UW at Purdue January 23

[thesweep]

The lower and middle weights pretty much have met or exceeded expectations for me.

Andrew McNally seems to be hit or miss but he's in the B10 now so I can see how he's picking up more losses. Hopefully, he really turns it on in March

Weiler appears to me to be a guy who's suffering from HEWS (had enough wrestling syndrome,) which I can totally understand. I think a lot of us where there at the end of our career. With that said, he wrestled the best I've seen him this year today.  Maybe this what he needed.

Amos.  Looks like he is struggling with his hand fighting and getting to attacks. Guys are hanging on his head and wearing him down. The straight on shots are getting stuffed or thrown by. I don't know if it is he is being scouted or if it's just the next level. Unfortunately, against the better guys he has given up the first takedown, which means he has to play catch-up. Between, looking a little tired (still adjusting to the weight class,) looking a little frustrated, and being down a takedown, I think is causing a mental lapse or two that has put a few matches out of reach. The good thing is all of these areas can be improved upon and I think they will. I was really hoping he would beat Bulsak? the 2nd time around as he needs a breakthrough match. With that said, he's had some really tough competition, it's his first year in college, and the matches are close. He's right there with the top guys. Just needs to make some adjustments. I think he will figure it out.

Hillger has really been pretty good. Some tough matches that he dropped but it's hard to wrestle the same guys over and over and always win. Think he will do well in March.

[wrestlemania]

"The straight on shots are getting stuffed or thrown by. I don't know if it is he is being scouted or if it's just the next level."

I think you answered your own question. Probably a little of both.

"Between, looking a little tired (still adjusting to the weight class,) looking a little frustrated, and being down a takedown, I think is causing a mental lapse or two that has put a few matches out of reach. The good thing is all of these areas can be improved upon and I think they will. I was really hoping he would beat Bulsak? the 2nd time around as he needs a breakthrough match. With that said, he's had some really tough competition, it's his first year in college, and the matches are close. He's right there with the top guys. Just needs to make some adjustments. I think he will figure it out."

I agree, or at least I hope so anyway. His potential needs to be nurtured and developed otherwise you have another G-R flameout.

Barnett, Gomez and Hamiti have developed into some pretty consistent rocks for this line-up the team can count on.

Great matches by Zargo and Weiler today which won the dual for UW against a Purdue squad coming off a B1G win over Illinois and a win over Nebraska. They've shown they're a solid team. Big conference win on the road, hopefully a confidence boost.

[Harris]

That was a great team win against a really good Big Ten opponent who had beaten Nebraska.  It was also a great way to rebound from a heartbreaking loss.  That shows a lot about the wrestlers and the team.  The coolest thing about this team is you never know who is going to step up match to match.  That tells me they are fighting for each other and that intangible makes them very fun to watch.

Shout out to Joey Zargo and Chris Weiler for making a huge difference in this dual meet.  They both wrestled aggressively and with a ton of confidence whistle to whistle.  Those were big wins for the team.  Although I couldn't see the Barnett match, it was a big win against a really quality opponent.  Burwick, Model, and McNally were right there and any of those matches could go the other way at Big Tens.  Gomez, Hamiti, and Hillger looked great.  Great leadership by all 3 as always.  Amos had a rough weekend but he is a competitor and is slowly figuring it out.  The expectations were high but you have to remember he hadn't wrestled folkstyle in over 2 years.  Losing 3 out of your last 4 against top 20 guys is tough for anyone but it happens when you are a freshman.  I still can't wait to see his progression over the next couple months.  I love seeing his improvement on bottom.  That is huge.

[Harris]

Another thought on the two shots that Amos took that ended up in points for Penola.  I didn't see a replay yet, but I don't think there was much of a set up for the shot.  If he does a hard head snap prior to the shot it should help for a blast double because it forces his opponent to come up and helps clear his arms.  I will have to watch it again to see the set up.  Hopefully the coaching staff can work on this with him because I think he can get those takedowns with a slight adjustment. 

[TomM]

January 23, 2022 - No. 17 Purdue 12 - No. 8 Wisconsin 23 (West Lafayette, Ind.)   WIS-PUR
125: No. 8 Eric Barnett (WIS) def. No. 15 Devin Schroder (PUR), D 4-2   3-0
133: No. 33 Matt Ramos (PUR) def. No. 25 Kyle Burwick (WIS), D 4-2   3-3
141: Joseph Zargo (WIS) def. No. 24 Parker Filius (PUR), D 7-4   6-3
149: No. 8 Austin Gomez (WIS) def. Alec White (PUR), MD 14-5   10-3
157: No. 9 Kendall Coleman (PUR) def. No. 27 Garrett Model (WIS), D 5-3   10-6
165: No. 8 Dean Hamiti (WIS) def. Hayden Lohrey (PUR), TF 18-1 5:22   15-6
174: No. 19 Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR) def. No. 22 Andrew McNally (WIS), SV 3-1   15-9
184: Chris Weiler (WIS) def. No. 28 Max Lyon (PUR), MD 11-3   19-9
197: No. 16 Thomas Penola (PUR) def. No. 22 Braxton Amos (WIS), D 8-3   19-12
285: No. 8 Trent Hillger (WIS) def. Michael Woulfe (PUR), MD 10-0   23-12
Individual Rankings InterMat Jan. 18, 2022; Team rankings NWCA Jan. 18, 2022.   

[vsmf2010]

Another thought on the two shots that Amos took that ended up in points for Penola.  I didn't see a replay yet, but I don't think there was much of a set up for the shot.  If he does a hard head snap prior to the shot it should help for a blast double because it forces his opponent to come up and helps clear his arms.  I will have to watch it again to see the set up.  Hopefully the coaching staff can work on this with him because I think he can get those takedowns with a slight adjustment.

I was literally thinking the same thing when I was replaying that match in my head. Needs an adjustment on that power double. I was thinking snap and shoot when they come back up, hard fake and shoot on that reaction or go when they reach for a tie and step. Whip over is too easy if they see it coming.

[mkm13]

College wrestling is extremely difficult.  There is not much that separates the top guys.  Braxton has time to figure it out.

Unfortunately, his record right now against the 6th, 7th, and 8th best guys in the big 10 is 0-4.  I was hoping for Braxton's sake, Balsak made a big jump this year, but he has also lost his last 3.  Hopefully he can figure figure out high level folkstyle over the next couple months and work his way up the ladder yet this year.

Hamiti and Gomez are both wrestling great and will be relied upon to score a lot of points at NCAAs.

[onwisconsin]

I have no doubt Braxton will be the guy we want him to be, but more importantly the wrestler he desires to be.   I have faith in him and in the coaching staff.   

That being said, in my opinion, 197 is a tough weight for him this entire season.  It is a big cut from his high school days.  I don't feel he has the same motor, quickness, nor endurance he had wrestling at a heavier weight.   I could most definitely be wrong and truthfully I hope I am wrong.   I just potentially see him moving to HWY in the future. 

[Wisconsin Wrestling Fan]

"The straight on shots are getting stuffed or thrown by. I don't know if it is he is being scouted or if it's just the next level."

I think you answered your own question. Probably a little of both.

He probably needs to shoot at angles more often instead of straight on.