IRVING, Texas – Pre-seeding for the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship, set for March 7-8 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, was announced Wednesday, March 4. Seven North Dakota State wrestlers were in the top eight in their weight classes. All seeding and brackets are subject to change.
The pre-seeds were voted into their positions by the league’s 12 head coaches and are subject to change. Final seeds will be confirmed at Friday’s pre-championship coaches meeting.
Oklahoma State’s Nick Piccininni (125), Boo Lewallen (149) and Travis Wittlake (165) earned top seeds. Northern Iowa’s Bryce Steiert (174) and Taylor Lujan (184) will be in the top spot in their respective weight class, while Wyoming’s Montorie Bridges (133), Oklahoma’s Dom Demas (141), Iowa State’s David Carr (157), West Virginia’s Noah Adams (197) and Utah Valley’s Tate Orndorff (HWT) round out the top seeds.
North Dakota State 157-pound redshirt freshman Jared Franek and 165 pound senior Andrew Fogarty are No. 2; 133 Cam Sykora is No. 3; 125 McGwire Midkiff is No. 4; 149 Jaden Van Maanen and 285 Brandon Metz are No. 7, and 197 Cordell Eaton is No. 8.
North Dakota State by weight class:
125 — #4 McGwire Midkiff (11-6 overall, 6-4 dual)
133 -– #3 Cam Sykora (14-4, 10-3)
141 — Dylan Droegemueller (12-8, 4-4)
149 — #7 Jaden Van Maanen (11-14, 5-9)
157– #2 Jared Franek (24-6, 12-2)
165 — #2 Andrew Fogarty (19-3, 12-1)
174 — Luke Weber (14-10, 3-3)
184 — Noah Cressell (10-10, 4-6)
197 — #8 Cordell Eaton (11-10, 5-8)
285 — #7 Brandon Metz (20-8, 8-4)
The breakdown of the 54 NCAA automatic bids per weight class for the Big 12 Wrestling Championship is as follows: 125 (4), 133 (8), 141 (5), 149 (5), 157 (5), 165 (4), 174 (5), 184 (5), 197 (6), 285 (7).
Tickets for the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship can be purchased online through TicketMaster.
This is the fifth consecutive year for the Big 12 Championship to be held at a neutral site as the league is the only Division I conference to host its wrestling championship away from a campus venue.
Fans can follow the first three sessions on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ while the championship session will be broadcasted by Fox Sports Regional Networks and available on FoxSportsGo.com. Live results at TrackWrestling.com.
For more information on the Big 12 Wrestling Championships, visit Big12Sports.com.
Check out Bison Wrestling at gobison.com and on Twitter.
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