACKET
149: Mark Ballweg vs. (5) Cole Schmitt (Wisco)
SEMIFINALS
125: (1) Matt McDonough vs. (5) Sean Boyle (Mich)
133: (3) Tony Ramos vs. (2) Tyler Graff (Wisco)
141: (2) Montell Marion vs. (3) Mike Thorn (Minn)
157: (2) Derek St. John vs. (3) Jason Welch (jNW)
165: (4) Aaron Janssen vs. (1) Andrew Howe (Wisco)
174: (5) Ethen Lofthouse vs. (1) Ed Ruth (PSU)
184: (3) Grant Gambrall vs. (2) Kevin Steinhaus (Minn)
197: (2) Luke Lofthouse vs. (3) Logan Brown (Purd)
HWT: (3) Blake Rasing vs. (7) Joe Rizqallah (MSU)
Other relevant matches:
125: (3) Zach Sanders (Minn) vs. (2) Brandon Precin (jNW) -- root Sanders for McD's sake, Precin for Iowa's sake
133: (1) Andrew Long (PSU) vs. BJ Futrell (ILL) -- root Futrell
149: (1) Frank Molinaro (PSU) vs. (4) Eric Terrazas (ILL) -- root Terrazas
157: (1) David Taylor (PSU) vs. (5) Paul Young (IND) -- root Young
165: (2) Colt Sponseller (OSU) vs. (3) Cody Yohn (Minn) -- root Sponseller
184: (8) Quentin Wright (PSU) vs. (5) Tony Dallago (ILL) -- root Dallago
197: (1) Trevor Brandvold (Wisco) vs. (5) Sonny Yohn (Minn)-- root Brandvold, I guess
HWT: (1) Cameron Wade (PSU) vs. (4) Tony Nelson (Minn) -- root... I have no idea. Nelson, probably.
The usual rules of open threading apply. No porn, no piracy, no slurs, and suchlike. Let's go.
