Big 12 Releases Pre-Seeds for Wrestling Championships

2018 Big 12 Wrestling Championship Brackets | Big 12 Championships Information Page

STILLWATER – Tournament pre-seeds and brackets for this weekend's Big 12 Championships were released by the conference Monday afternoon. The Cowboys are tied with Northern Iowa for the most No. 1 seeds in the field with three apiece.

The seeds, as voted by the conference coaches, will compete over two days for 45 automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA Championship, as well as the 2018 Big 12 Championship team title.

Nick Piccininni, Preston Weigel and Derek White will each compete as top seeds at their respective weights. Three other Cowboy wrestlers boast No. 2 seeds in Dean Heil, Boo Lewallen and Chandler Rogers. All 10 Cowboys were selected as top-four seeds.

After posting an 18-3 overall record as a redshirt sophomore to go along with a perfect, 8-0 mark in Big 12 matches, Piccininni will defend his 2017 Big 12 title as a No. 1 seed this weekend at 125 pounds. The East Setauket, N.Y., native will open the event with a quarterfinal matchup against the winner of Wyoming's Drake Foster and Iowa State's Sinjin Briggs.

Kaid Brock enters the weekend with an impressive 23-2 overall record and a 7-1 Big 12 mark at 133 pounds. With South Dakota State's Seth Gross and Wyoming's Montorie Bridges earning the top-two seeds in the bracket, Brock will compete as a No. 3 seed at the tournament. The Stillwater product is set to take on the winner of North Dakota State's Cam Sykora and Iowa State's Markus Simmons in the quarterfinals.

Three-time defending Big 12 Champion Dean Heil will compete as the No. 2 seed at 141 pounds in 2018, owning a 21-4 overall record while going 6-2 in Big 12 action. The two-time NCAA Champion will match up with the winner of West Virginia's Christian Monserrat and Oklahoma's Mike Longo—both of which he beat in the regular season—in the quarterfinals to open his weekend. Bryce Meredith of Wyoming will compete as the top seed.

Redshirt sophomore Boo Lewallen enters his first Big 12 Championship appearance as the No. 2 seed at 149 pounds. Lewallen, coming off a 23-5 regular season and a 7-1 Big 12 record, will take on the winner of North Dakota State's Kyle Gliva and Utah Valley's Matthew Ontiveros in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Northern Iowa's Max Thomsen will compete as the bracket's No. 1 seed.

At 157 pounds, Jonce Blaylock is pegged as a No. 4 seed. Blaylock is 14-9 overall on the year thus far with a 4-3 Big 12 record. Competing in his home town of Tulsa, the Cowboy is scheduled to wrestle the winner of Northern Iowa's Logan Ryan and Utah Valley's Raider Lefthouse for a spot in the semifinals on Saturday.

Setting his sights on his first career Big 12 title after runner-up appearances the last two years, Chandler Rogers will head into the 2018 tournament seeded second at 165 pounds. Rogers has racked up a 17-3 overall record to go along with a 7-1 Big 12 mark and a team-leading 10 pins so far this season. The redshirt junior will open his weekend against the winner of Air Force's Alex Lopouchanski and Northern Iowa's Isaiah Patton. Branson Ashworth of Wyoming will compete as the bracket's top seed.

Set to wrestle at his first Big 12 Championships, Jacobe Smith is slotted as the No. 4 seed at 174 pounds. Smith is 15-4 overall this season with a perfect 4-0 record in Big 12 starts. The redshirt junior will wrestle the winner of Utah Valley's Kimball Bastian and Iowa State's Danny Bush. Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa will compete as the No. 1 seed, with Oklahoma's Yoanse Mejias and South Dakota State's David Kocer earning the second and third seeds, respectively.

At 184 pounds, Cowboy Keegan Moore is set to compete as the No. 4 seed at his first career conference tournament appearance. Moore has gone 15-7 overall this season and 5-2 in Big 12 contests, and will match up with the winner of Wyoming's Chaz Polson and Oklahoma's Matt Waddell—two opponents he knocked off in the regular season—in the quarterfinals. Northern Iowa's Drew Foster was selected as the No. 1 seed with South Dakota State's Martin Mueller and Northern Colorado's Dylan Gabel set as the No. 2 and 3 seeds.

A two-time defending Big 12 champ, Preston Weigel will head into the 2018 tournament as the No. 1 seed at 197 pounds. Weigel went 8-1 in the regular season in 2018 to go along with a 5-0 Big 12 mark. He'll face the winner of Air Force's Anthony McLaughlin and Oklahoma's Andrew Dixon in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Heavyweight Derek White enters his first Big 12 Championships appearance as the No. 1 seed. White has been dominant this season with a 20-2 overall record and a perfect 9-0 mark against Big 12 opponents. White opens his tournament on Saturday in the quarterfinals against either Wyoming's Sam Eagan or Air Force's Matt Wagner.

The 2018 Big 12 Championships open Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa with the first session beginning at 11 a.m. For tickets and other information, visit here.

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