The top seed gives Tamillow supreme confidence going into the weekend. While a year ago his title may have surprised some, including maybe even himself, it would be an upset if the senior did not win this season.
"I won it last year and it was like a big thing," Tamillow said. "I was kind of worried - maybe was it a fluke or not? I'm like, 'No, definitely not.' I walked through Big Ten dual meet season.
"I'm going to win it, that's how it's going to be. Last year was kind of just an indicator of how good I am."
Dustin Fox, a senior heavyweight ranked atop the nation until his first loss of the season to No. 3 pre-seed Kyle Massey of Wisconsin in the team's final regular season dual, also expects to take home a title. Fox is pre-seeded second.
Ryan Lang, another senior who won a Big Ten title at 141 pounds last year, will be the seventh seed at 149 pounds this weekend.
Both senior 174-pounder Nick Hayes and sophomore 125-pounder Brandon Precin earned No. 4 pre-seeds.
They will all hope to get a good start to this upcoming "new season," because without a successful weekend it will only last two days. But at the very least, it will be a long, intense two days.
"You're taking the Big Ten dual meet competition and compressing it into two days," Cysewski said.
"You're taking some real intense matches - and there's a lot at stake there, not just to win the Big Ten title, but NCAA seeds - so you're compressing all that into two days. It's like playing Big Ten football, playing all eight teams in two days."
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2008 Woodie Awards
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