Badgers Excited to Battle at Big Tens | Kirk Nelson

[Wisconsin Wrestling Fan]

Let's Go Trent!

[crossface21]

Probably to put the semis in prime time. They could have started the round of 12 earlier... I agree it is getting late..

I suppose there's a trade-off for the PR. But then they need to adjust the schedule and have these last matches wrestled in the morning. This is a bit ridiculous. I mean, I think it's great for me as I sit at home as it gives me something to watch, but it's really gotta suck for the wrestlers. This is a long flipping day.

[Wisconsin Wrestling Fan]

Hillger will wrestle Luffman for 7th Place tomorrow..

[DocWrestling]

So Burwick catches a break with Decatur not making weight but makes the most of it.  The one and only bright spot in a long day! Good for him at least.

[DocWrestling]

Why are they wrestling to 9th place when no weight classes have 9 automatic bids?   And if not for automatic bids why are they not doing it at every weight class?

[imwi]

Why are they wrestling to 9th place when no weight classes have 9 automatic bids?   And if not for automatic bids why are they not doing it at every weight class?

If they have 8 qualifiers and someone gets hurt, they need a 9th place guy to move up ?

[Wisconsin Wrestling Fan]

Why are they wrestling to 9th place when no weight classes have 9 automatic bids?   And if not for automatic bids why are they not doing it at every weight class?

It's for the fans in attendance....wait. 

My bad, just checked and fans weren't allowed.

If there are 8 automatic bids at a weight, they always wrestle to 9th. It is one of the wild card criteria. There are 6 or 7 national wild cards per weight this year, so placing 9th for Model and Krattiger could help their wild card chance. Barnett should receive a wild card based on his national ranking coming into the tourney.

[Wisconsin Wrestling Fan]

Dan Bertoni defeats Dom Dentino 5 - 0
Nick South defeats Josh Otto 2 - 1

[Wis-Mallard]

Illinois is having a tough tournament too. I would assume if you had 35 guys in the room you'd have a better chance of some guys turning into all Americans versus only 25. Not all recruits are going to be great college wrestlers.

[MNbadger]

UW messed up when they didn't recruit Askren alnd again when they overlooked him for Bono. Recruiting the #1 guy is great, but that one guy is good for 6 points at a dual. You guys happy losing duals 27-6 as long as we have one good guy?

" and again when they overlooked him for Bono."
Got to get over this obsession.  Askren has not shown the inclination or ability for the job you speak of, NCAA Head Coach.  I know this is blasphemy to you and the home town hero but pining away about it is a waste of time.  If not, it would have happened by now.

[wrestlemania]

"Currently in 12th place outta 14? Even Barry's worst year wasn't that bad. Time to think about a change or just keep drinking the kool aid?"

After season three? No. Particularly when UW's men's hockey team just won the B1G title in Tony Granato's fifth season and believe me there were UW puckheads ready to run Granato out of town after the previous three seasons. So you've got to give a coaching staff at least five seasons to build a program unless they're complete idiots and threaten to ruin everything.

"Like the #1 overall recruit in 2020? Or the #7 overall recruit in 2021? Or the # 1 Heavyweight in the country?  Yeah, Bono needs to recruit better "

Bono has recruited well as far as getting a few studs and some talented transfers but he hasn't built a program yet. 25 people in the room isn't going to cut it and I don't care if they're all studs. The Badgers need more depth to be competitive to deal with things like injuries and having good, competitive practice partners.

"It hasn't been a train wreck like it was at the end of Davis' tenure. "

In three seasons so far Bono is 21-18 in dual meets overall and 8-17 in the Big Ten.  His teams have finished seventh and ninth and probably 12th in the league meet.  Don't talk to me about "train wrecks" considering the Badgers finished sixth in the B1G meet in his final season coaching and the last match BD coached was Wick's third place win in 2018 in the NCAA meet. Just remember all you Barry bashers, the window for criticizing him for whatever shortcomings the program has is rapidly closing.

"Bono can recruit (It's a good a thing because he doesn't teach technique!)"

That's not very reassuring, on top of hearing his relations with the club and high school coaches in state are not very good.

" That is tremendous early in the season when you can steal a few wins here and there and maybe a couple dual meets to build fan base and create that excitement. The issue with that excitement is now people have expectations and when all the teams are now in shape at the end of the year you can't win those same matches."

Indeed, raise expectations and you can't meet them, then disappointment doesn't begin to describe the reaction. Good post.

"When you pay a new coach more than double the the previous one, of course expectations will and should be high.  Wrestlers are improving but after watching today, the other big ten wrestlers are improving at a greater level.  Wrestlers continue to lose to guys they beat earlier in the season."

That's not improvement and the whole point to paying the new coach double was to be able to hire a coach like Bono. Think of it this way: Barry Davis is the winningest coach in UW history and all those wins came pretty cheap for the UWAD.

"UW messed up when they didn't recruit Askren and again when they overlooked him for Bono."

What, putting him in charge of the RTC not good enough for you? Are you saying Ben's put a curse on UW which is going to haunt the program for as long as he's alive? How old is he?

"Please don't make excuses by blaming past coaches.  You take on job it's your job to build a better team."

Exactly. Stu Jackson took two UW men's basketball teams to back-to-back postseason tournaments with Steve Yoder's recruits. It can be done if you've got the coaching chops. 

"Next year!!!!!!! Hamiti is a top recruit and will likely win it all.  Come on, everyone.  That's crazy talk. Barnett was a top recruit in the country as well.  Don't put these kids on a pedestal."

I will say Badger wrestling fans are the kings of wishful thinking. That's why we're always looking forward towards next year! Indeed people thought Barnett was going to do exactly what we think Amos and Hamiti are going to do next season. I will also make the point that, unless he's said he's definitely coming back, don't be surprised if Wick, not being a Bono guy, finds himself some place else "next year" as a grad transfer ala Andy Howe.

"In 2012 they finished dead last with 9 points."

Yeah, those Olympic redshirt years are a pain as Barry could tell Bono.

[Metalman]

So, I see that there are those on this forum that believe if a wrestler is not meeting their previous standards that it must be do to being "all of a sudden" average at best or not wanting to be here. Has it dawned on those of you that maybe there may be some injury issues or training issues or both? Please jump on the bandwagon of thought before assuming reason. I don't know the answer but neither do you.

[PAUL]

It was a disappointing day for sure.   That being said, I don't think that it's totally unexpected given the crucible of Big Ten competition.  The margin of error is so small between many of these guys so that a single mistake or a lingering injury can make an enormous difference.  Also, it seems like the Badgers never really got that "momentum building" victory that for whatever reason ignites guys and often leads to another 2-3 (or more) coin toss wins.  In fact the opposite happened, and a demoralizing loss or two can really impact a team negatively.  I for one think that much better days are ahead and that patience is needed, although I can understand folks who are very, very frustrated and questioning of what is happening.  Go Badgers!

[npope]

Solid post Wrestlemania - lots of good points.

Not that it really matters here, but Tom posted a couple of links to the Badgers' Big Ten finishes back in their hey-day in the late '70s and it reminded me how much the system has changed. During that time the Badgers were a real threat to the Hawkeyes (and Iowa was just as good then as they are now - maybe better). Certainly there was talent in the room, but nothing like the #1 recruits in the nation (no, sorry Kemp wasn't even on top of the recruiting pile at that time). There was some out of state talent on the team, to be sure, but a lot of Wisconsin boys filled the room and developed into national and world talent inside that room, e.g., Haines, Reinwand, Hull, Jeidy, Lawinger, Rein, etc... Additionally, there was depth. I specifically remember having six guys at 118. True that they weren't all world beaters, but these are Wisconsin (and Illinois) guys who turned out for practice day-in and day-out. For most, the best they could expect is to participate in a couple of the open meets, e.g., the Northern Open, and the spring open freestyle tournaments.

Certainly, times have changed, but it doesn't seem so for teams like the Hawkeyes. Other than the incredible development of in-state talent that Wisconsin had, it seems like a similar recipe down there in Iowa...except their individuals aren't finding the same international success the Badgers were finding at that time. Makes one appreciate a bit more what Kleven and Hellickson were able to build there at that time.

But, back to complaining about Bono...and BD...and how Askren would have changed it all...

[mkm13]

"Next year!!!!!!! Hamiti is a top recruit and will likely win it all.  Come on, everyone.  That's crazy talk. Barnett was a top recruit in the country as well.  Don't put these kids on a pedestal."

I will say Badger wrestling fans are the kings of wishful thinking. That's why we're always looking forward towards next year! Indeed people thought Barnett was going to do exactly what we think Amos and Hamiti are going to do next season. I will also make the point that, unless he's said he's definitely coming back, don't be surprised if Wick, not being a Bono guy, finds himself some place else "next year" as a grad transfer ala Andy Howe.

[/quote]

Just so we are clear, who has made any projections on what Hamiti will do next year? I would assume most think he will redshirt.  Barnett is not the same level of recruit as Amos or Hamiti.  Barnett was not a top 10 overall recruit like Amos or Hamiti.

Barnett was more on the level of Burwick, Zargo, Copass, etc.  Good recruits, but a step below the elite.

Amos results speak for themselves. He just beat TJ Dudley, who was a mutliple high AA. I think it takes a pretty negative person at this point to think he wont be competing at a high level assuming he is healthy.