Moline's Musings

Big Ten Week in Review

Posted by: Brian Moline

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 11:27 AM

Let's recap the past week in Big Ten wrestling.  It was a good one for the Illini, and not so good for some other Big Ten squads.  Here are the results:

Friday 2/6

Illinois 22 Northwestern 13

Iowa 22 Michigan State 15

Indiana 21 Purdue 12

Michigan 18 Minnesota 16

Ohio State 33 Penn State 7

Sunday 2/8

Illinois 24 Wisconsin 16

Iowa 31 Penn State 6

Michigan 28 Michigan State 7

Minnesota 18 Northwestern 16

Ohio State 28 Purdue 10

And the updated Big Ten Standings:

Conference				Overall
	W	L	T	Pct.	W	L	T	Pct.
1 Iowa	4	0	0	1.000	20	0	0	1.000
2 Michigan	3	0	1	.875	8	6	1	.567
3 Minnesota	4	1	0	..800	14	5	0	.737
4 Ohio State	3	1	0	.750	12	2	0	.857
Illinois	3	1	0	.750	10	1	0	.909
6 Northwestern	2	2	1	.500	9	5	1	.633
7 Indiana	1	2	1	.375	14	4	1	.763
8 Michigan State	1	4	0	.200	6	6	0	.500
Wisconsin	1	4	0	.200	7	7	0	.500
10 Penn State	0	4	2	.167	7	10	2	.421
11 Purdue	0	3	1	.125	11	4	1	.719

The biggest surprise so far is probably that Michigan is still without a loss in the Big Ten dual season.  The Wolverines got a big win over Minnesota on Friday night, easily their most impressive win of the season, as their other Big Ten victories came against Indiana and Michigan State. 

Can anyone beat Iowa?  Probably not, though Michigan State of all teams came pretty close on Friday, dropping a 22-15 decision.  The dual wasn't quite as close as the score indicated, however, as Iowa heavyweight Dan Erekson had to injury default out of his match after the dual victory was already decided, giving MSU the last six points of the dual.

Northwestern came back to earth a bit with tough road losses to Illinois and Minnesota.  Tim Cysnewski's lineup just doesn't quite have the depth that it did last year to hang with the top teams in the league in the dual format.  They do have the potential to be a factor in the Big Ten tournament with Brandon Precin (125) and Jake Herbert (184) as potential league champs.

The big question appears to be: who will finish second in the Big Ten dual standings.  Michigan has a pretty favorable schedule this year, as they don't wrestle Iowa or Wisconsin.  Their two biggest tests remaining are at home against Ohio State this Friday, and at Illinois on Friday 2/20.  Unless Penn State gets healthy in a hurry, they shouldn't pose much of a challenge, and Purdue, though improved, would be hard pressed to beat the Wolverines.

Minnesota has a very challenging weekend ahead of them with road duals at Wisconsin and at Iowa.  The Badgers have struggled in the dual season so far, but have five very good wrestlers to throw out on the mat every night.  It's a dual (like Illinois on Sunday) that could easily come down to bonus points.  And everyone knows how tough it is to win at Iowa, especially this year.  The Gophers then close at home against Indiana in a dual they will be expected to win.

Looking at what Ohio State has left on their schedule, they may have the toughest road of the one-loss teams.  The Buckeyes travel to rival Michigan on Friday before hosting Illinois on Sunday.  No gimmes there.  Ohio State's final weekend consists of a long road trip to Evanston and Madison.  The Buckeyes could easily drop a couple of duals, but they do have the talent to win all four.

Finally, we'll look at what's left for the Illini.  Mark Johnson's squad hosts a beatable Indiana team on Friday night before making a challenging trip to Columbus on Sunday.  There are several weights up for grabs in this dual, including 125, 133, 141, and 197.  You also have several highly ranked wrestlers (Mike Poeta - IL 157, Mike Pucillo - OSU 184, Lance Palmer - OSU 149, John Wise - IL Hwt) who will be expected to score bonus points for their teams by getting major decisions or better.  The Illini then close things out at home against the Michigan schools next weekend.  The Spartans shouldn't pose much of a challenge, but Michigan has shown that they're a team to be reckoned with in Big Ten duals.

As we thought at the start of the conference season, Iowa looks to be a cut above the other schools in the league.  The only thing that could trip them up is injury, as Jay Borschel (174) and Dan Erekson (Hwt) have missed some time recently.  Even so, the rest of the lineup is so good that it may not matter.  The battle for second place should be an interesting one over the next two weeks.

bmoline@wdws.com

 

 

 

 

 

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