With the postseason upon us, who better to talk to than a man who will be covering the Big Ten Finals, US Olympian Ken Chertow.  Ken has been a part of the broadcast team for the Big Ten Network in its inaugural season.  D1CW got Ken's opinion on some of the wrestlers who will be competing in the Big Ten Championships, as well as information about the broadcast itself which takes place at 3pm EST Sunday....

D1CW:  Ken, which Big Ten wrestler has been most impressive to you this season...

Ken Chertow: Brent Metcalf because he is aggressive and relentless.  It is great for our sport and our fans!!! We need more wrestlers emulating his style and more coaches emphasizing aggressive wrestling.

D1CW: Speaking of Metcalf, how do you think the 149lb weight class plays out?

KC: I think that Dustin (Schlatter) and Brent are the two best wrestlers in this weight class. I also like Lance Palmer and Bubba Jenkins, too.

D1CW: The number one team in the Big Ten and in the nation is Iowa.  Although, they will be a heavy favorite at both tournaments, what would have to happen for Iowa to lose?

KC: Iowa wrestlers, in general, are not difficult to figure out and they are all beatable so you never know.  Many of their best wrestlers are not experienced in Big 10 and NCAA competition, so no one knows for sure if they will rise to the occasion.

D1CW: What individual is most entertaining to you.  Not necessarily the best wrestler, but someone with a particular move, trait, skill or series of moves....

KC: Metcalf again. He is the most entertaining to me.  I want to see relentless combat!!

D1CW: Quite a few title contenders in the Big Ten (Gomez, Lang, Vallimont, Coughlin, and Bergman) and nationwide have moved up a weight class this season.  Explain why going up a weight class (or two in some cases) may not be a bad idea for some wrestlers....

KC: There is often little difference in the finals results when you move up a weight and it is a lot more fun.  You can focus more on schoolwork.  When not cutting weight you have more energy and the result is a more exciting sport.

D1CW: How has the first season of the Big Ten Network gone and what can we look forward to in the broadcast Sunday?

KC: I think it has gone great.  I have been pushing the BTN to add more wrestling next year.  It has been a challenge to make sure we work to create an entertaining product while educating the vast non-wrestling audience.  I have pushed hard for getting a lot of replays because I believe they are interesting to viewers, especially when there is not a lot of scoring during the course of a match.  I hope that everyone watching has enjoyed the coverage. 

This weekend I am changing hats.  We want to help the viewing audience get to know the athletes better so I am interviewing all 20 semi-final winners immediately after their match.  We will then show these as lead-ins to each finals match.  Then at the end of each final match, I will interview the winners live.  Covering the finals live with awards between each match, we decided interviews were a good idea to help our audience get to know our Big Ten wrestlers more personally. 

D1CW:  Thanks for stopping by Ken.  Tune in to the Big Ten Finals, Sunday at 3PM EST.