IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The greatest wrestling venue in the country is hosting the NCAA's largest national qualifier this weekend when the Big Ten Conference Championships begin Saturday morning inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Big Ten Championships is one of eight qualifying tournaments across the country, and the NCAA has awarded the conference 70 of its 284 automatic qualifying bids for the national tournament at Madison Square Garden from March 17-19.
One-hundred and forty wrestlers from 14 Big Ten institutions will compete for those 70 automatic berths during the two-day tournament. That same number of wrestlers will chase 10 conference gold medals, and that's the immediate prize from a Hawkeyes' perspective.