Friday night,
the 13th-ranked Wisconsin wrestling team starts off the Big Ten season in full
swing. After an uncharacteristic mid-December match with Ohio State, the
Badgers start on the road tonight with Indiana. Indiana, currently ranked 17th
in the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA coaches? poll, brings plenty of competition to
the mat for the Badgers, and head coach Barry Davis knows that rankings don?t
matter once it comes time to grapple.
?If you look
at the matchups right now, on paper they?re probably favored,? Davis said.
The Hoosiers
return eight starters from last year?s 13-5 team. Of those eight, four earned
All-American status, led by sophomore and currently undefeated 125-pounder
Angel Escobedo. Last year, Escobedo beat current senior Collin Cudd 2-0, and
Cudd knows he will have to wrestle his style to end Escobedo?s streak.
?He?s a real
technical wrestler,? Cudd said. ?He stays in good position the whole time. So I
think my strategy is to stay in good position as well but to wrestle at my pace
and at a higher pace than what he?s normal to. Take him out of his positions,
wear him down and make him tired and wrestle my match and not at his level.?
While 125
pounds will be a key matchup, perhaps the most interesting comes at the
157-pound weight class. The Badgers will send NCAA runner-up Craig Henning to
the mat to take on Hoosier All-American Brandon Becker. Henning is currently
16-1 and ranked second behind Illinois? Mike Poeta, the man who handed Henning
his only loss this season. Becker is ranked ninth and sitting on a 12-2 record.
But these two are no strangers to each other.
Henning lost
just three matches last season, and all three came at the hands of Becker. In
fact, Henning is 0-5 lifetime against the Hoosier senior. Davis knows that now
would be a good time for Henning to change his ways.
?I see Craig
now, he?s starting to really step up and really pick up his intensity,? Davis
said. ?He?s got a little extra edge to him and that?s good. That means he?s
getting himself ready for not this match, but the matches to come. But I can
see him more focused, a little more edge when he competes, which is good. I
told him the other day, off the mat, ?You?ve got to be disciplined.? If he does
that part, and we coaches do our part, it should work out. But this is an
important match to him. He?s never beaten the kid. It?d be nice to get that
first win against him. I think he pays attention to detail, we get some
different results.?
Henning, along
with the rest of the Badgers, had a busy Christmas break. While most students
had the chance to sit back and relax over break, the cardinal and white were on
the road, recording a 5-1 record over break with four duals in Texas, one in
Iowa State and one in Oklahoma. The lone loss came at then-8th-ranked Iowa
State, a team that had been the top-ranked team in the nation earlier in the
season.
?I thought we
wrestled well in those duals, had some big wins in those duals,? Davis said.
?At Iowa State we looked a little flat. We came out strong at the first two
weights, but that might have hurt us in the dual. I told the guys, ?Hey, you?re
a match away from beating one of the best teams.? And they responded pretty
well with Oklahoma. Now it?s Big Ten time, and that?s a whole different ballgame.?
Indeed, the
time is now. Last season the Badgers finished 5-3 in the Big Ten and are
currently off to a 0-1 start after a loss at Ohio State last month. The Badgers
know that now is the time to get the ball rolling and to put the pieces of
their puzzle together.
?This is the
time of year when we?ve really got to buckle down and focus,? Cudd said. ?[Davis]
is kind of walking us through that. He?s been preparing for this the whole
season, kind of getting everything right ? eating habits, sleeping habits ? now
we?ve really got to put that in practice and make sure it?s perfect.?
