What are your feelings on how the Badgers have done so far?

Musky Hunter · January 02, 2014, 04:39:24 PM

Seems to me they have dropped off a bit as far pre-season rankings are considered. Also, does it really only matter to most on how they finish in the end? I would think a higher ranking would help out big time when it comes to the end of year tournys. Do you think the Badgers were over hyped to begin the season? I think they will surprise people for the better.

boowrestle · January 02, 2014, 06:42:08 PM

Jmo i think some people had way too high of expectations,its not going to turn completely around over night.The program took one heck of a hit last couple seasons.

theunionchair · January 02, 2014, 07:17:59 PM

Union Chair predicted the Badgers to finish 9th in the Big Ten, so sticking with this prediction. 3 All-Americans in Graff, Jordan, and Medbery. Badgers will finish behind:

Penn State
Iowa
Minnesota
Ohio State
Nebraska
Illinois
Northwestern
Michigan

imnofish · January 02, 2014, 07:39:22 PM

I think there is a lot of room for growth, along with the potential to do so. If they finish the season strong, I'll consider this year a success.

Harris · January 02, 2014, 08:02:20 PM

I sat and watched the Packer game this weekend with my family. We had one person that kept pointing out everything that was going wrong all the time and kept saying how much the team sucked. My sister kept saying, "stay positive, it's not over yet, they are going to win."

Being on this forum is a lot like watching the last Packer game. I am hopeful for the same result in the end.

imnofish · January 02, 2014, 08:42:32 PM

Quote from: Harris on January 02, 2014, 08:02:20 PM
I sat and watched the Packer game this weekend with my family. We had one person that kept pointing out everything that was going wrong all the time and kept saying how much the team sucked. My sister kept saying, "stay positive, it's not over yet, they are going to win."

Being on this forum is a lot like watching the last Packer game. I am hopeful for the same result in the end.

Even when you suck, you don't TOTALLY suck. There's always a chance to get better and succeed to some extent.

jjgris · January 02, 2014, 09:38:21 PM

Not gonna lie...I am disappointed. The good news is Tyler can beat all at 33 and we saw this week that Zeke is right there at 57. I really think we have an outside shot at 2 champs with Conner top 3-5 and Ryan, Scott, and Jackson shooting for AA. I know this is very optimistic but not beyond possibility.

DocWrestling · January 02, 2014, 10:08:57 PM

I am disappointed but hoping for some big results with the Big Tens on home turf

billymurphy · January 02, 2014, 11:00:40 PM

WI has a strong core of Graff, Jordan, and Medbery. Jordan certainly is the bright spot of the season. Graff appears to have taken a slight step backwards, but even with that he still is good enough to All American.
Thielke has struggled on the bottom more than any of us expected. WI is much weaker at 197 lbs than any of us expected. It will be darn interesting to see who wins the final varsity spot at 149.

JAMMIN · January 02, 2014, 11:31:49 PM

Quote from: jjgris on January 02, 2014, 09:38:21 PM
Not gonna lie...I am disappointed. The good news is Tyler can beat all at 33 and we saw this week that Zeke is right there at 57. I really think we have an outside shot at 2 champs with Conner top 3-5 and Ryan, Scott, and Jackson shooting for AA. I know this is very optimistic but not beyond possibility.

If you follow wrestling nationally, then you would know this is beyond a possibility. There are so many talented wrestlers people on here never heard of that can beat any of these so called AA's. I say Graff may be the only one and that isn't a sure thing. He has to be mentally ready to wrestle every match.

visionquest · January 03, 2014, 08:43:57 AM

Quote from: JAMMIN on January 02, 2014, 11:31:49 PM
Quote from: jjgris on January 02, 2014, 09:38:21 PM
Not gonna lie...I am disappointed. The good news is Tyler can beat all at 33 and we saw this week that Zeke is right there at 57. I really think we have an outside shot at 2 champs with Conner top 3-5 and Ryan, Scott, and Jackson shooting for AA. I know this is very optimistic but not beyond possibility.

If you follow wrestling nationally, then you would know this is beyond a possibility. There are so many talented wrestlers people on here never heard of that can beat any of these so called AA's. I say Graff may be the only one and that isn't a sure thing. He has to be mentally ready to wrestle every match.

Not 100% true, look at all the top wrestlers that have been beat this year. If any year is the year to come out of nowhere, this one is it. ANYTHING can happen, ask Ed Ruth, Logan Steiber, Tony Ramos, Kendrick Maple, etc.

DocWrestling · January 03, 2014, 08:52:10 AM

That is why they wrestle the matches. Badgers could have 3+ all-americans or could have none.

Just needs to be a year where the team takes advantage of having Big Ten's here in Madison. It is a big year that more Badger wrestling fans will actually see them wrestle than any other year and success at that tournament would breed some excitement for the future

Gutwrench · January 03, 2014, 08:59:14 AM

I'll keep a glass half full attitude. Is Wisconsin one of the top 5 teams in the country right now? No. Are they considerably better then they were the past couple of years. Absolutely. Wisconsin is able to walk out onto the mat highly competitive guys at practically every weight. Do we have ranked wrestlers at all weights? Certainly not. However I feel like we have guys who can hold their own against most other D1 wrestlers out there.

Hopefully the guys can take a second to refocus now that the new year is upon them. Hopefully they can improve and take that next little step. If so, then I think most of us on the forum would be feeling a lot better about the team then they do now.

One last thought, I think being home for the BT tourney could be huge. Maybe Jordan wins that match against DJD in front of the home crowd?

Briopiate · January 03, 2014, 09:47:14 AM

I think the Badgers are doing alright this year and are mostly holding up to what was expected. Especially after seeing the results of Midlands and the Scuffle. RT has only lost to the top guys, and has some quality wins as well. Graff has some tough losses, but I have to believe he will be at least in the top four this year. JT is not living up to preseason hype, but as it's turning out, his schedule of opponents has been probably the toughest anyone on the team has faced(see Midlands and Scuffle for examples). 149 has two strong guys, but I don't think anyone projected huge results from them..I do hope Lubeck gets a shot to show what he can do in some big ten duals. I think he may be a better matchup for most than TJ. Jordan is even better than I thought he was and can beat anyone in the country on a given day IMO. Cousins is Cousins. Leigel is on the cusp, he just has to figure out how to win the close ones against the top guys. Hein has not lived up to expectations, but he can still be close enough to have a chance to win most of his matches. McCall isn't doing as well as I thought he would, but I didn't think he would AA before the season or anything. Connor is doing well, but doesn't seem to have improved much from last year..in a very though weight class.

whatever · January 03, 2014, 09:55:51 AM

It seems that some posters want to use the Midlands results to label the Badger squad as disappointing or not performing up to expectations.

I would like to use some Minnesota results at the Southern Scuffle for comparison:

141 - C. Dardanes (#2 in country) - took 4th and lost to unranked kid and #9 ranked kid
149 - N. Dardanes (#1 in country) - took 2nd and was pinned by #4 ranked kid
157 - D. Ness (#4 in country) - took 6th and was pinned by #9 and techfalled by #8
184 - K. Steinhaus (#5 in country) took 5th and lost to #6 and #16 ranked kids

I'm pretty sure many Gopher fans would recognize that their team stumbled and underperformed at this tournament. I'm sure they also realize that's what tough season tournaments are for - to see how the team is doing, what they need to work on and changes they might need to make. Pretty sure no one will be blasting JROB at this point.

To sum it up - I think the Badgers are doing fine and I wouldn't put a ton of stock into one tournaments results if they were good or bad.

I think there are plenty of reasons for optimism and am willing to let the season play out and encourage these Badgers to keep working hard and striving for their goals. They have some young talent that will need to survive the incredible grind of a very tough schedule.