After recording its first tie in two seasons, the 4-0-1
Wisconsin wrestling team has to rebound for another tough match. Tonight, the
grapplers open their Big Ten season as they head to Columbus to take on the
Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ohio State comes into the match as the 13th-ranked team in
the nation. The Badgers are ranked three spots ahead of the Buckeyes at No. 10,
but UW head coach Barry Davis knows not to take Ohio State lightly.
"I'm sure they'll be ready," Davis said of his team. "They
beat us in the (Las Vegas) tournament. They've got quite a few guys who placed
ahead of us at the Vegas tournament. But, you know, that's why you compete."
Saturday night the Badgers were in Iowa visiting the
Northern Iowa Panthers and came home with a 16-16 tie. The Badgers won only
four matches during the night, and they also saw junior Dallas Herbst suffer
his first loss of the season.
As the Badgers head off to Columbus for an uncharacteristically
early season Big Ten matchup, the Badgers know that this match is just the
beginning of what could be a special season.
"It's kind of nice
because it's almost like a warm-up," senior Craig Henning said. "Getting in a real
tough match before we get a break. It's kind of like a preview of what we have
coming up when we come back (from semester break). So it'll be a nice
eye-opener for everyone to really show and really buckle down."
The Big Ten will
once again be a hotbed of the nation's best wrestling. Along with the Badgers
and Buckeyes, seven other Big Ten schools are ranked in the top 20. Tonight's
matchup not only features two top 15 teams, but also 12 individually-ranked wrestlers.
One of the big matchups will be at 141 pounds, when UW's 13th-ranked
Kyle Ruschell takes on No. 7 Jeff Jaggers. The two wrestlers met Dec. 1 at the
Cliff Keen Invitational, with Jaggers winning by pinning Ruschell in 3:20.
Ruschell is coming off a big upset Saturday of 10th-ranked C.J. Ettelson of
UNI.
"With Ohio State,
they're always tough," junior Kyle Massey said. "We didn't actually dual them
last year, so it's going to be cool to be able to get the chance to see them
this year heads-up. A couple of our guys wrestled them (last) weekend out in
Vegas, so it's going to be good to try to get some matchup there that we want
to see. We're looking forward to some big matches out there."
The match is also the Big Ten opener for the Buckeyes, and
they have selected former coach and former Badger coach Russ Hellickson as the
honorary coach of the match. Hellickson went 70-22-1 in four years for the
Badgers before heading to Ohio State. Once there, Hellickson went on to coach
the Buckeyes for 20 years, posting a record 272-170-6.
"We're going to come out strong," Davis said. "I don't
think we're favored here, but favored or not, that's why you wrestle. You don't
go by what's on paper."
