First Week Badger Wrestling Impressions

[thesweep]

Well I thought I'd share my impressions (and would like to hear yours) after the first meets of the year. Admittedly, I only watched the first two duals and my memory can be a little fuzzy about the details:

Team Impressions:
*The badgers are all about the hustle, effort, attitude.  Our guys sprinted to the center after going out of bounds. The team seemed to be excited for one another.
*I think we are a stronger tournament team than we are a dual team. Tight dual meets are going to be decided by winning 2 out of 3 at 125, 157, and 197lbs and limiting bonus at weights we lose.
*Our tournament placement is going to greatly vary depending on how we do at 141, 149, and 184lbs.
*We seem to have a pretty good top game.
*We often scored last every period. If you can score last every period of match, you're going to win a lot of matches- even ones you are not supposed to win.
*Those white Badger warm-ups are lit. I shouldn't be allowed to wear white, but I want one.


Individual Impressions: (*My individual impressions are just a stab-in-the-dark since I dont' know this week's competition as well as some other B10 and powerhouse wrestling schools.)


125: I was really impressed with Michael Cullen. He had some really good turns and beat a national qualifier. If he can keep improving, maybe we don't see Barnett's red shirt get pulled. Since Barnett was brought along, I think this also speaks to him either beating Cullen or being very competitive in the room, which is a good thing.

133: Seth Gross looked good. I think he gave up some takedowns, which he is going to do; he has a wide-open style. Also, I'm sure there is some ring rust. He said in an interview that he is trying to shore up his defense in neutral because he knows that getting taken down in freestyle will not be good since he needs to work on his par tarre defense. He also said he is keeping his weight down because he is wrestling in the the Bill Farrell soon.

141: Tristan Moran looked good. Even though he is absolutely one of my favorites to watch because of his high-flying style, I still think sticking to a more traditional defense first will pay dividends. He definitely looks sucked in. I don't know if this affected him this weekend, but I'm certain he needs to be very disciplined so it doesn't kill his cardio in the future.

149: Cole Martin is a good wrestler but he is a slow starter with equal or better competition. I could be wrong, but I feel like I watch him get scored on a lot in the first period (relatively speaking) and then storm back to win or lose closely. Am I wrong?? I'm sure he knows this, but if he could score first every period of the match, he will be an All American. Also, being caught underneath against Army killed him and I don't mean the gator roll at the end. He was under his opponent in a front headlock without scoring against Army for a very long time.

157: Garrett Model hustles and is fun to watch. He gets a lot of reversals and always pushes the pace. He will have to improve his takedowns to get some more wins but I look forward to watching him.

165: Evan Wick did usual Wick stuff: lots of riding and turns. He did give up a takedown to the Army opponent, who was a game opponent. I hope he continues to work on his neutral game and vary his top assaults since he is well scouted.

174: I thought Krattiger looked good. He was winning the match the majority of the time against Hemauer until a late takedown. I was really pulling for him because of that controversial State semi loss. 174lbs looks like the right weight for him.

Tyler Dow looked really good against a #9 ranked Ben Harvey. He threatened him with upper body attacks, which opened up leg attacks. He ended up losing 4-2, but it was a close match that Dow could have won. Assuming the result wasn't because of a stylistic mismatch, with some improvement, Dow might be every much a AA threat as Martin or Moran.

I didn't see Anders Lantz wrestle so I can't comment.

184: Johnny Sebastian was competitive. He did really well his first match, winning 13-5. I was a little disappointed he didn't attack more in the last 20 seconds against Noah Stewart (ranked #26 per Wrestlestat) when he was losing 3-1. Maybe he was instructed to make sure not to give up bonus since Army was making it a close dual- I don't know. Also, I saw he didn't wrestle against Navy. I assume he isn't hurt and they are just trying to give everyone matches.

197: I can't say too much about Taylor Watkins except I need to see more offense. He didn't give up bonus, which is good, but I can't say he is an upgrade over Breske yet. I hope he continues to improve, but wouldn't be surprised if we see Peter Christensen either.

285: What can you say about Hillger? He is exciting to watch and I'm glad he is on our team. I wouldn't want any other heavy on our team. With heavyweight potentially clearing out, this can only help Hillger and the team place higher.


***Side note: Mike Mal said the Badger fans traveled well to California, which is great to hear. Chris Bono always talked about team culture and I hope our fans can build a formidable fanbase- something I feel that has been missing at the Wisconsin college scene. I encourage everyone to go to the home duals and get excited about this team. Maybe even consider taking the bus out to Carver.

[Harris]

Thanks for the write up

[dad 2 5]

good write- up Sweep
I think there is a lot of promise with this team. There are some solid pieces in place - Gross; Wick; Hillger. Moran; Martin, JS solid and will be there at the end of the season. I am interested in Dow, Model, Kat as I see them improving a lot over the season. I am in a wait and see on Cullen. Showed some good things.  My guess is Beau is going to be a help once he is back.

[onwisconsin]

Pretty much took the works right out of my mouth.  Well done thesweep!

[walden_hiker]

good write- up Sweep
I think there is a lot of promise with this team. There are some solid pieces in place - Gross; Wick; Hillger. Moran; Martin, JS solid and will be there at the end of the season. I am interested in Dow, Model, Kat as I see them improving a lot over the season. I am in a wait and see on Cullen. Showed some good things.  My guess is Beau is going to be a help once he is back.

You'll be waiting awhile...he's not coming back

[bigoil]

good write- up Sweep
I think there is a lot of promise with this team. There are some solid pieces in place - Gross; Wick; Hillger. Moran; Martin, JS solid and will be there at the end of the season. I am interested in Dow, Model, Kat as I see them improving a lot over the season. I am in a wait and see on Cullen. Showed some good things.  My guess is Beau is going to be a help once he is back.

I'll take the over on the days til Beau is back

[DarkKnight]

I've heard Napoleon may be offered a job as a commentator

[imwi]

I've heard Napoleon may be offered a job as a commentator

Fake news.

I hear Willy is out at Flo, there may be a national opening

[Ghetto]

Gross looked good and was also sucked down, as he's going 57kg soon.

Moran struggled at the beginning of last year as well. I think he'll grow more accustomed to the weight again and be fine.