Wrestling Wreport: the National Championship edition

Your 2011 NCAA Wrestling Champs!

Cael Sanderson left Iowa State to come to Penn State believing that the Nittany Lions were close to winning a National Title and, with his help, they could achieve top honors. Coming into this season many long-time followers of Penn State wrestling believed that the Lions were a year away from winning it all but few thought it would happen this season. Oh there was an outside shot that if things went Penn State's way they may be able to pull it off but very few thought it would end like this. Well thanks to a lot of hard work and long hours of practice, Penn State has won the 2011 NCAA Wrestling national championship!

Wrestling Wreport: the NCAA edition

One last chance to post this pic again!!

The Big Ten wrestling champs Penn State Nittany Lions take a short bus trip to Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center to compete in the 2011 NCAA wrestling championships starting tomorrow. Coach Cael Sanderson came to Penn State to win the Big Ten and NCAA championships. Half of that goal has been achieved, can he make Penn State a national champ for the first time in 50 years? We're about to find out.

Big Ten Champs!

In just his second season as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, Cael Sanderson has led his team to a Big Ten Championship. Penn State becomes the first team in the Eastern Time Zone since 1973 to win the Big Ten's. PSU went 5 for 5 in the finals and got important bonus points in the wrestle-backs to earn a 1 point victory over defending champ Iowa. Penn State won the title with 139.0 points narrowly beating Iowa who had 138.0.

Wrestling Wreport: the Big Ten Championship edition

The Penn State wrestling team heads to Evanston, Ill this weekend to take part in the Big Ten Championships. The two day event starts Saturday at 11 a.m. and ends with the championship round on Sunday at 4 p.m. The championship round will air live on the Big Ten Network. We'll take a quick look after the jump.

Wrestling Wreport: Weekend Wrap-up

Penn State beat #20 Illinois 23-13 Friday night and then battled back to salvage a tie (18-18) against #5 Minnesota on Sunday. The Minnesota dual saw the return of Brad Pataky as the 125 pounder saw his first action in weeks. Results and thoughts after the break.

Wrestling Wreport: PSU takes on two ranked teams

Penn State host No. 20 Illinois tonight at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall and then travels to Minneapolis to take on No. 5 Minnesota Sunday at 3 p.m. The Lions will then host No. 12 Wisconsin on Friday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall which will be the final dual of the season and senior night. But before that let's take a look at the potential match-ups after the jump.

Wrestling Wreport: PSU sweeps the state of Michigan

Penn State traveled to Michigan to take on the Spartans Friday night and then took a short trip to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines. The Lions rebounded nicely going 13-7 in bouts between the two duals beating MSU 30-9 and UM 28-13. There were a couple changes to the lineup as Nate Morgan wrestled for a still injured Brad Pataky and the coaching staff went with Nick Fischer at 165 instead of Jake Kemerer and it worked out, Fisher had a major and lost a tough 5-2 decision to 19th ranked Dan Yates of Michigan.

Wrestling Wreport: redemption weekend

True freshman Nate Morgan will probably get the call this weekend at 125

After a deflating loss to Iowa, Penn State looks to rebound this weekend taking on Michigan State tonight and Michigan on Sunday. The team is saying they have put the loss in the past but the question on everyone's mind is how well will they rebound? Tonight's dual probably won't give us the answer but Sunday's most definitely will. Michigan State has only 1 ranked wrestler while Michigan has 6. MSU is coming off an upset victory of top-20 Illinois this past weekend but they just don't stack up well against Penn State. Probable matchups after the break.

Wrestling Wreport: that’s what I call a disaster

Pic from my crappy iPhone camera

For most of the season the Penn State wrestling team has been far exceeding expectations to the point that they've climbed all the way to #1 in the polls. With a few small exceptions the lineup from top to bottom has been getting better and better all year and although they are very young they've got 7 wrestlers ranked. Going into Sunday's sold-out dual, Penn State had a pretty clear cut path to beating defending champ Iowa: win the matches where they were ranked higher, limit the damage where they were not, and get some bonus from their big guns. None of that happened and in fact the exact opposite did. Penn State could manage only one major while giving up a pin and a major of their own. They also lost three duals where they were ranked higher. In a word Sunday was a disaster.

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State new #1

Cameron Wade beats Pitt's Ryan Tomei

With Penn State's 30-7 domination of Pitt and the subsequent 36-8 dismantling of Indiana the Lions remain undefeated at 13-0. More importantly though, last week then No. 17 Lehigh came up with this season's biggest upset defeating then No. 1 Cornell 17-15.

In a season where these Penn State Nittany Lions have exceeded even the craziest of lofty expectations, this young team lead by 3 freshmen all ranked in the top 5, is now sitting on top of the rankings in first place. Granted, rankings mean even less in wrestling then they do in football but still, the blue and white Kool-Aid sippers out there weren't even predicting a season like this. It's truly remarkable how far this team has come in just two short seasons.

Let's take a quick look back at last weekend's action after the break.

Wrestling Wreport: weekend preview

Welcome to Penn State, Pitt your stay will not be a pleasant one

Penn State will travel to Indiana for a road dual at 2PM Sunday, but before that they get to host old-time rival Pitt for a nationally televised dual tonight at 6PM on the Big Ten Network. Since it's big enough to broadcast live on the BTN we might as well take a look at what is in store for our 2nd-ranked Lions.

Wrestling Wreport: PSU wins Virginia Duals

Penn State entered last weekend's Virginia Duals as the top ranked team in the tournament and did what a top ranked team does: cruise to a fairly easy win. The Lions hammered VMI 42 -3, then beat Edinboro 37- 12, #23 Kent State 27 -15 and #15 Michigan 24-12 in the championship. The team seemed to walk through the Kent State match but other than that, they wrestled very well.

Wrestling Wreport: The ‘everybody wants to rule the world’ edition

*Cue mid-80's nostalgia*

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State destroys OSU

Ed Ruth enjoys stomping on guys bigger than him

What looked like a close match on paper, although I was predicting a comfortable 11 point win, turned out to be complete domination by the men in Blue @ White. Penn State amassed 3 pins and 3 majors while winning the takedown battle 23-4. One of the more anticipated bouts of the night did not happen. At 174, No. 13 Nick Heflin of OSU and No.11 Ed Ruth never occurred because Heflin was unable to pass a skin check before the match so Ohio State was forced to forfeit and Ruth moved up a weight to wrestle for an injured Quentin Wright at 184. The other matchup of ranked wrestlers occurred at 157 where David Taylor ranked 3^rd took on No. 13 Curt Sponseller of OSU.

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State opens up Big Ten play

Penn State will welcome Big Ten wrestling foe Ohio State to Rec Hall this Sunday December 19^th for a 2 PM dual. Before we look ahead though we have to look back at the utter ass-whipping the Lions put on old rival Lock Haven to the tune of a 48-0 shutout. It was a day of complete domination from start to finish. Penn State rolled up three pins, two technical falls and two majors to shutout the second opponent this season (45-0 over Harvard in November). Lock Haven could only manage 3 takedowns in the entire match.

Linkbacker U is all about Joe

I saw Tim got a chance to run Linkbacker for a day and I kicked and screamed until they gave me the keys. So let's light this candle.

Does Penn State actually have a team?

Maybe you've heard that Joe is having health problems and getting old but Mike Poorman of State College.com wants to know why no one asked anything pertaining to football.

Not once in either interview session on Monday was Paterno asked about a Penn State player.

Not about the Oct. 2 roadtrip to Iowa, where Penn State hasn't won in its last three tries. Or about the Nittany Lions' Nov. 13 road game at the Horseshoe, where Penn State has won only once (in 2008) in eight tries since the Lions joined the Big Ten in 1993….

…Overall, here is the tally of question topics posited on Monday:
Health, age, retirement – 9

Big Ten expansion – 3
2010 expectations - 1
400 wins – 1
Alabama – 1
Being happy – 1

A frosty shot of Jager to you sir for using statistics to show the stupidity of the national media. Someone tell me again why newspapers are failing?

Breaking News Flash: Bleacher Report actually puts something out readable; Hell freezes over

The Bleacher Report generally puts as much thought into their articles that I put into choosing breakfast cereals, but this is mildly amusing.

It was believed that his current contract, set to expire after next season, would finally be the end of his storied career. No one wants to see such a historic sports figure die in office.

But officials from Penn State announced today that it doesn't necessarily have to be end, should he die while still the head coach.

"We have an exciting announcement from our college of Medical Sciences and Dark Arts today," said enthusiastic school president Graham Spanier. "We believe we now have the technology to be able to bring JoePa back as an undead zombie, should he die soon."

Oh sure we can use this power for good but it's a slippery slope of doom, it's only a matter of time until this new technology falls into the wrong hands. Could you imagine a zombie Charlie Weis?!? There would be no way to satiate his lust for flesh.*

We R so smart

I know we've all been waiting for this day like its Christmas in August, because today is the day that the National Collegiate Athletic Association releases its APR data!! Penn State did well yet again.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's release of APR data starting with the 2003-04 academic year shows that the five Penn State head coaches consistently produce teams who beat the average Division I APR score for their respective sport. The NCAA announced yearly APR scores for all Division I head coaches in baseball (Robbie Wine), men's basketball (Ed DeChellis), women's basketball (Coquese Washington), football (Joe Paterno), and women's indoor and outdoor track and field (Beth Alford-Sullivan).

Keep your chin up Penn State Basketball fans, at least we've got that going for us!

If Tim can hijack posts with basketball I can do so with wrestling

Not new news by any means but I haven't had an update on the wrestling front for a while so here's one now. Penn State fans can rejoice this season because after sitting through a boring home schedule last season things are going to be different this year.

The Nittany Lions are wrestling 10 times in Pennsylvania. That total includes seven dual meets at Rec Hall.

"Getting more home duals was also real important. That's part of building a fan base. We need to have matches in State College."

The fan base should swell to impressive levels on Jan. 30 when Iowa visits Rec Hall. The Hawkeyes captured their third straight NCAA title this past season.

Penn State averaged 4,341 fans per home meet during 2009-10 despite a lackluster schedule. The Nittany Lions are primed to increase their average crowd because rival Lehigh (Nov. 14) and Ohio State (Dec. 19) join Iowa on the home schedule.

I'm already giddy with anticipation.

This and That

The Daily Tribune says this could be a banner year for the Big Ten. As long as Ohio State wins. Wait, what?

Defending national champion Alabama is No. 1 in the just-released USA Today preseason coaches' poll. Penn State is 14^th, one position ahead of Pitt. *snicker*

*and you thought there was no way I could fit a Charlie Weis fat joke into my posts anymore. Ha!

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Wrestling Wreport: Penn State finishes 9th

The Penn State Wrestling team ended the season in 9^th place at the NCAA Wrestling championships this weekend. The Nittany Lions had three All-Americans lead by 165-pounder Dan Vallimont who lost in the finals to Andrew Howe of Wisconsin. Frank Molinaro took 5^th at 149 and Cyler Sanderson took 6^th at 157 both finishing as All-Americans. In four years head coach Cael Sanderson has always finished in the top ten, while Penn State had placed out of the top ten in seven of the last ten years.

Vallimont came up just short finishing 2nd

TEAM STANDINGS, TOP TEN:
1: Iowa - 134.5
2: Cornell - 90.0
3: Iowa State - 75.0
4: Wisconsin - 70.5
5: Oklahoma - 69.0
6: Oklahoma State - 65.0
7: Minnesota - 63.0
8: Ohio State - 62.0
9: PENN STATE - 49.0
10: Missouri - 48.0

As expected Iowa ran away with the championship getting 3 individual champions while getting 5 in the championship finals. Cornell had a surprising run to finish 2^nd in the team race. As is usually the case, 5 of the top 10 were schools out of the Big Ten. The Big Ten lead all conferences with 25 All-Americans followed by the Big 12 with 15.

125: Brad Pataky (28-10) 2-2 in NCAA championships
Rd. 1: W, 6-4 dec. #9 Jarrod Patterson, Oklahoma
Rd. 2: W, 3-2 dec. #8 Matt Steintrager, Central Michigan
Qtrs: L, 0-15 tech. fall #1 Angel Escobedo, Indiana (TF; 6:27)
Round of 12: L, 5-9 dec. #2 Troy Nickerson, Cornell

Out of all the Penn State wrestlers, Pataky got a serious screwing by the bracket. He proved the seeding wrong by beating two ranked wrestlers in the first two rounds. When a wrestler has to wrestle four wrestlers in the top 10 including both No. 1 and No. 2 something is screwed up. In the quarterfinals not only did Pataky have to wrestle Escobedo but on his side of the bracket the only unseeded wrestler left was Pataky himself, on the other side out of the four wrestlers left only one was seeded. Pataky's season ends like it did last season: one win away from All-American status. Brad has one year left to get the elusive finish that all wrestler dream of, hopefully this will drive him. It sounds like it will.
"I've never had a feeling like this before," Pataky said, "coming so close to something that you prepare for all your life and falling short of it. Coming away from the tournament, I think I grew mentally as a wrestler," Pataky said. "It will fuel my fire for next year."

149: Frank Molinaro (33-7) 4-2 in NCAA championships
ALL-AMERICAN - 5th PLACE
Rd. 1: W, 9-4 dec. Donald Vinson, Binghamton
Rd. 2: W, 8-0 maj. dec. Eric Albright, Pittsburgh
Qtrs: W, 8-0 maj. dec. Torsten Gillespie, Edinboro
Semis: L, 0-2 dec. Lance Palmer, Ohio State
Cans Semis: L, 1-7 dec. #4 Kyle Ruschell, Wisconsin
5th Place: W, 10-1 maj. dec. Torsten Gillespie, Edinboro

Frank the Tank ended to his seed finishing 5^th. In the semis Molinaro lost a heart breaking 2-0 decision to Lance Palmer of Ohio State getting rode out the entire third period after giving up and escape in the second. The good news for Frank is that Metcalf, Palmer, and Ruschell, wrestlers that finished ahead of Molinaro, are all seniors.

157: Cyler Sanderson (32-7) 4-3 in NCAA championships
ALL-AMERICAN - 6th PLACE
Rd. 1: W, 16-12 dec. Bryan Deutsch, Northern Illinois
Rd. 2: W, 4-2 dec. Dan Gonsor, Virginia
Qtrs: L, 4-9 dec. #5 Steve Fittery, American
Rd. of 12: W, 6-3 dec. Anthony Jones, Michigan State
Cns Qtr: W, 9-6 dec. Justin Gaethje, Northern Colorado
Cns Semis: LBF Justin Lister, Binghamton (4:04)
5th Place: L, 6-15 maj. dec. #5 Steve Fittery, American

Although he finished an All-American in 6^th place, I think Cyler had bigger plans that fell through. Not to make a pun (ok, yeah I'm making a pun) but American's Steve Fittery gave Sanderson fits. In fact in his three losses the same thing that haunted Sanderson all season long hurt him in the Nationals: getting out from the bottom position. Sanderson got caught in a cradle for the pin against Lister and got caught on his back several times in the 5^th place bout. Sanderson actually built up a 6-3 lead against Fittery before back points turned the bout into a major.

165: Dan Vallimont (30-8) 4-1 in NCAA championships
ALL-AMERICAN - NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
Rd. 1: W, 8-3 dec. Matt Epperly, Virginia Tech
Rd. 2: W, 9-0 maj. dec. #11 Rick Schmelyun, Bloomsburg
Qtrs: W, 5-2 dec. Nick Amuchastegui, Stanford
Semis: W, 3-1 (sv) #2 Jarrod King, Edinboro
Finals: L, 9-3 dec. #1 Andrew Howe, Wisconsin

Dan finished his career wrestling well, ending the national runner-up. Really, beating an undefeated Howe was a tough chore and Vallimont never gave up, but it was a tough match that didn't go his way. All in all though, Dan had a great tournament dominating his first three opponents and getting the take down in sudden victory against second seeded King of Edinboro to send him to the finals. Dan finishes his Penn State career a two time All-American with a 3^rd and a 2^nd place finish.

184: David Erwin (31-10) 2-2 in NCAA championships
Rd. 1: W, 4-0 dec. Erich Schmidtke, Oklahoma
Rd. 2: LBF #6 Max Askren, Missouri (3:51)
Cn Rd. 3: W, 8-3 dec. Jerome Ward, Iowa State
Cn Rd. 4: L, 2-6 dec. #10 Mike Pucillo, Ohio State

Like I said in my preview, it was a tough first outing for Erwin at the championships. The nationals can be intimidating, everyone is wrestling hard. Erwin did lose to the eventual 184 pound champ, Max Askren but the loss to Pucillo is tough.

HWT: Cameron Wade (22-11)
Rd. 1: L, 1-3 (SV) #3 Zach Rey, Lehigh
Cns. Rd. 2: W, 1-0 dec. David Wade, Eastern Michigan
Cns. Rd. 3: W, 8-3 dec. #8 Ryan Tomei, Pittsburgh
Cns. Rd. 4: L, 0-7 dec. #11 Mitchell Montiero, CS-Bakersfield

Cameron actually wrestled well, coming within a sudden victory takedown of #3 Zach Rey in the opening round. Wade bounced back with two solid wins in a row including an 8-3 decision over Ryan Tomei, a wrestler Wade lost to earlier in the year. If anything, Wade got a lot of good experience from the nationals. Hopefully he can get back next season.

Final Thoughts
So ends the inaugural season for Cael Sanderson directing the Nittany Lions. It wasn't a great finish but considering PSU finished 17^th last season it is improvement. The season had mixed results with some highlights and some not-so-great moments, but not a bad start. I think Molinaro had about the most consistent year of all the Penn State wrestlers and of course Dan Vallimont finished out peaking at the right time. It was great to see Cyler Sanderson finish out his career in a Penn State singlet. The Nittany Lions will return next season with two All-Americans in Molinaro and Quentin Wright (after a redshirt year). With Pataky and Wade at either end of the lineup, Penn State will have a decent foundation. With all the big recruits currently redshirted and the ones coming in after this season Penn State should be poised to put together a decent dual team.

Wrestling Wreport: NCAA Championship edition

Penn State heads to Omaha, Nebraska, for the 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 18-20. The Nittany Lions will send 6 wrestlers total with 4 of them seeded in the final brackets. Former All-American Cyler Sanderson is seeded 4^th, returning All-American Frank Molinaro is seeded 5^th, returning All-American Dan Vallimont is 6^th and senior David Erwin is No. 11. Brad Pataky and Cameron Wade are unseeded. Sanderson represents PSU's best chance at an individual national champion but this is the championship and anything can happen.

Will there be another wrestler to join Phil Davis, Penn State's last national champ?

125 - Brad Pataky, (26-8) unseeded

Brad has a tough draw getting put in the same bracket as top seed Angel Escobedo of Indiana, but to get a shot at Escobedo, Pataky will have to get by Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma, the 9^th seed. Brad beat Patterson this season 8-6 in the Virginia duals back in January. If Brad wins he will most likely face 8^th seed Matt Steintrager of Central Michigan. If Pataky wins both he will face Escobedo in the quarterfinals.

Reasonable outlook - Brad was within one win of All-American status last year in the NCAA's and that has to be on his mind. Pataky has been up and down this season that's why he has a 10-8 record against the field. If Brad can wrestle his best, he could easily finish an All-American but he could just as easily leave empty handed yet again.

Prediction – All-American but barely

149 - Frank Molinaro, (29-5) 5 seed

Molinaro actually got a decent draw starting out with Donald Vinson of Binghamton. Frank should win that easily and then face either Eric Albright of Pitt or Mario Mason of Minnesota two wrestler Molinaro has destroyed this year beating both by at least 6 points. A victory there and Frank gets a rematch against Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin who Molinaro beat earlier in the year and then lost to in the 3^rd place bout in the Big Ten's. Frank got caught and pinned on a wild scramble so he will be looking for redemption. A win there and it's on to face top-seeded Lance Palmer of Ohio State.

Reasonable outlook - I think it's safe to say that Frank will win his first two bouts easily. He already beat Ruschell once this season and was beating him when he got pinned so I think Molinaro will get revenge and make it to the semifinals to face Palmer.

Prediction – All-American (it would be a disappointment if any less)

157 - Cyler Sanderson, (28-4) 4 seed

Cyler starts out against Bryan Deutsch of Northern Illinois. A likely victory there sets up a match with either Dan Gonsor of Virginia or Tyson Reiner of UNI, both unseeded wrestlers. A win and Sanderson would most likely face Steve Fittery of American the 5^th seed.

Reasonable outlook – Cyler doesn't face a ranked opponent until the quarterfinals and should easily make it that far. If Sanderson can make it to the semifinals he will most likely face top-seed J.P. O'Connor who Sanderson lost to 8-2 earlier in the season. It's no easy task but if Sanderson can pull off the mild upset of O'Connor in the Semi's I like his chances in the finals.

Prediction – All-American (I don't think Cyler will get by O'Connor)

165 - Dan Vallimont, (26-7) 6 seed

Dan will face Matt Epperly of Virginia Tech who Vallimont beat 4-3 this season. The winner most likely gets Rick Schmelyun of Bloomsburg the 11^th seed. Vallimont owns a 2-1 victory over Schmelyun in the first dual of the season. The winner of round 2 will most likely get Nick Marable of Missouri, the 3^rd seed in the quarterfinals.

Reasonable outlook – The sky's the limit for Dan, he has beat a lot of the guys in his bracket and the highest seed (No. 2 Jarrod King of Edinboro), Vallimont lost to by a slim 4-3 score earlier in the year. If Dan keeps his offense up, especially on his feet he could go deep in the tournament.

Prediction – All-American

184 - David Erwin, (29-8) 11 seed

David starts out against Erich Schmditke of Oklahoma. Erwin hammered Schmditke 9-3 back in January. A win likely sets up a match against Maxwell Askren of Missouri the 6^th seed.

Reasonable outlook – It's tough to say how Erwin will make out, it's his first NCAA tournament and it can be a humbling experience. Askren has never impressed me I think David makes it on to most likely face Dustin Kilgore of Kent State who Erwin lost to 11-5 this year.

Prediction – just misses out on All-American status

HWT - Cameron Wade, (20-9) unseeded

Of all the Penn State wrestlers, Wade has the toughest road. Cameron gets Zachery Rey of Lehigh, the 3^rd seed, to start off. Cameron lost to Rey 5-2 in the dual earlier this season. If Wade could somehow sneak by Rey things would get a little easier until the quarterfinals.

Reasonable outlook – I don't think Wade will make it by Rey in the opening round. That means he will have to do all his damage in the wrestle-backs and that's just too hard to predict.

Prediction – not much chance at All-American status but it will be a good experience for Wade

So if my cheery outlook is correct PSU will walk away with 4 All-Americans 2 of which will be returning next season. I don't think that's an unrealistic prediction, I think Molinaro and Sanderson are locks, Vallimont has a good shot and Pataky is so-so. Cyler is Penn State's best chance at a national champion but he will need to wrestle the best of his career, I don't see anyone else coming close.

TV Coverage

March 19	Wrestling NCAA quarterfinals	10:30 a.m.	ESPNU
March 19	Wrestling NCAA semifinals	7 p.m.	ESPNU
March 20	Wrestling NCAA medal round	11 a.m.	ESPNU
March 20	Wrestling NCAA final	7:30 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN360

Cyler Sanderson Big Ten Champ

Cyler Sanderson went 3-0 over the weekend beating Purdue's Colton Salazar 8-4 in the finals to become Penn State's 20^th Big Ten champion. Overall, Penn State qualified 6 wrestlers for Nationals coming in two weeks. Brad Pataky, Frank Molinaro, Sanderson, Dan Vallimont, David Erwin, and Cameron Wade all punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships. Penn State had a strong opening round ending that session in second place but a horrible second round with everyone losing except Sanderson dropped the Nittany Lions all the way to 5^th place where they ended. The showing wasn't superb but it wasn't disappointing either. I would have hoped they would get all 7 guys that were seeded through but Adam Lynch just fell short.

Wrestling Wreport: 2010 Big Ten Championship edition

Penn State makes the trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the 2010 Big Ten Wrestling Championship beginning Saturday and ending with the finals on Sunday at 2:00 PM. The Nittany Lions enter the tournament with 7 top four pre-seeds. The official brackets come out today, the pre-seeds came out Tuesday. The coaches will meet prior to the event and set the final official brackets and some seeds could move a little but usually not. The only portion of the tournament that will be televised is the finals Sunday on the Big Ten Network. It's extremely disappointing that we won't see more of the event <sarcasm> but I guess the Big Ten Men's Swimming & Diving championship which occurs the same time as the semifinals draws more viewers than Wrestling. </sarcasm>