Penn State wrestlers want to make better on their Big Ten tournament letdown and the Ohio State Buckeyes want to carry their conference championship momentum into this weekend’s NCAA championships.

Meanwhile, the Iowa Hawkeyes want to end a nearly seven-year drought atop the team standings.

All of them can likely agree — the path to a team title and individual championships at nearly every weight class will go through the Big Ten.

“We want to be at our best at every event,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “I don't think we wrestled terribly at the Big Tens. We could've wrestled better at a couple weights. Ohio State wrestled great.”

The No. 1 Nittany Lions, No. 2 Buckeyes and No. 4 Hawkeyes will combine to send No. 1 seeds in half of the tournament’s weight classes. Ohio State’s Nathan Tomasello (133) and Kyle Snyder (285) will be the favorites in their brackets while Penn State’s Zain Retherford (149) and Jason Nolf (157) are top seeds for the defending champions who will try to win their sixth title in seven years. Iowa’s Thomas Gilman is the No. 1 contender at 125 pounds.

Ohio State has the firepower to potentially win its second team championship in three years, however.

The Buckeyes are riding a wave and they’re hoping didn’t peak with four individual Big Ten title wins from Tomasello, Snyder, 174-pounder Bo Jordan and 197-pounder Kollin Moore.

“I think momentum is real,” Ohio State coach Tom Ryan told Trackwrestling.com. “I think momentum is critical and we certainly have some. Those were some big matches that we won but we need to obviously perform at the same level we did last weekend.”

Illinois’ Isaiah Martinez is the No. 1 seeds at 165 pounds. In total, the Big Ten has 20 wrestlers seeded in the Top 4 of their respective weights including No. 2 seeds Michael Kemerer of Iowa, Logan Massa of Michigan, Penn State’s Bo Nickal, Minnesota’s Brett Pfarr and Wisconsin’s Connor Medbery at 157, 165, 184, 197 and 285 pounds, respectively.

“We’re going to have to wrestle very well in three weight classes that aren’t seeded,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “We’re going to have to wrestle very well at the 11th seeded weight class. We’re going to have to wrestle very well at the four and five-seeded weight classes and we’re going to have to wrestle well at the one seeded weight class and the two seeded weight class and the three.”

WILDCARDS?

Count Iowa’s Cory Clark and Penn State’s Nick Suriano among those seeded in the Top 4 who are entering the tournament with some injury baggage.

Clark’s been dealing with a shoulder issue but didn’t appear that limited in a tight match with Tomasello in the Big Ten finals, and Brands said he expected Clark to be fine to compete up to par.

“His injury is not an issue where it’s an issue,” Brands said.

Suriano’s injured ankle is much more mysterious, though Sanderson said Monday the third-seeded 125-pounder was wrestling live before the team’s availability with reporters. Despite that, Suriano hasn’t been available to reporters since suffering the injury in the team’s final dual of the season. He didn’t attempt to wrestle in the Big Ten tournament and instead received an at-large bid.

“He's progressing along,” Sanderson said. “It's looking good. He's in.”

RALLYING BEHIND BO

Bo Jordan’s Ohio State teammates were ecstatic to see their junior leader edge Penn State rookie Mark Hall in the Big Ten finals, and Ryan wore a massive grin as Jordan leapt into his arms to celebrate his first Big Ten title.

A Bo Jordan win is always infectious, Ryan said.

After all, the St. Paris, Ohio, native has been through enough — wrestled through injuries and ailments and dealt with losses on the biggest stages to cousin Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin — that his teammates seem to win and lose mentally and in their hearts with him.

“He’s very likable,” Ryan said. “He cares about the program. He grew up an hour from here and he’s a homegrown boy and has a lot of strong friendships on team. I think a lot of guys on the team know it hasn’t been easy for him in regard to some of the injuries he’s had and everyone just loves to see him do well because they know it hasn’t been easy.”

And he’s been key to Ohio State’s success including its first NCAA team title two years ago with two falls and a third-place finish.

“The first place finish two years ago, you had four guys who scored the lion’s share of the points in Logan (Stieber), Bo, Nate (Tomasello) and Kyle (Snyder) and then last year when we were third he scored a bunch of points so he’s just been really important to the program.”

UNDER THE RADAR ASHNAULT

Has Anthony Ashnault flown under the radar? Maybe to the common observer. His opponents don’t take the grinding Rutgers 141-pounder lightly, however.

They have even more reason not to do so now, too.

Following an early-season loss to Princeton’s Matthew Kolodzik, Ashnault has taken an all-out-attack approach and enters the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed and has emerged as one of the most impenetrable grapplers in his bracket.

Ashnault has allowed more than two points just twice since Midlands — one of those bouts was a 21-6 technical fall in his favor.

“I’m really confident right now, feeling really good,” Ashnault told Trackwrestling.com. “Really looking forward to taking the momentum into Round 1 of NCAAs. Not really looking past anyone but I’m really excited because I feel like it’s been a great year and it’s my best opportunity right now to go accomplish one of my goals and be an NCAA champion.”

What’s been the key to his turnaround? That loss to Kolodzik in the unfamiliar confines of High Point Solutions Stadium.

“I feel like that was a big mental loss,” Ashnault said. “It was late in the match when he took me down with a couple seconds left and then I tried to get out. I really just stopped wrestling. A big thing I’ve gained throughout the year since that match is just confidence level. I know I’m able to wrestle hard for seven minutes, attack the whole time and not take a backseat to anyone.

“Just because you’re up one late, don’t look to take breaks, just keep scoring points. Just because you’re up one late doesn’t mean anything. Finish up three instead of up one.”

ALL ABOARD THE FRIENDLY ZAIN TRAIN

Retherford smiled — like he always does — when told he might be the nicest wrestler to set foot inside Penn State’s Lorenzo Wrestling Complex in years.

But he wrestles with a mean style that seems to come out of nowhere. When a reporter characterized it as “wrestling angry,” Retherford politely disagreed.

“I don’t know if it’s anger,” Retherford said. “If I wrestled angry I would be maybe fighting the guy or getting frustrated. I think if I wrestle angry I get tired.”

Would he call it savage?

“Savage? I don’t know,” Retherford said. “Maybe physical. That’s just how I like to wrestle and how I’ve always kind of (done it). Watching guys wrestle, that’s kind of always what I wanted to do is wrestle physically. Just doing that and being myself is kind of how I flip the switch when I’m out here.”