Big 12 Preview
Where to Watch: ESPN+
The Tigers head to Tulsa for the Big 12 tournament and look to finish strong after a challenging season. They’re currently seeded to qualify four wrestlers but have a number right on the bubble. They have some tough draws that could become good in consolations if they come in ready to wrestle and score. This is a high variance team that has positive upside to keep their streak of eight or more qualifiers per season.
125lbs – 7 Automatic Qualifiers | Seeds:
- #2 Richie Figueroa, Arizona State
- #6 Stevo Poulin, Northern Colorado
- #12 Jett Strickenberger, West Virginia
- #3 Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
- #18 Tanner Jordan, South Dakota State
- #28 Antonio Lorenzo, Oklahoma
- #29 Trever Anderson, Northern Iowa
- #14 Kysen Terukina, Iowa State
Walker comes in unseeded and gets a brutal first round draw against Spratley who majored him in the dual this season. I’m not expecting an upset here, especially with Walker fresh off the scale. Barring any big upsets I think he has good matchups in consolations. He’ll likely get a rematch against Jett Strickenberger or Antonio Lorenzo, one that he’ll need to win if he wants to qualify.
If his weight cut doesn’t drain him, I think a match further from the scale could favor him. If he is able to get the upset there I feel relatively confident about his ability to qualify and at least place 7th. Walker’s season has been a rollercoaster, and it’s clear that he has been more drained in the second semester. If he has used this time off to peak and have a good cut, he is a sleeper to even push for a top five placement in my eyes. At the same time a poor weight cut could be disastrous and keep him off the podium in his first conference tournament. If he doesn’t get at least one ranked win here I don’t expect him to get an At-Large bid; even one ranked win would put him on the bubble.
133lbs – 6 Automatic Qualifiers | Seeds:
- #4 Evan Frost, Iowa State
- #18 Dominick Serrano, Northern Colorado
- #17 Julian Farber, Northern Iowa
- #21 Reece Witcraft, Oklahoma State
- #23 Kyle Burwick, North Dakota State
- #22 Cleveland Belton, Oklahoma
- UR Derrick Cardinal, South Dakota State
- UR Kade Moore, Missouri
A top heavy weight class, Moore got a top eight seed but will need some upsets to qualify this season. He gets Caprella in the first round, who he hasn’t seen this year but majored last season. This should be a good opportunity for Moore to get a good match in and build some confidence. He then would get the match against Evan Frost, who he didn’t see in the dual. I have no background knowledge but there’s a hope that he underestimated Garrett Grice in the dual and was expecting Frost and that is what led to the loss. A dialed in Moore could make this match interesting with Frost, although I’m not picking him to win.
