By Courtney Baumann
The seedings for the Big Ten Wrestling Tournament have been released, and the first nine Iowa wrestlers in the lineup all received a number.
Thomas Gilman, the team’s 125-pounder, is the top-seeded wrestler in his weight class. Gilman has gone 24-0 so far this season and is 8-0 against the tournament field. Of his 24 victories, 21 have come by bonus points.
Although it is the second time Gilman has been the top-seeded guy at Big Tens, he has yet to earn a title. That, however, is not something that has been weighing on his mind very much.
“I just gotta go out there and take it one match at a time, one score at a time. If I do that, then everything else will fall into place,” the senior said. “I don’t really look at, ‘Oh, well I haven’t won an NCAA title yet, either’ … We can think about that after I win a title.”
Three Hawkeyes earned No. 2 seeds for the tournament: Brandon Sorensen at 149, Michael Kemerer at 157, and Sammy Brooks at 184. Cory Clark is seeded No. 3. Both Brooks and Clark will attempt to earn back-to-back Big Ten titles.
Senior Alex Meyer and redshirt freshman Joey Gunther both earned a No. 5 seed, while Topher Carton is No. 6, and Cash Wilcke is No. 7.
The two-day tournament will take place in Bloomington, Indiana, this year, with competition starting Saturday morning.
Clark is ready to go
Iowa’s go-to 133-pounder has missed five dual meets this season, perhaps the most notable being during Iowa’s matchup with then-No. 4 ranked Ohio State, in which he would have faced No. 1 Nathan Tomasello.
Although it has been a source of concern for many Hawkeye fans, Iowa head coach Tom Brands has continued to say Clark’s absences have been precautionary and that the senior has been ready to go every time.
Clark is 12-2 so far this season, and he said he is more ready than ever to get going at the Big Ten tournament.
“I feel ready to go. I can tell it’s the end of the year just by how things have been going,” he said. “Things get shorter and sweeter, your body starts feeling good, and your mind feels strong. I can definitely tell those things are coming on this time of year.”
The feeling is one that is shared by the rest of the team, Clark said.
“I feel like guys are peaking, and people are really figuring out what they do best and what they do well.”
First-timers at the tournament
It will be the first time five Hawkeyes will participate in the conference tournament. Four redshirt freshmen — Kemerer, Gunther, Wilcke, and Steven Holloway — will compete for a Big Ten title for the first time of their careers. Carton, a senior, will do the same after earning the starting spot for the first time this year.
While he doesn’t have experience in the tournament, Gunther pretty much knows what to expect. He said he is excited to get going with the competition.
“I’m feeling good. It’s my first time in the lineup, first time at a Big Ten Tournament. I’m feeling good and ready to go, feeling healthy. I’m just ready to compete and ready to see what I can do,” Gunther said. “I’m really excited for Big Tens … It looks awesome, something that I’ve been wanting to do since I was little.”
