2022 Wisconsin Badger Preview

[mkm13]

Is Burwick moving up because Rotundo is beating him?  Will he be a full sized 141?  He was just starting to find a bit of success at 133 at the end of the year, i was hoping he could build on that this year. 

If he is not a full sized 141, it could be be tough up a weight.

[Harris]

I have no idea who is beating who in the room.  I just saw on the other thread the speculation of what could be the most successful lineup for the team getting the best wrestlers on the mat.  It's fun trying to guess what may happen while we wait for the season to start.  I actually think getting Barnett, Rotondo, Burwick, and Gomez in the starting four weights would be great for the team.

[mkm13]

The big 10 and AA level wrestling is so tough. We likely only have 1 guy on the roster would could wrestle at not their ideal weight and have a good chance to AA (Braxton at HWT).  In my opinion, the high level guys or the ones that have a chance to do damage at NCAAs need to go to their ideal weights and you fill in around them, even if it means your best 10 are not wrestling.

[Harris]

WrestleStat has Trey Escobar listed as the starter at 141 after Gomez moved up to 149.  Escobar was an Arizona state champion, the 6th ranked 132 pounder in 2017 by Flo, and the Junior National Freestyle champion that year.  I was super excited when he came to Wisconsin and would love to see him wrestle at the level we all know he is capable of.

This past week Flo put on who's number one (WNO) with the top high school wrestlers in the nation.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see number 3 ranked 170 lb. Cadet World Silver medalist James Rowley wrestle but I am still hoping he chooses Wisconsin after his visit.  He will fit in perfectly with the team.

I was looking at the open mat high school rankings today after they were updated and noticed the Badgers don't have any commits from the top 12 wrestlers at any weight yet.  I also noticed a few Wisconsin high school kids and thought it would  be great to recruit some of these top national wrestlers who don't have a college listed.

126 12.  SR. Nicolar Rivera, Stoughton, WI
160 5.  JR. Braeden Scoles , Kewaskum, WI
170 5.  JR. Brayden Thompson, Montini (IL), WI
182 11.  SO. Connor Mirasola, West Bend, WI and Cole
220 8.  SO. Koy Hopke, Amery, WI

Any other potential recruits that you can think of?

[vsmf2010]

WrestleStat has Trey Escobar listed as the starter at 141 after Gomez moved up to 149.  Escobar was an Arizona state champion, the 6th ranked 132 pounder in 2017 by Flo, and the Junior National Freestyle champion that year.  I was super excited when he came to Wisconsin and would love to see him wrestle at the level we all know he is capable of.

This past week Flo put on who's number one (WNO) with the top high school wrestlers in the nation.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see number 3 ranked 170 lb. Cadet World Silver medalist James Rowley wrestle but I am still hoping he chooses Wisconsin after his visit.  He will fit in perfectly with the team.

I was looking at the open mat high school rankings today after they were updated and noticed the Badgers don't have any commits from the top 12 wrestlers at any weight yet.  I also noticed a few Wisconsin high school kids and thought it would  be great to recruit some of these top national wrestlers who don't have a college listed.

126 12.  SR. Nicolar Rivera, Stoughton, WI
160 5.  JR. Braeden Scoles , Kewaskum, WI
170 5.  JR. Brayden Thompson, Montini (IL), WI
182 11.  SO. Connor Mirasola, West Bend, WI and Cole
220 8.  SO. Koy Hopke, Amery, WI

Any other potential recruits that you can think of?

For what it is worth Flo has 2022 Badger recruit Brock Bobzien ranked at 9 at 132. Of the 3 above ranked in the top ten Flo and the open mat have them ranked the same.

[Harris]

WrestleStat has Trey Escobar listed as the starter at 141 after Gomez moved up to 149.  Escobar was an Arizona state champion, the 6th ranked 132 pounder in 2017 by Flo, and the Junior National Freestyle champion that year.  I was super excited when he came to Wisconsin and would love to see him wrestle at the level we all know he is capable of.

This past week Flo put on who's number one (WNO) with the top high school wrestlers in the nation.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see number 3 ranked 170 lb. Cadet World Silver medalist James Rowley wrestle but I am still hoping he chooses Wisconsin after his visit.  He will fit in perfectly with the team.

I was looking at the open mat high school rankings today after they were updated and noticed the Badgers don't have any commits from the top 12 wrestlers at any weight yet.  I also noticed a few Wisconsin high school kids and thought it would  be great to recruit some of these top national wrestlers who don't have a college listed.

126 12.  SR. Nicolar Rivera, Stoughton, WI
160 5.  JR. Braeden Scoles , Kewaskum, WI
170 5.  JR. Brayden Thompson, Montini (IL), WI
182 11.  SO. Connor Mirasola, West Bend, WI and Cole
220 8.  SO. Koy Hopke, Amery, WI

Any other potential recruits that you can think of?

For what it is worth Flo has 2022 Badger recruit Brock Bobzien ranked at 9 at 132. Of the 3 above ranked in the top ten Flo and the open mat have them ranked the same.

Great catch!  I see Bobzien listed as number 8 on the open mat but they didn't list Wisconsin as his college choice.  Thank you.

[BuckyMatt]

Sounds like Bobzien, Rowley and Scoles will all be in Madison this weekend for visits!!

[vsmf2010]

Sounds like Bobzien, Rowley and Scoles will all be in Madison this weekend for visits!!

Yes I would like all 3 please. 

[dad 2 5]

Sounds like Bobzien, Rowley and Scoles will all be in Madison this weekend for visits!!

Yes I would like all 3 please. 

+1

[MakingABadgerer]

Excellent timing as UW is honoring Braxton for his Jr World Gold and Bronze at halftime of the football game. Recruits & parents get to experience what many other schools can only talk about, the University of Wisconsin is invested in their success.

[vsmf2010]

The roster is updated on the UW site and here are a few observations:

I did not know that Liam Hughes and Andrew Sanders would be wrestling for the Badgers (they are not showing on wrestlestat)

Trey Escobar, Devin Bahr, Daniel Stilling, Connor Thorpe, and Hayden Copass are all showing on wrestlestat but not on the roster

Andrew McNally is listed as a freshman (wouldn't that be nice)

Drew Scharenbrock has cut several inches of hair off and Trent appears to have added a few

Did not see any mullets which is somewhat surprising as several badger wrestlers listed that as something they did over the summer

Jonah Schmidtke wins the award for best game face for sure

Three very impressive mustaches for Ethan Rotondo, Andrew Salemme and Anders Lantz

[TomM]

https://uwbadgers.com/sports/wrestling/roster

[Harris]

Check out the updated starters on WrestleStat:

125 Barnett
133 Rotondo
141 Burwick
149 Gomez
157 Model
165 Hamiti
174 McNally
184 Weiler
197 Amos
285 Hillger

That's a great starting lineup.  They also removed the wrestlers not on the active roster it looks like.

[mkm13]

Looks good.  Will be curious how Burwick and Gomez do at higher weights.

Would be exciting to see Hamiti go right away, but I hope they only do it if he is an AA threat right away. 165 if stacked.

Hopefully Gomez, Weiler, and Hillger can all stay healthy this year.

[wrastle63]

Looks good.  Will be curious how Burwick and Gomez do at higher weights.

Would be exciting to see Hamiti go right away, but I hope they only do it if he is an AA threat right away. 165 if stacked.

Hopefully Gomez, Weiler, and Hillger can all stay healthy this year.

Agreed would rather see Otto start the season and make sure Hamiti is ready. I think he will be awesome and very successful, but nice to see it at a few opens first. This year will probably be the most stacked NCAAs ever with the free years. Just looking at that roster though it is hard to not see 10 qualifiers if healthy. Then NCAAs will be interesting.