The No. 17 ranked University of Wisconsin Badger wrestling team will travel to Michigan State and Penn State this weekend in hopes of earning its first dual victory in Big Ten play this season.
After a disappointing start of 0-2 against Iowa and Northwestern, the team has high expectations going into the duals this weekend, which marks the Badgers’ final road trip, as they host the concluding four duals at the UW Field House.
Wisconsin travels to Michigan State on Friday night to take on the only unranked team in the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans have only one ranked wrestler in No. 6 Franklin Gomez at 133 pounds.
“The expectation is to perform at a high level and force our will on our opponents,” head coach Barry Davis said. “If we do those things and have success at every weight class I think we can come away 2-0 this weekend. As a coach I’m trying to keep the guys focused on the task at hand.”
The Badgers currently lead the all-time series against Michigan State at 24-16-1. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in a Wisconsin victory, 26-12.
Wisconsin will travel to University Park, Pa., on Sunday to take on No. 16 Penn State. The Nittany Lions currently have five nationally-ranked wrestlers, including one returning All-American in No. 2 Bubba Jenkins at 149 pounds.
Other ranked wrestlers for Penn State include No. 8 Dan Vallimont at 157, No. 11 Jake Strayer at 133, No. 16 Quentin Wright at 174 and No. 17 Brad Pataky at 125.
“Penn State will be tougher, but I think if people wrestle as they have been as of late that we should be able to go in there and get the job done,” senior Zach Tanelli said.
The Badgers currently have five ranked wrestlers, including No. 1 Zach Tanelli at 141 lbs, No. 3 Dallas Herbst at 197, No. 5 Kyle Ruschell at 149, No. 9 Kyle Massey at heavyweight and No. 10 Andrew Howe at 165.
Davis is very happy with how his wrestlers have been performing recently and is setting the bar high.
“Ruschell has made a good adjustment to his weight class at 149 as long as he remembers to wrestle seven hard minutes and let his skills take over,” Davis said. “Andrew Howe, being a true freshman, the poise that he has and the focus that he has is very impressive. You can’t count out Massey and Herbst either.”
Tanelli said he is confident about the weekend and feels the team can come away with two dual victories.
That confidence is matched by freshman Andrew Howe.
“We’re going to win this weekend and get a national championship,” Howe said.
Davis believes the team will do well this season because of the experience, knowledge and motivation the veteran wrestlers bring to the team.
“We’ve got more of a veteran team this year and the leadership is good,” Davis said. “The two captains Ruschell and Herbst — with help from Tanelli and Massey — have been around a while and they know what they’re training for and the things they need to do in order to be prepared each week.”
“It helps me a lot,” Howe said of the veteran presence. “They give me something to follow and model myself after during workouts as well as matches.”
Even with such leadership and confidence in the locker room, Davis said there are still many things the team can improve upon.
“There are some areas we need to continue to work on such as leg defense, some riding, and some turning on top,” Davis said. “If we can improve on those things we should be in great shape for this weekend and the rest of the season.”
