Only 4 UW Matches in Madison

jaguarwrestler · November 03, 2014, 08:04:36 AM

the season is almost 5 months long, the UW has 4 matches at home... how is this good for wrestling and building the fan base?

also, with the big 10 now having about 100 teams is this going to kill the conference from a fan point of view? I mean we always looked forward to Iowa, Penn State, Minnesota and a few others going head to head and now many of those matches won't happen. The Badgers don't wrestle any of those teams in a dual... ugh.

Handles II · November 03, 2014, 10:19:55 AM

Seems pretty sparse to be sure. I bet it would be hard for any sport to get a fan base with only 4 events.
I don't have the answer but have heard similar complaints are coming from other b10 schools (and wrestling in general). A suggestion I heard was having a home and away duals with each team in their division of the conference. Not sure if that would be a good idea or not, but it would be an immediate solution to the problem.

jaguarwrestler · November 03, 2014, 10:41:55 AM

Quote from: Handles II on November 03, 2014, 10:19:55 AM
Seems pretty sparse to be sure. I bet it would be hard for any sport to get a fan base with only 4 events.
I don't have the answer but have heard similar complaints are coming from other b10 schools (and wrestling in general). A suggestion I heard was having a home and away duals with each team in their division of the conference. Not sure if that would be a good idea or not, but it would be an immediate solution to the problem.

Thing is, we have 4 home duals and 9 on the road... who made that schedule?

Kohl Center is a great place, how about hosting a tournament, even if it is just an open. How about on Friday night have a dual like Stoughton vs Milton in the Barn and then Badgers wrestle next... or even two HS duals side by side before the Badgers... could easily put a few hundred more in the stands.

Musky Hunter · November 03, 2014, 06:18:20 PM

I hold season tickets for hoops and football and just got into watching the wrestlers a couple years ago. It is light years behind other sports. Women's volleyball puts on a better show. I went last year and the boys were stuffed into the shell for a match. You talk about a joke for a D1 school. Kids were running around working out while RT was trying to wrestle Delgado. Blew me away for my first college wrestling experience. Just my thoughts as a newbie fan.

stp · November 03, 2014, 11:40:41 PM

We need B10 tri-duals. Could be "border battles" like Wisco/Minn/Illinois, PSU/tOSU/UM tri-duals.

charteroak1 · November 04, 2014, 07:15:26 AM

I like this stp and the coaches might even go for it as well. Reason being, it would cut down on the # of times these guys need to make weight during a season. Bring back the Northern Open Mitch!!!

jaguarwrestler · November 04, 2014, 08:11:00 AM

Quote from: stp on November 03, 2014, 11:40:41 PM
We need B10 tri-duals. Could be "border battles" like Wisco/Minn/Illinois, PSU/tOSU/UM tri-duals.

3 teams, 3 duals... a lot more fans

leg turk · November 04, 2014, 08:54:12 AM

I like the idea of a high school match before the Badgers wrestle, that would get more people in the stands, especially if it was a marquee match up for high school.

jaguarwrestler · November 04, 2014, 10:39:26 AM

about 10 years ago they had a triple dual in the barn with UW, Lacrosse and Northern Illinois... why can't they do the same with say UW, Illinois and Iowa State? I think it would draw a great crowd, they could have a second mat with a HS dual going at the same time... many possibilities, not sure why they use none of them.

smitty71 · November 04, 2014, 04:39:13 PM

I don't think NCAA regs allow a HS dual and a college event concurrently.

dad 2 5 · November 04, 2014, 05:09:18 PM

I was ok with the the Shell event but maybe that was because the W.
It does seem strange to me that we have what 13 Duals and and only 4 are at home. You would think that it would be 7, 6 at the least. If the crowds were strong for the 4 maybe we would work towards the 6 or 7 or more. It seems like we are getting a little better crowd last year and go intersquad crowd.

badgerjohn · November 04, 2014, 09:00:04 PM

Quote from: smitty71 on November 04, 2014, 04:39:13 PM
I don't think NCAA regs allow a HS dual and a college event concurrently.

you are correct smitty71, and they make it next to impossible to have one after the other in the same building as part of the same event

sure the Fieldhouse is better than the shell, but what a great team victory for bucky,, Zeke breaking his opponent for the DQ,, Timmy with the biggest victory of his career. The reason the wrestlers were in the shell that night was because the girls bucky volleyball team needed the Fieldhouse for end of year ncaa tourney... if only more schools had similar problems!

stp · November 04, 2014, 10:19:22 PM

One positive (knock on wood) the Badgers should not be as beat up come conference.

Musky Hunter · November 05, 2014, 01:28:45 AM

Quote from: badgerjohn on November 04, 2014, 09:00:04 PM
Quote from: smitty71 on November 04, 2014, 04:39:13 PM
I don't think NCAA regs allow a HS dual and a college event concurrently.

you are correct smitty71, and they make it next to impossible to have one after the other in the same building as part of the same event

sure the Fieldhouse is better than the shell, but what a great team victory for bucky,, Zeke breaking his opponent for the DQ,, Timmy with the biggest victory of his career. The reason the wrestlers were in the shell that night was because the girls bucky volleyball team needed the Fieldhouse for end of year ncaa tourney... if only more schools had similar problems!

I am with you on this statement. The victory was great. You really didn't find it odd watching kids working out while a D1 match was going on? Like I said I am a total newbie going to these events. What a difference it is from football and basketball to the wrestling venue. I did get to go to a couple matches in Iowa while bow hunting. What a dramatic change. I hope Wisconsin could get to that point. Football and Basketball have big time. Volleyball is also great to watch. Hope wrestling follows suit.

badgerjohn · November 05, 2014, 03:57:32 PM

Quote from: Musky Hunter on November 05, 2014, 01:28:45 AM
Quote from: badgerjohn on November 04, 2014, 09:00:04 PM
Quote from: smitty71 on November 04, 2014, 04:39:13 PM
I don't think NCAA regs allow a HS dual and a college event concurrently.

you are correct smitty71, and they make it next to impossible to have one after the other in the same building as part of the same event

sure the Fieldhouse is better than the shell, but what a great team victory for bucky,, Zeke breaking his opponent for the DQ,, Timmy with the biggest victory of his career. The reason the wrestlers were in the shell that night was because the girls bucky volleyball team needed the Fieldhouse for end of year ncaa tourney... if only more schools had similar problems!

I am with you on this statement. The victory was great. You really didn't find it odd watching kids working out while a D1 match was going on? Like I said I am a total newbie going to these events. What a difference it is from football and basketball to the wrestling venue. I did get to go to a couple matches in Iowa while bow hunting. What a dramatic change. I hope Wisconsin could get to that point. Football and Basketball have big time. Volleyball is also great to watch. Hope wrestling follows suit.

No mater what the current is we all look for improvement - nature of the beast. I've been fortunate the past 15 - 20 or so years to follow the Badgers home and away more than 90% of the competitions including duals, opens, B1Gs, and NCAAs. Wrestling season's my favorite time of the year. I remember the Badgers having home duals in the shell one other time, in the mens bb practice area connected to the Kohl center, in the Stoughton HS gym, at Wisconsin Dells, and at River Falls High School. Heck even Iowa went without Carver Arena for several home duals recently.

Going to Iowa, Minny, Penn St and a couple others is an eye opening experience. So is the opposite true going to dozens and dozens and dozens of other venues. In my time the Badgers have consistently averaged drawing in the top 10 -15 in the country for attendance. Very common to see less attendance at away duals than the Badgers had for last weeks scrimmage. Many of the away venues will not fit 2000. Population density has huge ramifications. Winning has huge ramifications. Chicken or the egg. B1Gs in Kohl Center 9 months ago had the highest attendance of any B1Gs I've ever been, yep including Iowa, Minny, Penn St. I did my research on that one. The home crowd was amazing. Not making excuses, not defending, not saying I don't want more, just telling it like I see it. I could easily name 6 other B1G schools I'd have a hard time going to the home duals, saying nothing 'bout traveling to away competitions as a spectator. Am I biased -- sure, it's the nature of the beast.