Myles Amine against Ohio State's Kaleb Romero (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)The Top-10 performances from the last week in the Big 10 Conference:
1. Garrett Model, Wisconsin - Another week, another Badger wrestler with a stellar performance. This time, Garrett Model pulls a stunner over Minnesota's Brayton Lee at 157 pounds. Model, unranked last week and now No. 27 this week, scored a reversal and four takedowns to beat 4th-ranked Lee, 10-5, which included three takedowns in the third period to seal a crucial win in Wisconsin's 21-15 victory over Minnesota on Sunday, their first over the Gophers since the '10-11 season.
2. Brayton Lee, Minnesota - High highs and low lows for Brayton Lee this weekend. Before Sunday's upset loss, he won a winner-take-all match to lift Minnesota over Nebraska, a 4-0 win over Peyton Robb in the dual's final match. After a scoreless first period, Lee rode out Robb the entire second period, and scored a takedown in the third. He escaped after Robb took injury time and added a riding time point to cap both a strong individual victory and the Gophers' 19-13 win over the Huskers.
3. Myles Amine, Michigan - Won an overtime thriller over Kaleb Romero, 3-1, as Michigan crushed Ohio State, 29-8, in The Dual. Tied 1-1 in sudden victory, Amine and Romero engaged in a few exhilarating scrambles. Romero shot a straight-on double that Amine nearly covered for two until Romero Granby-rolled out. Then Romero hit an ankle-pick on the edge that Amine kicked out of and, again, nearly covered for two, but Romero scooted out of bounds. Finally, Amine shot a low-level head-outside single to Romero's right leg, Romero covered and rolled Amine through, but Amine caught Romero's lower back, posted, caught Romero's left leg, cleared ties and finished for two. Model and Lee maybe had more impactful victories, but this Amine-Romero match was far and away the most thrilling of the weekend. Bravo, gentlemen.
4. Aaron Brooks, Penn State - Followed up last week's impressive performance - major decision wins over both Maryland's Kyle Cochran and Indiana's D.J. Washington - with yet another dominant 10-2 major over Rutgers' John Poznanski, a returning All-American. Brooks went for four total takedowns, including two in the third period to secure bonus in what became a 27-11 Penn State victory.
5. Brock Hudkins, Indiana - This one may have flown under the radar a little bit since it took place on Monday, but Hudkins kept his perfect season intact with a come-from-behind 5-3 win over Michigan State's Rayvon Foley. He trailed 2-1 in the third and scored a pair of takedowns - one off an inside trip, another off a duck-under with 20 seconds left in the match to win it. People forget that this guy reached the bloodround in 2017. Not us, though.
6. Eric Barnett, Wisconsin - It would seem that 125 pounds in the Big Ten is something of a mess. Look no further than Barnett's 8-5 win over Minnesota's Pat McKee. That means Barnett has beaten McKee, who beat Iowa's Drake Ayala, who beat Northwestern's Michael DeAugustino, who beat both Barnett and McKee in his first two matches back. This circle will only get crazier the further we get into the season. (Great win here for Barnett, though.)
7. Tony Cassioppi, Iowa - Battled out of an early spladle scare to handily beat Northwestern's Lucas Davison, 7-3. This was a rematch of the U23 men's freestyle national finals, where Cassioppi won in three matches and then went on to win a U23 world title. On Friday, Cassioppi rallied from down 2-0 early by scoring a pair of takedowns. Hawkeyes ultimately throttled the Wildcats, 33-6.
8. Nick Suriano, Michigan - Suriano sure does look good in maize and blue, huh? He opened The Dual with a decisive 11-3 win over Malik Heinselman, on four takedowns, a stall point and another for riding-time. He's now 3-0 with three bonus-point wins for Michigan.
9. Drake Ayala, Iowa - Registered another notable victory in a 6-5 win over Northwestern's Michael DeAugustino. Drizzy overcame an early first-period takedown by MDA thanks to a cradle in the second that netted him a takedown and two back points, giving him a 5-3 lead. Some might say MDA was pinned in that sequence. Some might still say that.
10. Sebastian Rivera, Rutgers - You don't see many college wrestlers hit 100 career wins anymore. Rivera did that last Friday in his 22-7 technical fall over Illinois' We Rachal. Rivera is now 16-0 this season with 14 bonus-point wins - 9 technical falls, 3 majors, 2 pins. Salute to you, Seabass. Keep moving mountains.
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