This past weekend, the Big Ten Wrestling Conference Championships were held at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois. The team struggled in their dual matches this season, but this bracket-style tournament offered a platform for some of the Wisconsin Badgers (5-12, 1-7 Big Ten) to shine individually.
All 14 wrestling programs in the conference are represented at each of the 10 weight classes. The Big Ten has historically been a home for wrestling talent, and the 2024-25 season was no different. Ranked teams in the conference include No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Iowa, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 16 Rutgers, No. 17 Illinois and No. 25 Michigan, according to FloWrestling.
Since each weight bracket consisted of 14 individuals, the top two seeds received byes, while the remaining 12 fought for spots in the quarterfinal round. This double-elimination tournament granted the opportunity to “wrestleback” as high as third place.
Starting with the 125-lb bracket, redshirt freshman Nicolar Rivera received an 8-seed and defeated his first opponent, 9-seed Cooper Flynn from Minnesota, via a technical fall, 17-0. But, Rivera lost by fall to Purdue’s 1-seed Matt Ramos.
In the consolation bracket, Rivera defeated Ohio State’s 7-seed Brendan McCrone and Michigan State’s 11-seed Caleb Weiand, both by major decision. Working his way back, Rivera passed Rutgers’ 3-seed Dean Peterson due to a medical forfeit.
Sure enough, this brought Rivera to a rematch with Ramos for 3rd place. Unfortunately, Rivera fell 8-5. Nonetheless, this fourth place in the conference was the best across the squad.
In the 133-lb bracket, 7-seed redshirt freshman Zan Fugitt took Minnesota’s 10-seed, Tyler Wells, to sudden victory, and landed a takedown to win 4-1. In the quarterfinals, though, Fugitt lost to Illinois’ 2-seed Lucas Byrd, dropping to the wrestleback bracket. There, Fugitt fell to 9-seed Nic Bouzakis.
Continuing after elimination, Fugitt won by technical fall over Michigan State’s 13-seed Andrew Hampton and added an 8-0 major decision victory over Michigan’s 14-seed Nolan Wertanen.
13-seed Brock Bobzien, a 141-lb redshirt freshman, lost his opening match to Minnesota’s 4-seed Vance VomBaur by a major decision. Continuing in the wrestleback bracket, Bobzien fell to Maryland’s 12-seed Dario Lemus, seeing his weekend end after two matches.
In the 149-lb tournament, 14-seed redshirt freshman Royce Nilo lost his opening match to Nebraska’s 3-seed Ridge Lovett via technical fall. Losing his wrestleback match to Purdue’s 11-seed Isaac Ruble, Nilo set himself up for a consolation rematch, falling to Purdue’s Ruble once again.
In the 157-lb bracket, one of the few upperclassmen competing for the Badgers, 13-seed redshirt junior Luke Mechler, lost his first match against 4-seed Jacori Teemer from Iowa. But, in the wrestleback bracket, Mechler earned a 2-1 decision over 12-seed Hoosier Ryan Garvick.
Unfortunately, Mechler would not be able to overcome Purdue’s 6-seed Joey Blaze, eliminating his chances of a podium placement. Mechler would continue in the consolation bracket, losing to Northwestern’s 7-seed Trevor Chumbley.
In the 165-lb tournament, 13-seed redshirt sophomore Cody Goebel fell to Michigan’s 4-seed Beau Mantanona, dropping to the wrestleback bracket. There, Goebel defeated Maryland’s 12-seed Alex Uryniak by a 5-0 decision. But, he would lose a tough fight in the next wrestleback round, to Nebraska’s 3-seed Christopher Minto.
Continuing in the consolation bracket, Goebel pinned Indiana’s 7-seed Tyler Lillard, followed by a sudden victory over Rutgers’ 10-seed Anthony White.
Redshirt freshman Luke Condon lost his first two matches in the 174-lb tournament, coming in as the 9-seed. First, he lost to Purdue’s 8-seed Brody Baumann, and then he lost his wrestleback match against Ohio State’s 2-seed, Carson Kharchla. In the consolation stage, Condon defeated Indiana’s 10-seed Derek Gilcher before falling to Rutgers’ 6-seed Jackson Turley.
14-seed redshirt freshman Dylan Russo lost his two matches in the 184-lb tournament, opening with a fall to Nebraska’s 3-seed Silas Allred. Russo lost his wrestleback match to Northwestern’s 11-seed, Jon Halvorsen, as well as their rematch in the consolation stage.
14-seed graduate student Niccolo Colucci faced Michigan’s 3-seed Jacob Cardenas in the first round, losing via technical fall. Continuing in the wrestleback bracket, Colucci fell again to Purdue’s 11-seed Ben Vanadia. In a consolation rematch, Colucci lost once more to Vanadia, via technical fall.
At the heavyweight class, 285-pounds, 14-seed Gannon Rosenfeld represented Wisconsin. The redshirt sophomore lost his first match by technical fall to Michigan’s 3-seed Josh Heindselman. He then fell again to Nebraska’s 11-seed Harley Andrews.
Already eliminated from podium contention, Rosenfeld continued to wrestle in consolation matches, pinning Northwestern’s 13-seed Dirk Morley, before losing to Indiana’s 8-seed Jacob Bullock. He closed with a 10-3 decision in a rematch against Andrews.
Aside from the Big Ten Championships, three freshmen Badgers competed on a trip to the Zingo Nationals in Franklin Township, N.J. Matthew Jens placed third in the 184-lb class, David Malin placed fourth in the 174-lb class and Carson Exferd placed fifth in the 141-lb class.
Ultimately, Rivera’s fourth-place finish in the 125-lb weight class was the only podium finish by Wisconsin. The Badgers finished 13th of 14 teams, based on team scoring over the weekend, as Penn State were crowned conference champions.
Looking past this season, the Badgers have a talented young crop of wrestlers, and they will look to return a significant portion of their roster. Two of the team’s FloWrestling nationally-ranked competitors, 125-lb No. 19 Rivera and 133-lb No. 18 Fugitt, are both listed as redshirt freshmen.
Goebel and Rosenfeld are two other wrestlers who are looking to solidify their positions, coming off stellar weekend outings. The team graduated six seniors last year, while 15 of 31 Badgers had been freshmen. A shift for this current 2024-25 season, the Badgers’ roster became younger, with 17 of 28 members listed as freshmen.
Looking forward to the 2025 recruiting class, the Badgers continue to recruit out of the high school level, already landing Wisconsin’s 2025 state champions Devin Bobzien (Milton, Division 1, 138-lb), Peter Tomazevic (Freedom, Division 2, 132-lb), Roen Carey (Mineral Point, Division 3, 144-lb), Tyson Imhoff (Iowa-Grant, Division 3, 157-lb), as well as Illinois’ Tyson Waughtel (Vandalia, Division 1A, 126-lb).
The NCAA Championships will take place from March 20-22. They will be hosted at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa., and 33 individuals will be invited for each weight class. The selection show for invites will be held on Wednesday, March 12, and Nicolar Rivera has already cemented his place.