Tulsa Time ‘23: Big 12 Preview

WHAT: 2023 Big 12 Championships

WHERE: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

WHEN: 10 AM Saturday: Prelims

12:30 PM Saturday: Quarterfinals

5 PM Saturday: Consolation 1st Round

7:30 PM Saturday: Semifinals and Consolation 2nd Round

12:00 PM Sunday: Consolation Semifinals and 7th Place Matches

1:30 PM Sunday: 3rd and 5th Place Matches

8:00 PM Sunday: Championship Matches

HOW TO WATCH: ESPN+ for first three sessions; ESPNU for the finals

BRACKETS: HERE

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The Big 12 has 85 wrestlers in at least one of the major rankings. In addition to a conference title being on the line, they will be vying for one of the 64 NCAA Tournament bids that have been allocated to the conference. 10 wrestlers in the field have won the tournament before. Mizzou is a heavy favorite to repeat based off pre-seeds, but there are a lot of opportunities for Iowa State and Oklahoma State to make things interesting. If any of those teams slip up it’ll be UNI, NDSU, SDSU and Oklahoma looking to move into the top 3. You can really get into the weeds on the team race with the Google Sheet bracket in the tweet below. Here. We. Go.

* denotes previous Big 12 Champion

125: Top 6 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Killian Cardinale*, WVU (1/8/5/7)

-Jore Volk, WYO (2/2/19/19)

-Noah Surtin, MIZ (3/12/13/11)

-Stevo Poulin, UNC (4/21/27/21)

-Kase Mauger, UVU (5/-/-/33)

Tanner Jordan, SDSU (6/HM/28/26)

-Joey Prata, OU (7/HM/29/27)

-Reece Witcraft, OSU (-/-/32/-)

-Corey Cabanban, ISU

• Returning champ Cardinale is definitely a favorite, but this is one of the more open weight classes. Cabanban is back from injury and a dangerous unseeded wrestler. He’d likely be ranked if he would’ve been able to return two weeks ago. I think he gets into the top 6 and extends his season. A win over former YouTube sensation Stevo Poulin in round one would go a long ways in making sure that happens. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: U20 World Champion Jore Volk, Wyoming

133: Top 6 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Daton Fix*, OSU (1/2/2/2)

-Kyle Biscoglia, UNI (2/18/17/16)

-Zach Redding, ISU (3/22/16/18)

-Cody Phippen, AFA (4/19/26/20)

-Connor Brown, MIZ (5/HM/28/27)

-Wyatt Henson, OU (-/-/29/29)

• Daton Fix is head and shoulders above the competition in this bracket. The returning NCAA runner-up is looking for his 4th Big 12 title. Zach Redding’s big wins outweighed his bad losses. Before he gets a chance to repeat one of those wins in the semis against Biscoglia, he will have to avenge one of those losses against Cal Baptist’s Hunter Leake. He’s been wrestling well as of late and I think he’s ready to make a run to the finals. It would take a disaster for him not to qualify for NCAAs. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Council Bluffs native and 7-seed McGwire Midkiff, NDSU.

141: Top 7 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Andrew Alirez*, UNC (1/1/1/1)

-Mosha Schwartz, OU (2/7/8/7)

-Cael Happel, UNI (3/8/9/8)

-Carter Young, OSU (4/13/15/14)

-Clay Carlson, SDSU (5/12/11/9)

-Allan Hart, MIZ (6/16/16/13)

-Dylan Droguemueller, NDSU (7/24/29/30)

-Jordan Titus, WVY (8/HM/30/31)

-Casey Swiderski, ISU (-/HM/32)

• What a tough, tough weight. Alirez’s season is right up there with David Carr’s and Daton Fix’s. Behind him you may as well draw popsicles to see who finishes where. Swiderski’s draw could’ve been worse. Carlson has been very up and down this season. We’re going to need to see peak Casey Swiderski for him to keep his season alive, though. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: OU’s Mosha Schwartz — a UNC transfer — has been hot and could be headed towards a finals matchup against his former teammate.

149: Top 7 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Brock Mauller, MIZ (1/6/7/6)

-Colin Realbuto, UNI (2/13/14/14)

-Paniro Johnson, ISU (3/9/10/10)

-Kellyn March, NDSU (4/17/16/17)

-Victor Voinovich, OSU (5/24/19/22)

-Mitch Moore, OU (6/HM/20/23)

-Sam Hillegas, WVU (8/HM/28/26)

-Dylan Martinez, AFA (-/-/-/32)

• Here’s yet another weight with a bunch of title contenders. Mauller and Johnson are notorious for their close matches. Realbuto has big time wins. March won the Scuffle. Voinovich and Moore could put a run together too. Johnson’s path goes Moore-Realbuto-Mauller. Those aren’t gimmes, but I like his odds to win a title as a freshman. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Freshman Victor Voinovich has a high attack rate and if he pulls some upsets will put OSU in title territory.

157: Top 6 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Jared Franek, NDSU (1/2/3/2)

-Kaden Gfeller*, OSU (2/13/9/9)

-Jarrett Jacques, MIZ (3/14/10/10)

-Cael Swensen, SDSU (4/19/20/19)

-Derek Holschlag, UNI (5/23/21/23)

-Jacob Wright, WYO (6/20/22/17)

-Jason Kraisser, ISU (7/HM/26/29)

-Vince Zerban, UNC (-/-/31/-)

• After finishing 2nd to David Carr the past two seasons, Jared Franek seems like the heir-apparent to take over the 157 crown. In his way is Kaden Gfeller, a 2-time champ at 149. Kraisser draws Gfeller in the quarters. If he pulls the upset he moves on to NCAAs. The thing about Kraisser is he’s within 2 points of everyone he wrestles, for better or worse. Let’s hope his risk-taking pays off and he can bust this bracket up. He’s due. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Mizzou’s Jarrett Jacques could make the finals or drop to 6th. That’ll be a great indicator of how things are going for the Tigers.

165: Top 8 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-David Carr*, ISU (1/1/1/1)

-Keegan O’Toole*, MIZ (2/2/2/2)

-Michael Caliendo, NDSU (3/7/10/9)

-Peyton Hall, WVU (4/12/11/11)

-Gerrit Nijenhuis, OU (5/15/21/21)

-Wyatt Sheets, OSU (6/19/23/24)

-Tanner Cook, SDSU (7/17/24/17)

-Austin Yant, UNI (-/23/14/18)

-Cole Moody, WYO (-/HM/-/-)

-Frank Almaguer, CBU (-/HM/-/-)

• David Carr will wrestle for his 4th Big 12 Title against his toughest competition yet. He’s likely to see All-American Hall in the semis and the rematch with National Champion O’Toole in the finals. Despite Carr controlling the first match, I think I speak for all Iowa State fans when I say I’m prepared to be hurt. The adjustments made by each wrestler will be fascinating to see. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Bison Michael Caliendo of NDSU has just two losses this season — one against O’Toole (in which he scored the first two takedowns) and one against another NCAA champion, Stanford’s Shane Griffith (which he later avenged).

133: Top 6 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Peyton Mocco, MIZ (1/6/7/6)

-Dustin Plott*, OSU (2/12/13/10)

-Sam Wolf, AFA (3/13/19/18)

-Demetrius Romero, UVU (4/14/6/9)

-Tate Picklo, OU (5/20/22/22)

-Cade DeVos, SDSU (6/15/23/14)

-Lance Runyon, UNI (7/21/26/-)

-Julien Broderson, ISU (-/-/28/27)

-Andrew Berreyesa, UNC (-/HM/-/23)

-Hayden Hastings, WYO (-/HM/-/-)

-Gaven Sax, NDSU (-/HM/-/-)

• Plott won this weight class last season and looked like the favorite after winning the Southern Scuffle over Mocco. But since then he’s faded — taking losses to Mocco and DeVos among others. Broderson has a tough draw with Mocco first round. As an unseeded wrestler he will have to pull two upsets to qualify for NCAAs. He’s got the skillset, it just all needs to come together at the right time. And this bracket is begging for chaos. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Demetrius Romero is an 8TH year senior for Utah Valley. The old man on the mountain is looking to add to his 2019 and 2021 titles.

184: Top 4 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Parker Keckeisen*, UNI (1/2/2/2)

-Marcus Coleman, ISU (2/4/4/4)

-Travis Wittlake*, OSU (3/11/11/11)

-Colton Hawks, MIZ (4/23/23/25)

-DJ Parker, NDSU (5/24/27/27)

-Cade King, SDSU (7/19/19/19)

-Anthony Carman, WVU (8/HM/32/31)

• This weight is the least deep bracket in the field, but its got serious top end talent. Keckeisen and Coleman are on a collision course for the finals. None of those have gone Coleman’s way in the past, but the gap isn’t what it used to be. Sunday could be the day that flips. Coleman will have to get through past NCAA qualifier Cade King and 2021 All-American Travis Wittlake to reach his first Big 12 final. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Keegan Moore wrestles for Oklahoma now, but he started his career at OSU and made a stop at UNI. OU turns it on this time of year and Moore is a tough out.

197: Top 6 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Tanner Sloan, SDSU (1/9/9/9)

-Rocky Elam, MIZ (2/4/4/4)

-Yonger Bastida, ISU (3/8/7/7)

-Luke Surber, OSU (4/21/18/20)

-Owen Pentz, NDSU (5/13/11/13)

-Evan Bockman, UVU (6/23/26/23)

-Austin Cooley, WVU (8/-/-/32)

• For the past two years 197 has been one of the most fun weight classes both in the Big 12 and across the country. There is some serious talent here. Big 12 runner-up Surber vs. Pentz will be one of the best quarterfinals of the tournament. Bockman is a tough out but Bastida should find himself in the semis against Rocky Elam. I don’t expect Elam to cruise to victory like he did in the dual. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Alburnett graduate and SDSU Jackrabbit Tanner Sloan has always been good, but he’s having his best year yet this season. After winning a U23 silver medal last fall he’s earned himself the top seed. His mat wrestling can be a difference maker.

285: Top 8 Qualify for the NCAA Tournament

Ranked Wrestlers (Big 12 Seed/FloWrestling/InterMat/Coaches’ Panel)

-Wyatt Hendrickson*, AFA (1/6/6/6)

-Sam Schuyler, ISU (2/7/8/7)

-Zach Elam, MIZ (3/8/9/8)

-AJ Nevills, SDSU (4/12/14/12)

-Michael Wolfgram, WVU (5/14/23/21)

-Josh Heindselman, OU (6/18/21/17)

-Tyrell Gordon, UNI (7/15/13/13)

-Konner Doucet, OSU (8/17/20/19)

-Juan Mora, NDSU (-/-/-/30)

-Chase Trussell, UVU (-/HM/-/-)

• Heavyweight in the Big 12 is really, really fun. Air Force’s Hendrickson is leading the country in pins again this year. Zach Elam could be key to Mizzou’s title run. And the 4 through 8 seeds all have big time signature wins this year. Schuyler starts with a rematch against Gordon, who he beat handily in the dual. After that he’s set to see Zach Elam for the 5th time in their careers. I think 2023 Sam Schuyler wins that one. And in the finals he gets a chance to really turn some heads by upsetting Hendrickson. Non-ISU wrestler to watch: Gordon went to Waterloo East (same as ISU legend Kyven Gadson). Last year he had a losing record. This year he’s one of the most improved wrestlers in the country, and way better than his 7 seed shows.