8th place, you guys ok with that?

[leg turk]

Just curious.

[Musky Hunter]

I am a relative newbie to college wrestling.  Been following for about 3-4 years.  At first I was disappointed with this program.  All I had to compare to was Hoops and football.  My family and I have had season tickets for 20+ years for those events.  I could not figure out the differences in why those other programs were so successful and wrestling was not.  I think with RT, Zeke, Ricky and Medberry this was a good year.  The key with all of this is recruits.  Hopefully with some success the recruits will come.  With basketball and football they nail down most of the in state young men.  Wrestling just does not seem to have a lot of area kids to choose from.  Would love to have a couple of kids that left on this team leading the way this year.  You just can't have the "empty weight" divisions and expect to compete with the Iowa & Penn States of the world.  Like Ohio St will be in football-will be very tough to compete with them every year. 

[Brett Favre - R.I.P.]

No, but that makes me a Barry hater I guess.
Congrats to Issac Jordan on his BIG 10 championship and the rest of the guys that qualified for NCAA's

[wrastle63]

I think we could have taken 6/7 if Timmy didn't get hurt and Medberry finished a little better( I hate losing to Telford)I don't view it as a failure for the struggles that happened this season. There was turmoil in the lineup with people moving around. JJ wasn't even supposed to be wtestling this year, but this will benefit him next year. I see lots of room for improvement. 7 out of 10 are underclass men! I want wisco to win a championship, but it doesn't happen overnight! It's easy to see that the team is headed in the right direction. Enjoyed watching this weekend overall the team was aggressive and exciting!

[vsmf2010]

I think there is a complicated answer to a simple question. Maybe not satisfied but I think it is deeper than just the 8th place finish so I thought I would look at the season to date and where the team is at looking forward. Six qualifiers with 3 being first time qualifiers, should have 3 top 5 seeds, and 5 will be returning with 4 being freshman or sophomores.

125 – certainly would have expected more with RT returning there but based on how things turned out. I think the outcome is right where you would have expected it to be
133 – RT certainly exceeded expectations up to this point
141 – JT had an up and down season but had a nice showing at the Big Tens and is making his first trip to the NCAA's
149 – Certainly expecting more hear and would hope to have more success here next year
157 – Need improvement here for next season
165 – what needs to be said?
174 – Was not sure who would be in the lineup here but I thought Frank finished out his career with a nice season. Depending on the how the weights shake out next year could see improvement here as well
184 – RR exceeded expectations to this point
197 – up and down year for Timmy. Some great matches and some I am sure he would like to have back. Not sure who will be in at this weight next year
285 – probably right at expectations right now. Definitely some disappointment with 2 losses at the Big Tens but he is right there and anything is possible at the NCAA's. The top 5 guys are very close

[billymurphy]

Pro:I am proud of our guys.  Jordan with a first. Taylor with a second, Medbery with a 4th, Robertson with a 5th,
and Thielke with two pins for 8th.

Con: The Badger seniors went out like a lamb rather than a lion.
-Half the lineup is studs, the other half is not(yet).

The team will finish higher than 8th place next year.
Iowa and Penn State and Ohio State are Dang near a certain top 3 so even a great Badger team would finish only fourth.
The Badgers have some very good true freshman on the roster that will eventually become solid starters.
The roster could be a little weak potentially at 141 or maybe 197 assuming Thielke spends his time working on Greco.

Comment: Observing the way Sanderson and Brands recruit vs. the way Barry recruits,
based on observation and history, I say that once Medbery graduates that it will be
two full of seasons before the Badgers find a heavyweight that places in the top 8 in the Big Ten Tournament.

[jaguarwrestler]

I think we could have taken 6/7 if Timmy didn't get hurt and Medberry finished a little better( I hate losing to Telford)I don't view it as a failure for the struggles that happened this season. There was turmoil in the lineup with people moving around. JJ wasn't even supposed to be wtestling this year, but this will benefit him next year. I see lots of room for improvement. 7 out of 10 are underclass men! I want wisco to win a championship, but it doesn't happen overnight! It's easy to see that the team is headed in the right direction. Enjoyed watching this weekend overall the team was aggressive and exciting!

12 points out of 7th, both Medberry and TM could have done a little better and we where still going to be 8th.

[mkm13]

I think we could have taken 6/7 if Timmy didn't get hurt and Medberry finished a little better( I hate losing to Telford)I don't view it as a failure for the struggles that happened this season. There was turmoil in the lineup with people moving around. JJ wasn't even supposed to be wtestling this year, but this will benefit him next year. I see lots of room for improvement. 7 out of 10 are underclass men! I want wisco to win a championship, but it doesn't happen overnight! It's easy to see that the team is headed in the right direction. Enjoyed watching this weekend overall the team was aggressive and exciting!

12 points out of 7th, both Medberry and TM could have done a little better and we where still going to be 8th.

Jesse also medical forfeited his last match.  That could have helped as well, as his match should have been winnable.  Either way, to be able to get close to OSU, Iowa, Minnesota, or PSU like some want, we need more out of our in state talent.  With the scholarship limitations in wrestling, it significantly helps to have a lot of in state talent.

That said, it is hard to argue with the success and improvement Jordan, Taylor and Medberry have had this year.  All have improved a quite a bit.  There may not be a wrestler in college this year who has improved as much as Taylor has this year.  Robertson also had a very successful year considering he is only a redshirt freshman.  We need to add more talented wrestlers to this group to be at the level many want.  Hopefully Christensen will be one of those guys next year...it appears he has the potential to do good things at the big 10 level. 

[jaguarwrestler]

I won't sugar coat like the rest of you  

Not sure why so many give JJ a free pass just because he is a freshman, many true freshman have been AA's, some Champions... not saying that should have been him but I expected better than 1 win as a starter. This is not just any freshman, he was 4 timer I believe as well as very high placement at Ironman, Dvorak and Cheesehead for multiple years. I cut some slack when considering he didn't get to wrestle in the first 2 tournaments and came into the schedule at a tough time. I will say he has been in most matches, not getting blown out, not giving up bonus points. I think he has a bright future but might be 2 years from now before we see it.

133- Beast, probably my favorite wrestler, just love his style, goes hard and when he does a move it is all the way.

141- give him the 3 tournaments and he likely goes .500 or better,  still below what I had hoped but I feel he is dealing with something on and off the mat. Great B1G for him, maybe the best on the team as far as seed vs place, stuck 2 pretty decent wrestlers and wrestle neck and neck with the other 2

149- after Rylan's finish last year I hoped for more, I'm a big fan, think he just needs to let it rip, if he was as aggressive as Taylor he would have a completely different result.

157- Wrestled well considering, I see a different starter here next year but this weight is a total toss up at this point.

165- Beast, great way to come back after getting stuck. I see a top 4 here

174- Wrestled well, as expected for the season

184- I was holding back judgment heading into the B1G, he didn't really wrestle anyone in the top 10 and struggled a bit on the wrestlers 11-20 so I wasn't sure he was fully tested yet. Thought he wrestled very well, think he might be a year out yet from AA contention but very bright future.

197- Not sure what happened, seems like the wheels kind of fell off since the Midlands, 18-2 going into the Midlands final... 3-8 since, hope he gets a WC but if something major doesn't change in the next 2 weeks I don't see more that 1-2 at the NCAA

HWT - Top 4 here are all about equal, in 2 weeks Medberry could be 1st or 6th I think the weight is that close that it just depends how things shake out. Have a great season so far, hope it ends on a high note.

I predicted 8th a month ago, even though this was the year we where waiting for. Just seemed like another typical year for Barry, finished below expectations and in the middle of the pack yet again. Look for another 12-17 at the NCAA's

[DocWrestling]

Put me in the "certainly disappointed" category although the result was no surprise and not expected.

I am just a bit tired of the Badger philosophy that only March counts and then this is your result like you expect something different.  The top teams treat every match and every dual as important.  For the record, I am not sure if it is fans on this forum or the program itself but it seems both have the philosophy that only March counts.

You have to flatter the best by copying what they do rather than trying to do your own thing.  I am not smart enough to realize what has been missing in the program compared to what others are doing.  The Big Ten is an elite conference and will always be tough to break into the top.  On a national level I just can't accept being behind schools like Cornell, Lehigh, Missouri, Virginia Tech, Edinboro, etc.

If Missouri and Cornell can break into that top then the Badgers certainly should be able to.

[jaguarwrestler]

I think we could have taken 6/7 if Timmy didn't get hurt and Medberry finished a little better( I hate losing to Telford)I don't view it as a failure for the struggles that happened this season. There was turmoil in the lineup with people moving around. JJ wasn't even supposed to be wtestling this year, but this will benefit him next year. I see lots of room for improvement. 7 out of 10 are underclass men! I want wisco to win a championship, but it doesn't happen overnight! It's easy to see that the team is headed in the right direction. Enjoyed watching this weekend overall the team was aggressive and exciting!

12 points out of 7th, both Medberry and TM could have done a little better and we where still going to be 8th.

Jesse also medical forfeited his last match.  That could have helped as well, as his match should have been winnable.  Either way, to be able to get close to OSU, Iowa, Minnesota, or PSU like some want, we need more out of our in state talent.  With the scholarship limitations in wrestling, it significantly helps to have a lot of in state talent.

That said, it is hard to argue with the success and improvement Jordan, Taylor and Medberry have had this year.  All have improved a quite a bit.  There may not be a wrestler in college this year who has improved as much as Taylor has this year.  Robertson also had a very successful year considering he is only a redshirt freshman.  We need to add more talented wrestlers to this group to be at the level many want.  Hopefully Christensen will be one of those guys next year...it appears he has the potential to do good things at the big 10 level. 

with JT 7th, Med 3rd and TM say... 7th I believe we still finish 8th

[DocWrestling]

I guess I also am a bit surprised that just because of the year he has now fans are excited about what Thielke did.  Remember what the expectations were for him fair or not fair.  He was a top ranked recruit that nobody was going to expect the fan base to be happy with an 8th place finish in the Big Ten Tournament.

Jaguar is right in that many of these top teams are just that because they somehow recruit and train freshman to be ready to score big points and compete immediately.  

[jaguarwrestler]

I guess I also am a bit surprised that just because of the year he has now fans are excited about what Thielke did.  Remember what the expectations were for him fair or not fair.  He was a top ranked recruit that nobody was going to expect the fan base to be happy with an 8th place finish in the Big Ten Tournament.

Jaguar is right in that many of these top teams are just that because they somehow recruit and train freshman to be ready to score big points and compete immediately.  

I don't want to give JT a free pass for his season, based on his true freshman year and even last year I thought I would see a top 4 finish for him in the B1G this year. I hate to pile on him because I think his head is beating him more than his talent level. I'm not sure if it is burnout, head, heart, mental block, college life, family life or what, but obviously watching him wrestle something is definitely off. I think he wrestled this weekend as I expected him to wrestle all season. Although I believe he should have beat Purdue.

I think yesterday 5-6 freshman where in the finals... if they all started last year I bet they would have done well.

Try this on for size... PSU lost 5 AA's from last year, they also lost Alton and still finished 3 spots ahead of us.

[BuckyMatt]

 I'm a big BD supporter but 8th is not good enough and I would hope the coaching staff would say the same.  Too much disparity in the performance of the team, some absolute studs and some major holes in the lineup. 

With the scoring of NCAA's, having just a few studs who all AA could be enough for a higher finish!

Go Badgers

[DocWrestling]

Ohio St has always been like the Badgers and now they are Big Ten Champs!   That needs to be a closer reality for UW.