Taylor, Minto Earn Top Seed at Big Ten Championships

Seven Nebraska wrestlers received top five seeds in the preliminary seeding for this weekend’s 2026 Big Ten Championships, the Big Ten conference announced Monday afternoon. The two-day championship event is set to begin Saturday, March 7 at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa., and will be carried on the Big Ten Network. 

The pre-seeds, produced through WrestleStat’s Tournament Seeder Program utilizing allocation criteria approved by conference coaches, rank 14 starters in all 10 weight classes. Penn State leads the conference pack with six top-seeded wrestlers, followed by Nebraska with two top-seeded wrestlers. 

After wrapping up the regular season ranked No. 5 in dual competition, Antrell Taylor (157) and Christopher Minto (174) grabbed the top spot at their weight classes. Three Huskers are seeded at No. 2, including Brock Hardy (141), Camden McDanel (197) and AJ Ferrari (285), followed by Silas Allred (184) seeded in third and Jacob Van Dee (133) in sixth. 

Four Huskers are making Big Ten Tournament debuts in the Husker singlet, including Ferrari, LJ Araujo (165) at No. 5, Chance Lamer (149) at No. 6 and Kael Lauridsen (125) seeded at No. 11. 

The results of the Big Ten Championships help decide the field for the NCAA tournament, March 19-21 in Cleveland, Ohio. Wrestlers can earn automatic qualification to the championships based on place finish in their respective qualifying tournaments. The same 10 classes will be used in conference tournaments and NCAA championships. 

Last season, the Huskers finished second with 137 team points, the most points recorded by Nebraska in a conference tournament. Ridge Lovett and Brock Hardy highlighted the tournament, winning the Big Ten title in their respective weight class, marking Lovett’s second straight title and the first duo to bring home multiple Big Ten titles in 11 years. NU had six top-five finishers and clinched nine automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. 

The Big Ten Network will offer live linear and streaming coverage of the championships. Session I begins Saturday, March 7 at 9 a.m. (CT) and Session II semifinals start at 4 p.m. (CT). The championship coverage continues Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) with consolation matches on B1G+ and returns to BTN at 3:30 p.m. (CT) for the final bouts. Additional mat coverage can be streamed on B1G+ for every session (subscription required). 

Nebraska’s Seeds
125: No. 11 Kael Lauridsen
133: No. 6 Jacob Van Dee
141: No. 2 Brock Hardy
149: No. 6 Chance Lamer
157: No. 1 Antrell Taylor
165: No. 5 LJ Araujo
174: No. 1 Christopher Minto
184: No. 3 Silas Allred
197: No. 2 Camden McDanel
285: No. 2 AJ Ferrari 

All Conference Seeds

125 lbs

1. Luke Lilledahl (PSU) 
2. Spencer Moore (ILL) 
3. Nic Bouzakis (OSU) 
4. Jacob Moran (IND) 
5. Jore Volk (MINN) 
6. Ayden Smith (RU) 
7. Nicolar Rivera (WIS) 
8. Dean Peterson (IOWA)
9. Diego Sotelo (MICH)  
10. Dedrick Navarro (NU)
11. Kael Lauridsen (NEB)
12. Nick Corday (MSU)
13. Ashton Jackson (PUR)
14. Abram Cline (MD)

133 lbs

1. Marcus Blaze (PSU)
2. Lucas Byrd (ILL)
3. Ben Davino (OSU)
4. Zan Fugitt (WIS)
5. Drake Ayala (IOWA)
6. Jacob Van Dee (NEB)
7. Sean Spidle (NU)
8. Braxton Brown (MD)
9. Dylan Shawver (RU)
10. Blake Boarman (PUR)
11. Caleb Weiand (MSU)
12. Blaine Frazier (IND)
13. Gauge Botero (MICH)
14. Jager Eisch (MINN)

141 lbs 

1. Jesse Mendez (OSU)
2. Brock Hardy (NEB)
3. Vance VomBaur (MINN)
4. Nasir Bailey (IOWA)
5. Dylan Ragusin (MICH)
6. Greyson Clark (PUR)
7. Braeden Davis (PSU)
8. Billy Dekraker (NU)
9. Henry Porter (IND)
10. Joey Olivieri (RU)
11. Dario Lemus (MD)
12. Danny Pucino (ILL)
13. Carson Exferd (WIS)
14. Jaden Crumpler (MSU) 

149 lbs

1. Shayne Van Ness (PSU)
2. Ethan Stiles (OSU)
3. Joseph Zargo (WIS)
4. Lachlan McNeil (MICH)
5. Carter Young (MD)
6. Chance Lamer (NEB)
7. Andrew Clark (RU)
8. Ryder Block (IOWA)
9. Michael Gioffre (ILL)
10. Drew Roberts (MINN)
11. Joey Buttler (IND)
12. Gavin Brown (PUR)
13. Clayton Jones (MSU)
14. August Hibler (NU)

157 lbs

1. Antrell Taylor (NEB)
2. PJ Duke (PSU)
3. Kannon Webster (ILL)
4. Anthony White (RU)
5. Cameron Cartabone (MICH)
6. Charlie Millard (MINN)
7. Brandon Cannon (OSU)
8. Luke Mechler (WIS)
9. Stoney Buell (PUR)
10. Victor Voinovich III (IOWA)
11. Bryce Lowery (IND)
12. Darius Marines (MSU)
13. Mekhi Neal (MD)
14. Ty Wilson (NU)

165 lbs

1. Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU)
2. Michael Caliendo (IOWA)
3. Joey Blaze (PUR)
4. Andrew Sparks (MINN)
5. LJ Araujo (NEB)
6. Braeden Scoles (ILL)
7. Andrew Barbosa (RU)
8. Paddy Gallagher (OSU)
9. Tyler Lillard (IND)
10. Cody Goebel (WIS)
11. Jacob Bostelman (NU)
12. Justin Gates (MICH)
13. AJ Rodrigues (MD)
14. Jack Conley (MSU)

174 lbs

1. Christopher Minto (NEB)
2. Levi Haines (PSU)
3. Patrick Kennedy (IOWA)
4. Beau Mantanona (MICH)
5. Carson Kharchla (OSU)
6. Derek Gilcher (IND)
7. Ethan Riddle (MINN)
8. Brody Baumann (PUR)
9. Colin Kelly (ILL)
10. Lenny Pinto (RU)
11. Eddie Enright (NU)
12. Luke Condon (WIS)
13. Connor O’Neil (MSU)
14. Seth Digby (MD)

184 lbs

1. Rocco Welsh (PSU)
2. Max McEnelly (MINN)
3. Silas Allred (NEB)
4. Brock Mantanona (MICH)
5. Chris Moore (ILL)
6. Dylan Fishback (OSU)
7. Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU)
8. Angelo Ferrari (IOWA)
9. Sam Goin (IND)
10. James Rowley (PUR)
11. J.D. Perez (NU)
12. Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (MD)
13. Ryan Boucher (MSU)
14. Cale Anderson (WIS)

197 lbs 

1. Josh Barr (PSU)
2. Camden McDanel (NEB)
3. Remy Cotton (RU)
4. Branson John (MD)
5. Luke Geog (OSU)
6. Wyatt Ingham (WIS)
7. Kael Wisler (MSU)
8. Gabe Sollars (IND)
9. Ben Vanadia (PUR)
10. Hayden Walters (MICH)
11. Gavin Nelson (MINN)
12. Dylan Connell (ILL)
13. Gabe Arnold (IOWA)
14. Alex Smith (NU)

285 lbs 

1. Taye Ghadiali (MICH)
2. AJ Ferrari (NEB)
3. Nick Feldman (OSU)
4. Cole Mirasola (PSU)
5. Braxton Amos (WIS)
6. Luke Luffman (ILL)
7. Koy Hopke (MINN)
8. Hunter Catka (RU)
9. Josh Terrill (MSU)
10. Ben Kueter (IOWA)
11. Hayden Filipovich (PUR)
12. Joey Schneck (MD)
13. Gabe Christenson (NU)
14. Caleb Marzolino (IND)