Moline's Musings

This Weekend in Big Ten Wrestling

Posted by: Brian Moline

Friday, January 30, 2009 4:06 PM

First, here are last weekend's results in the Big Ten:

Friday January 23

#14 Penn State 17 #21 Indiana 17

#19 Northwestern 31 Michigan State 6

#1 Iowa 24 #15 Wisconsin 12

#9 Minnesota 26 Arizona State 12

Saturday January 24

#14 Penn State 19 #25 Purdue 19

#17 Michigan 39 Binghamton 6

Virginia Tech 22 #17 Michigan 15

Sunday January 25

#9 Minnesota 30 Michigan State 6

#19 Northwestern 21 #15 Wisconsin 19

#5 Ohio State 19 #20 Hofstra 13

#1 Iowa 32 #7 Illinois 4

I made predictions on these duals in last Friday's blog entry, and went 7-2-2 for the weekend.  Not too bad, but I certainly didn't see the Virginia Tech win over Michigan coming.  Let's look at this weekend's action.  Once again, my picks to win are in bold.

Friday January 30

#7 Illinois at #25 Purdue (6 pm Big Ten Network)

#19 Indiana at #5 Ohio State (6 pm)

Bucknell at #1 Iowa (7 pm)

#10 Minnesota at #16 Penn State (6 pm)

Saturday January 31

#19 Northwestern at #18 Michigan (6 pm)

Sunday February 1

#19 Indiana at #18 Michigan (1 pm)

#10 Minnesota at #5 Ohio State (1 pm)

#17 Wisconsin at #16 Penn State (1 pm)

A few notes on the above selections.  Penn State is banged up, with several starters out of the lineup.  Most notably, #2 Bubba Jenkins (149) sprained an ankle last weekend and didn't wrestle in the tie vs. Purdue.  Until they get healthy, it will be tough for the Nittany Lions to win a Big Ten dual, especially after tying both Indiana and Purdue last weekend, two teams projected to finish in the lower half of the conference.

The dual of the weekend might be tomorrow's matchup between Northwestern and Michigan.  This one looks like a toss-up to me, but I'll give the Wolverines the edge because they have the home mat.  Both sides have a couple of heavy favorites, so it could come down to bonus points.

I like the Illini to bounce back tonight against Purdue.  The Boilermakers are improved, but still have some holes in their lineup.  The Illini should be able to win at 125, 133, 141, 157, 174, and Heavyweight.  The matches at 165, 184 and 197 look to be tossups, and Purdue will be heavily favored at 149.  Everything would have to break the Boilermakers' way to make this a close dual, but the home mat advantage at Purdue isn't much of one, so the Illini should be able to win this one comfortably.

Think I'm right?  Think I'm crazy?  Leave me a note below, or send an e-mail to:

bmoline@wdws.com

 

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