Indiana to Compete in Big Ten Championships

Saturday, March 9

College Park, Md.

10 AM, 5 PM, & 7 PM

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships

Buy Tickets

Ann Arbor, MI - March 04, 2023 - Graham Rooks during the Big Ten Championship at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Photo By Sammy Nance/Indiana Athletics

3/8/2024 10:00:00 AM | Wrestling

Tournament Notes (PDF)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. –––– Wrestling's postseason has arrived as Indiana is slated to compete in the 2024 Big Ten Championships on Saturday March 9 and Sunday March 10 at the XFINITY Center.

The conference tournament's format will feature four sessions across the two days to determine the Big Ten's best wrestler at each weight class and which wrestlers will clinch automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.

For the full list of NCAA automatic qualification spots available at each weight class in each conference tournament this weekend.

B1G TIME:
-The most exciting time of the season is here as postseason wrestling has arrived. The 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will take place from March 9-10 at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.

-This is the first time that Maryland has hosted the Big Ten Championships in the event's history.

-All 14 Big Ten teams will have a representative at each weight class as they compete for conference supremacy.

-Each day of the tournament will include two sessions with the first day culminating in the semifinal matches at night.

-Sunday afternoon will end with all placing matches and any necessary matches to determine NCAA qualification spots.

SEEDING SITUATION:
-Earlier this week, the Big Ten's Pre-Seeds for the Conference Championships were announced.

-The Hoosiers were seeded as follows: No. 14 Blaine Frazier (125), No. 10 Cayden Rooks (133), No. T-9 Dan Fongaro (141), No. 8 Graham Rooks (149), No. 3 Brayton Lee (157), No. 9 Tyler Lillard (165), No. 8 DJ Washington (174), No. 10 Roman Rogotzke (184), No. 10 Gabe Sollars (197) and No. 6 Nick Willham (285).

-Lee's seed of No. 3 is the best seed acquired by an Indiana wrestler at the Big Ten Championships in Angel Escobedo's time as a head coach at Indiana.

-After the coaches meeting the day prior to the Championships, the seeds will be finalized.

CHASING GLORY:
-For the ten wrestlers competing for Indiana at Big Tens, there is opportunity to add to Indiana's program history and legacy.

-Indiana has 13 Big Ten Team Titles and 53 individual Big Ten Champions in its program history.

-Last season, Indiana had three wrestlers finish on the podium at Big Tens with Graham Rooks reaching the semifinals and finishing in fifth at 149 lbs. with Derek Gilcher (157) and DJ Washington (174) both finishing in eighth place at their weight.

-In 2023, Indiana finished in 12th at Big Tens, scoring 30 points in the team race.

-Indiana is seeking its first Big Ten Champion since head coach Angel Escobedo was an IU wrestler, when he took first place at 125 lbs. in 2010.

NEXT STEPS:
-The results at the Big Ten Championships will determine the Hoosiers' path forward for the pinnacle of wrestling season, the 2024 NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Mo..

-Last week, the allocations of automatic bids at each weight class for each conference tournament was distributed by the NCAA.

-For the Big Ten, the amount of automatic bids for the Big Ten Championships were announced as follows, 125: 9, 133: 7, 141: 11, 149: 9, 157: 9, 165: 10, 174: 8, 184: 8, 197: 7, 285: 7.

-Indiana will seek to take another step forward as a program with its amount of NCAA qualifiers this season.

-Last year, Indiana had four NCAA qualifiers, its most since 2018.

-If Indiana has five or more qualifiers this season, that will be its most since 2013.