IRVING, Texas — South Dakota State’s Tanner Sloan is seeded first in the 197-pound weight class for this weekend’s Big 12 Wrestling Championship, conference officials announced Monday.
A senior from Alburnett, Iowa, Sloan leads a group of eight Jackrabbit wrestlers seeded in the top eight of their respective weight classes. He has compiled a 20-1 overall record and has won 17 matches in a row to enter the tournament, which is set for Saturday and Sunday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Earning No. 4 seeds were redshirt freshman 157-pounder Cael Swensen and senior heavyweight A.J. Nevills. Swensen has posted an 18-6 record in his first season in the lineup, while the veteran Nevills enters his final Big 12 championship with an 18-4 mark.
Clay Carlson, 17-7 overall, earned the No. 5 seed at 141 pounds, while 125-pounder Tanner Jordan (16-12 overall) and 174-pounder Cade DeVos (20-6 overall) are each seeded sixth.
Rounding out the seeds for SDSU were 165-pounder Tanner Cook and 184-pounder Cade King, both of whom are seeded seventh. Cook has tallied a 14-4 overall record, with King sporting a 15-7 record entering the postseason.
Unseeded for the Jackrabbits were Derrick Cardinal at 133 pounds (10-13 record) and 149-pounder Alek Martin (17-12 overall). Both are redshirt freshmen.
Defending champion Missouri paced the league with all 10 of its wrestlers seeded, including a pair of top seeds in 149-pounder Brock Mauller and Peyton Mocco at 174 pounds. Each of the 10 weight classes will feature 13 wrestlers.
Pairings for the tournament are expected to be announced Thursday.
Action at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the evening session starting at 5 p.m. Competition Sunday begins at noon, with the championship matches slated to start at 8 p.m. The first three sessions will be streamed through Big 12 Now On ESPN+, with the championship round televised on ESPNU.
Big 12 Wrestling Championship Pre-Seeds
TOP SEEDS
125 – Killian Cardinale, West Virginia
133 – Daton Fix, Oklahoma State
141 – Andrew Alirez, Northern Colorado
149 – Brock Mauller, Missouri
157 – Jared Franek, North Dakota State
165 – David Carr, Iowa State
174 – Peyton Mocco, Missouri
184 – Parker Keckeisen, Northern Iowa
197- Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State
285 – Wyatt Hendrickson, Air Force
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