The No.16 University of Wisconsin men’s wrestling team begins its postseason this weekend at the Big Ten Championships in University Park, Pa.
The Badgers, who are 9-8-0 overall and 3-5-0 in the Big Ten, hope to improve on their sixth-place finish last year as they send 10 grapplers to University Park.
Four of the eight wrestlers who qualified for the NCAA Championships last year will compete this weekend — junior Kyle Ruschell and seniors Zach Tanelli, Dallas Herbst and Kyle Massey. Not to be outdone are the Badgers’ first-year grapplers, as six of the 10 Badgers who are traveling to Penn State this weekend are competing in their first Big Ten Championship.
One of those first-year grapplers is true freshman Andrew Howe, who has been wrestling well as of late. The true freshman is undefeated in all of his Big Ten matches this season and is the highest-ranked freshman, true or redshirt, in the country at No. 2.
Howe entered the rankings for the first time Dec. 9 at No. 15 and has risen ever since.
“I just want to win,” Howe said. “I’m not going to over think it this weekend — just going to go out there and do what I have to do to win.”
Herbst is also looking forward to a successful weekend as a senior after his third-place finish at last year’s Big Ten Championship was the highest of all UW wrestlers.
“I’m just looking forward to going out there and wrestling good guys and hopefully everything will work out and I will come out on top,” Herbst said.
The senior has also enjoyed an undefeated Big Ten campaign and hopes to carry that success into this weekend.
“It’s nice having that mental edge, but I still have to go out and wrestle hard every match,” Herbst said. “I can’t overlook anybody.”
Tanelli has also had much recent success on the mats, though he did not wrestle in the Badgers last match against Ohio State. Tanelli ended his senior season 23-3 overall and 15-1 in dual meets and carries a 16-match win streak into the Big Ten Championships, but he says this will not affect his style of wrestling.
“I don’t think about [the streak] too much,” Tanelli said. “I know that I’ve been wrestling well against my opponents and plan on using that to my advantage. As long as I wrestle my style, the wins will take care of themselves.”
Tanelli also brings his No. 1 ranking at 141 pounds into the Big Tens, a spot he has held for the last five weeks.
“Right now I am really confident and have proven myself to the whole country by beating the best and have established myself as the guy to beat,” Tanelli said. “I am very open and willing to compet[e] and look forward to this weekend’s meet.”
Herbst, Tanelli and Howe are seeded No. 1 in their respective weight classes for this weekend’s championships, while seven of the 10 individual Big Ten champions from 2008 return to this year’s championships.
Iowa won the 2008 Big Ten Championships with 127 points while Minnesota finished as runner-up with 112.5 points.
UW head coach Barry Davis and the rest of the Badger men hope Herbst, Tanelli and Howe to achieve the team’s first individual Big Ten champion since Tom Clum captured the 133-pound title in 2006.
The Badgers placed seventh as a team in 2006 and had their highest finish under Davis in 2007 placing second. Although Wisconsin has had 41 Big Ten Champions in the history of their program, they have never won the Big Ten team title. The veterans, Herbst and Tanelli plan to use their experience to achieve first place finishes this weekend.
“You learn something every time you go out there and wrestle,” Herbst said. “Now we kind of know what to expect and know what we have to do to be standing on that first place podium when it’s all over.”
Although this weekend’s meet is huge as far as Big Ten individual and team championship implications, it is followed by the NCAA Championships where Herbst will attempt to qualify for his fourth straight birth.
“It would mean a lot to me [to qualify for my fourth NCAA Championship],” Herbst said. “I would definitely be disappointed if I didn’t, but I’m just really looking forward to getting down there and making some noise at nationals.”
