Sammy Sasso was a single takedown away from winning the Big Ten Championship as a redshirt freshman, dropping a 2-1 classic to Iowa's Pat Lugo a year ago. The sport's Freshman of the Year had a fantastic season, and — until COVID scuttled everything — appeared on track to challenge Lugo for an NCAA title.
That match, of course, never happened.
But after the strangest offseason in memory, Sasso entered a condensed Big Ten season poised to be the man to beat in 2021. And he's lived up to the billing every step of the way, winning the 149-pound Big Ten Championship Sunday in State College, Penn.