The Big Ten Championships is the toughest conference title to win as of late, and in 2026 that is no exception. The conference sports the top-ranked wrestler at nine of the 10 weights and is deep at every weight class.
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Here’s how each of the 10 weight classes stack up based on the Big Ten’s issued pre-seeds.
125 pounds
Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl, ranked No. 1 in the country, earned the No. 1 pre-seed after an 8-0 conference season that featured a fall and four tech fall wins. Illinois’ Spencer Moore is the conference’s No. 2 pre-seed with a 7-0 conference record, including one forfeit. Nic Bouzakis is ranked second in the country but is the No. 3 pre-seed in the conference. The pre-seeds can change ahead of the bracket release, and Bouzkais’ one loss to Lilledahl compared to Moore’s six loses gives him a case to jump a spot in the seeds and potentially earn a first-round bye.
Lilledahl’s path to a second straight Big Ten championship could start against Iowa’s Dean Peterson, who is ranked No. 7 nationally but is the No. 8 pre-seed. Lilledahl beat Peterson, 11-5, in their meeting earlier this year, but the Hawkeye does have a 4-1 career win over the Nittany Lion from the 2024-2025 season.
In the conference semifinals, Lilledahl will likely meet either No. 17-ranked Jacob Moran of Indiana or No. 13-ranked All-American Jore Volk against Minnesota. The Nittany Lion has a relatively straightforward path until a potential championship match against Bouzakis, which would be a rematch of Lilledahl’s sudden-victory win in the regular season.
133 pounds
Both Illinois’ Lucas Byrd and Penn State’s Marcus Blaze went undefeated during the regular season, but it is the Nittany Lion freshman who earned the Big Ten’s No. 1 pre-seed. Byrd finds himself second, and Ohio State’s Ben Davino is the No. 3 pre-seed.
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No. 9 Drake Ayala, who gave Iowa a runner-up finish in both Big Tens and NCAAs last year, is the No. 5 pre-seed in this year’s Big Ten championships. But this season, the weight revolves around the top-three wrestlers as Byrd will face his toughest challenge of the season in the Big Ten semifinals and championship match. Another name to watch in the bracket is Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt, a 2025 All-American who has a win over Ayala and boasts a 16-4 record coming into the postseason. He’s currently seeded at the No. 4 position, two spots ahead of Nebraska All-American Jacob Van Dee.
141 pounds
Behind his No. 1 national ranking and undefeated record, Jesse Mendez represents Ohio State with the No. 1 pre-seed at Big Tens. Mendez’ biggest challenge comes from No. 2 pre-seed Brock Hardy of Nebraska, who is 1-5 against the Buckeye with his lone win coming in last year’s Big Ten tournament. Since then, Mendez has beaten Hardy 4-1 and 14-3.
Other notable wrestlers in the division include No. 3 pre-seed All-American Vance VomBaur of Minnesota and Iowa’s All-American Nasir Bailey, who comes in as the No. 4 pre-seed. All-Americans Dylan Ragusin of Michigan and Braeden Davis of Penn State come in at No. 5 and No. 7, respectively.
Despite the talented field, there is little evidence to suggest that Mendez will be troubled by his 141-pound competitors.
149 pounds
Shayne Van Ness has been the dominant wrestler at 149 pounds this season in the Big Ten, and he earned the No. 1 pre-seed for his efforts. The Nittany Lion will be opposed by No. 2 pre-seed All-American Ethan Stiles, who represents the Buckeyes in the class. Carter Young, who is ranked No. 4 in the country but missed time due to injury, is the No. 5 pre-seed, representing the Terps. Michigan All-American Lachlan McNeil comes in at No. 4.
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Van Ness has not faced a major challenge en route to his 18-0 season record but did not wrestle Stiles during the regular season. If it happens in the championship match Sunday, it will be Van Ness’ biggest challenge of the season so far. These two did meet last year at NCAAs when Stiles wrestled for Oregon State, and Van Ness picked up the fall. The Nittany Lion junior has continued to separate himself from the field this year with an 84.21% bonus rate, and he’s the clear favorite not just in the conference but in the country to compete for the national title at 149 pounds.
157 pounds
Defending national champion Antrell Taylor is the No. 1 pre-seed at 157 pounds after his 20-2 record, and the Cornhusker has not lost since the National Duals in November. Despite having the No. 1 national ranking, Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon is the No. 7 pre-seed due to missing much of the Big Ten season due to injury and will be matched up with No. 2 pre-seed PJ Duke, a freshman pinning machine, of Penn State in the second round.
If it happens, the quarterfinal match between Cannon and Duke could be the best match of the first session. Based on pre-seeds, Taylor has a pretty straightforward path to the championship match. His 2-1 tiebreaker win over Duke helped him earn that route.
Iowa, notable, subbed out Little Rock transfer Jordan Williams for senior Victor Voinovich III and will now try to qualify the weight out of the No. 10 seed. The Big Ten will take eight athletes at 157 pounds.
165 pounds
Before No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink goes for a second straight national championship, the Penn State wrestler looks for a third straight Big Ten crown as the No. 1 pre-seed. He will face challenges from Iowa’s Michael Caliendo and Purdue’s Joey Blaze, who are the conference’s respective No. 2 and No. 3 pre-seeds, but Mesenbrink looks to be a tier above them both.
Free as a bird 🕊️
Joey Blaze posts the 4th undefeated regular season by a Boilermaker since 1975!
Not satisfied yet… pic.twitter.com/wTk15wHjtN
— Purdue Wrestling (@PurdueWrestling) February 21, 2026
He majored Caliendo 11-2 in their last meeting, and while the Hawkeye had previously been narrowing the gap, this most recent performance showed why Mesenbrink will likely be a contender for the Hodge Trophy. The Nittany Lion has not had the chance to wrestle Blaze, a 2025 NCAA finalist at 157 pounds who beat Caliendo up at 165 pounds this year, but his pace and aggression are a challenge for anyone.
174 pounds
The 174-pound pre-seeds drew ire from Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson after undefeated Levi Haines was placed behind Nebraska’s Christopher Minto despite Haines having a head-to-head win. This year’s seeds were developed using a formula, with 174 pounds creating the most questions after the release of the seeds. Minto, an All-American last season, has had an impressive year with wins over All-American Carson Kharchla and Danny Wask, but his losses to Haines, Alex Facundo, Patrick Kennedy and Kharchla (who he split matches with) do stand in contrast to Haines’ perfect resume.
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Other contenders at the weight include No. 3 pre-seed Kennedy from Iowa who finished fourth last year and Ohio State’s Kharchla, who enters as the No. 5 pre-seed.
With four good wrestlers at the weight, the semifinal round at 174 pounds will be one with plenty of action. These four wrestlers will likely meet again in the late rounds of the NCAA Championships after doing battle in State College.
Lenny Pinto of Rutgers down at the No. 11 is a potential bracket buster to watch, as he finished in the Round of 12 the last two seasons but now comes in with a 10-7 record.
184 pounds
Sanderson had no problem with Rocco Welsh representing Penn State as the No. 1 pre-seed at 184 pounds after his 17-0 campaign. His first match could be against No. 8 pre-seed Angelo Ferrari, who missed significant time due to injury. Welsh beat Ferrari in tie-breakers in their last meeting, delivering the Hawk his lone loss of the year. Other 184-pound contenders include Minnesota’s No. 2 pre-seed All-American and U20 World champion Max McEnelly and No. 3 All-American pre-seed Silas Allred, who represents Nebraska.
Back on the B1G stage 〽️ pic.twitter.com/6l8YXfQfdR
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These three round out the All-Americans in the field, though Ohio State’s Dylan Fishback is dangerous down at the No. 6, as he had Welsh on the ropes in their dual with less than a minute remaining in the third period.
197 pounds
Josh Barr’s undefeated season led him to the No. 1 pre-seed at this year’s Big Tens for Penn State, including a major decision win over No. 2 pre-seed Camden McDanel of Nebraska. Rutgers sophomore Remy Cotton is the league’s No. 3 pre-seed, while Maryland’s Branson John comes in at No. 4, the highest seed for the Terps across all ten weights.
The 197-pound weight is the most shallow in the conference, leaving little to suggest Barr will not win the conference title. The big story to watch though is Iowa’s Gabe Arnold down at the No. 13 seed.
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— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) March 2, 2026
Arnold wrestled most of the season at 184 pounds, earning a win over All-American Silas Allred. In his two matches at 197 pounds, Arnold collected two wins, though his Big Ten tournament path at the weight could be a challenge, given his low seed and size disadvantage.
285 pounds
After going 8-0 in the Big Ten regular season, Michigan’s Taye Ghadiali is the No. 1 pre-seed in the Big Ten. The transfer All-American from Campbell did not meet No. 2 pre-seed AJ Ferrari during the regular season, who went 7-1 against a much tougher slate of opponents with his lone loss coming against No. 3 pre-seed Nick Feldman. Feldman and No. 4 pre-seed Cole Mirasola could also be in the mix as title contenders, given that Feldman beat Ferrari and Mirasola beat Feldman. The top men at the weight will certainly be battle-tested as they head to NCAAs following the event.
