Preseeds for Big 12 Championship Announced: Romero No. 1

IRVING, Texas — The preseeds have been announced for the 2021 Big 12 Wrestling Championship set to take place on March 6-7 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Utah Valley has five of its 10 competing wrestlers preseeded in the top-eight of their respective weight class.

UVU redshirt senior and 2019 Big 12 champion Demetrius Romero leads the way for the Wolverines as he has earned the No. 1 preseed at 174 pounds. Redshirt junior Taylor LaMont is next by being preseeded No. 2 at 125 pounds, while sophomore Cameron Hunsaker (149) and freshman Danny Snediker (157) are both preseeded seventh, and redshirt freshman Ty Smith is preseeded eighth at 133.

Iowa State and Oklahoma State pace the field with three top selections apiece, followed by two from Northern Iowa, and one each from South Dakota State and Utah Valley.

Iowa State's Ian Parker (141), David Carr (157) and Gannon Gremmel (HWT) earned top seeds. The Cowboys' three top-seeds were Daton Fix (133), Boo Lewallen (149) and Travis Wittlake (165). Northern Iowa's Brody Teske (125) and Parker Keckeisen (184) collected No. 1 seeds in addition to South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan (197) and UVU's Romero (174).

For the first time, the Championship was seeded by an independent five-person panel. Brackets are expected to be released for the 2021 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday.

The two-time NCAA qualifier Romero leads UVU on the season with an unblemished 12-0 record. Fellow two-time NCAA qualifier and last year's No. 1 seed at the Big 12 Championships LaMont is next with a 6-0 season mark, while Smith, Snediker and Hunsaker will enter with respective 7-2, 7-4 and 7-5 season records. Romero is also currently nationally ranked as high as third in the nation (by InterMat) to tie a program record as UVU's highest individually ranked wrestler, while LaMont is ranked fourth (InterMat), Smith is 17th (FloWrestling) and Hunsaker is 27th.

Tickets for the 2021 Big 12 Wrestling Championship can be purchased online at www.bokcenter.com. All fans will be in POD seating, which increases distancing and minimizes fan crossover when entering and exiting their seats. Fans must purchase all tickets in a selected POD group, available in select section groupings of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 seats.

This is the sixth neutral-site conference championship for the sport and the fifth in Tulsa. Last year, the Oklahoma State Cowboys won their eighth consecutive team title and their 18th Big 12 title overall. All wrestlers participating in this weekend's Big 12 Championship will be competing for berths to the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championship.

Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will broadcast the first three sessions of the event, while the championship round will air on ESPN2 on Sunday, March 7 beginning at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT.