California Baptist University
Big 12 Championships
BIG 12 Wrestling Championship Brackets Released
3/2/2023 11:55:00 AM | Wrestling
IRVING--- The Big 12 announced the pairings for the 2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championship, which is set to take place March 4-5 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. California Baptist University wrestling will compete for the first time in the tournament in their inaugural year as a conference affiliate.
CBU's Hunter Leake earned the #6 seed in the 133lb weight class and will face Kobe Nelms of Utah Valley in the tournament's opening round. Leake finished the season winning three of his final four duals, outscoring his opponents 29-2 in those victories.
Frank Almaguer and Cade Gerlach will have the two most challenging opening round assignments. Almaguer will face Missouri's Keegan O'Toole, the defending BIG 12 champion in the 165 lb weight class, and is 12-1 in duals this season for the Tigers. Gerlach's matchup will be with the #1 seed in the 197 brackets in Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State. Sloan and Gerlach met earlier this season in Riverside, with Sloan coming away with the major decision win.
Check out the rest of the matchups: here.
*Note Devin Garcia will replace Elijah Griffin in the 125 bracket due to injury.
Details:
The Championship begins Saturday at 10 a.m. CT with preliminary & quarterfinal matches, while the semifinal and consolation quarterfinal matches will begin at 5 p.m. CT Saturday. The Championship will resume Sunday morning at Noon CT with the consolation semifinals and the third and fifth-place matches before concluding with the Championship matches at 8:00 p.m. CT.
Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will broadcast the first three sessions of the event, while the championship round will air on ESPNU.
This is the eighth neutral-site conference championship for the sport and the seventh in Tulsa. With the addition of California Baptist this season, 13 teams will compete for the Conference title. Last year, the Missouri Tigers earned their second Conference title in program history, scoring 131.5 points.
Tickets to the Big 12 Wrestling Championship can be purchased at TicketMaster.
2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championship Schedule
Saturday, March 4
Session 1: Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches - 10:00 a.m. CT
Session 2: Semifinal & Consolation Quarterfinal Matches - 5:00 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 5
Session 3: Consolation Semifinals, Third, Fifth & Seventh Place Matches - Noon CT
Session 4: Championship Matches - 8:00 p.m. CT
Players Mentioned
