Expectations

[Kirk Nelson]

Prior to the season

* Dean Hamiti transferred
* Massoma Endene announced he was coming to Wisconsin and then went back to Wartburg


At the beginning of the season

* It was determined Joe Zargo and Braxton Amos were going to redshirt.
* In the first rankings, no Wisconsin Badgers were ranked in the Top 33
* Wrestlestat predicted Wisconsin would win 1 dual meet based on their dual comparisons

During the season

* 3 Badgers were ranked - Rivera, Fugitt, and Condon
* Wisconsin finished with a 5-12 record

At the Big Tens
* Rivera finishes 4th, had a tech fall, 2 majors, and 2 tight losses to the top ranked wrestler in the country
* Fugitt finishes 9th, with his only losses to wrestlers who finished 1st and 3rd @ the Big Tens
* Goebel, a late season replacement at 165, finishes 9th, defeating two ranked opponents to qualify
* Condon finishes 10th, beats a ranked opponent but loses to 2 former All-Americans (who both qualify)
* Rosenfeld finishes 11th, avenges losses to Northwestern and Nebraska, a ranked opponent, in his last match
* Mechler did not place, but had 2 wins @ Big Tens. Much stronger and more competitive this year
* Overall, the Badgers finished 7-4 on Day 2 of the Big Tens. A nice way to close out the tourney.

Now with the NCAA approaching
 
* The 3 Badger NCAA qualifiers are ranked - Rivera 11/15, Fugitt 15/16, and Goebel 21/32 (Intermat/Flo)


We have known since November who was on this year's team. Yes, it would have been nice to have a few more quality guys in the wrestling room, but for the wrestlers who were on the team this year, I saw quite a bit of improvement. And that's a credit to the wrestlers, the coaches and support staff.

I wish Nicolar, Zan and Cody the best of luck at the NCAAs. Keep fighting!

[howavi]

Prior to the season

* Dean Hamiti transferred
* Massoma Endene announced he was coming to Wisconsin and then went back to Wartburg


At the beginning of the season

* It was determined Joe Zargo and Braxton Amos were going to redshirt.
* In the first rankings, no Wisconsin Badgers were ranked in the Top 33
* Wrestlestat predicted Wisconsin would win 1 dual meet based on their dual comparisons

During the season

* 3 Badgers were ranked - Rivera, Fugitt, and Condon
* Wisconsin finished with a 5-12 record

At the Big Tens
* Rivera finishes 4th, had a tech fall, 2 majors, and 2 tight losses to the top ranked wrestler in the country
* Fugitt finishes 9th, with his only losses to wrestlers who finished 1st and 3rd @ the Big Tens
* Goebel, a late season replacement at 165, finishes 9th, defeating two ranked opponents to qualify
* Condon finishes 10th, beats a ranked opponent but loses to 2 former All-Americans (who both qualify)
* Rosenfeld finishes 11th, avenges losses to Northwestern and Nebraska, a ranked opponent, in his last match
* Mechler did not place, but had 2 wins @ Big Tens. Much stronger and more competitive this year
* Overall, the Badgers finished 7-4 on Day 2 of the Big Tens. A nice way to close out the tourney.

Now with the NCAA approaching
 
* The 3 Badger NCAA qualifiers are ranked - Rivera 11/15, Fugitt 15/16, and Goebel 21/32 (Intermat/Flo)


We have known since November who was on this year's team. Yes, it would have been nice to have a few more quality guys in the wrestling room, but for the wrestlers who were on the team this year, I saw quite a bit of improvement. And that's a credit to the wrestlers, the coaches and support staff.

I wish Nicolar, Zan and Cody the best of luck at the NCAAs. Keep fighting!

Well said. Expectations are higher for next year with the return of Zargo and Amos as well as George and maybe some new blood.

[vsmf2010]

Prior to the season

* Dean Hamiti transferred
* Massoma Endene announced he was coming to Wisconsin and then went back to Wartburg


At the beginning of the season

* It was determined Joe Zargo and Braxton Amos were going to redshirt.
* In the first rankings, no Wisconsin Badgers were ranked in the Top 33
* Wrestlestat predicted Wisconsin would win 1 dual meet based on their dual comparisons

During the season

* 3 Badgers were ranked - Rivera, Fugitt, and Condon
* Wisconsin finished with a 5-12 record

At the Big Tens
* Rivera finishes 4th, had a tech fall, 2 majors, and 2 tight losses to the top ranked wrestler in the country
* Fugitt finishes 9th, with his only losses to wrestlers who finished 1st and 3rd @ the Big Tens
* Goebel, a late season replacement at 165, finishes 9th, defeating two ranked opponents to qualify
* Condon finishes 10th, beats a ranked opponent but loses to 2 former All-Americans (who both qualify)
* Rosenfeld finishes 11th, avenges losses to Northwestern and Nebraska, a ranked opponent, in his last match
* Mechler did not place, but had 2 wins @ Big Tens. Much stronger and more competitive this year
* Overall, the Badgers finished 7-4 on Day 2 of the Big Tens. A nice way to close out the tourney.

Now with the NCAA approaching
 
* The 3 Badger NCAA qualifiers are ranked - Rivera 11/15, Fugitt 15/16, and Goebel 21/32 (Intermat/Flo)


We have known since November who was on this year's team. Yes, it would have been nice to have a few more quality guys in the wrestling room, but for the wrestlers who were on the team this year, I saw quite a bit of improvement. And that's a credit to the wrestlers, the coaches and support staff.

I wish Nicolar, Zan and Cody the best of luck at the NCAAs. Keep fighting!

Well said. Expectations are higher for next year with the return of Zargo and Amos as well as George and maybe some new blood.

Ingham too

[vsmf2010]

https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13912503-all-the-upsets-from-a-crazy-conference-weekend

At the Big Tens 5 Badger wrestlers had 7 total upsets of higher ranked wrestlers and were upset 0 times.

[CoachO]

Also at the Big 10's the Badgers placed 13th out of 14 with 19 points. That can not be good enough for the kids who are putting in the work. They deserve better than that. I support the kids, and the team, I go to meets. I was super excited when Coach Bono came here. I was wrong. I have heard kids who have left say in thier own words why they are leaving and its not just NIL and facilities. They talk about culture, how teammates are treated, and that they felt they were not improving. Before someone says "who", it's their place to share what they have to say in a forum if they want to be named so I won't do that to a 20 something in college. Things are not trending in the right direction. I wish they were because I want the team to be even what it was with Coach Davis. We are staring a long streak of AA coming to an end this year. Hopefully not and I'm pulling for the kids to not have that happen on their watch. But the evidence is clear. A fresh face and attitude is needed.

[npope]

Wherever he is, I hope Davis is sipping a Long Island Iced Tea and quietly chuckling to himself.

[Casper the Ghost]

Expectations were low this weekend but they exceeded them.  Nobody posted 165 would be a qualifier.

If expectations in football are to go 2-14 but you go 3-13 does that mean the season was a success? No. Being complacent is excepting mediocracy.

[Casper the Ghost]

If someone told me 5 years ago that we would be worse than Maryland and we'd be desperately trying to stay away from a last place finish in the Big 10 tournament I would have had a heart attack from laughing too much.
First this has nothing to do with the athletes because I know they are trying their best, but Bozo should be embarrassed with how he has run this program into the ground.
Oh and all you Bozo defenders with the same tired excuses (NIL, facilities, and AWA) please don't bother commenting because your acceptance with this garbage is 1 of many problems associated with this program.
Lastly for those that really truly believe the tired excuses are valid go take a look at Little Rock and how they've somehow managed to not just start their program, but also build it into a competitive team that would absolutely slaughter our Badgers squad.

Why is Luke Fickell having such a hard time getting top notch football recruits? Seemed to do a better job at Cincinnati. Wisconsin – Madison coaching positions are not the ideal dream job that you and others believe they are. For those that don't believe NIL and facilities are an important factor you are very misinformed. Look at the wrestling facilities at Little Rock and SDSU. So much better than Madison. West Virginia's booster club (Country Roads Trust) raised $1M in May of 2024. All of their athletes receive a piece of the pie right down to the person on the end of the bench. What does Madison have?

Very well said. And Little Rock has all kinds of dough. It is not just coaching that is to blame. Outisde of men's basketball, badger athletics are on the decline. I have to wonder if the AD has something to do with this.

On a positive note, Rivera is a legit threat at a weight that is quite literally wide open ! Would've liked to see him against Lilledahl. Excited for NCAAs regardless - I think Zan can surprise people and congrats to Cody on the upset!

Continuing to blame results on NIL or facilities is an excuse. UNI does not even have their r own wrestling room ...they had to make one, but they have 10 NQ's. They also do not have some big pool of cash for NIL. Bellarmine has 2 NQ's in the first year that they are eligible to wrestle the national tournament. What do they have Wisconsin does not?

[PAUL]

It's interesting reading folks viewpoints, I get the sense that some people on here are "plugged in" somewhat, I definitely am not.  Here are a few of my thoughts/viewpoints for what it's worth:

a) I grew up here and have lived here my whole life, so I cheer for the Badgers though I absolutely don't lose any sleep over their teams results.  I pull for all of the guys and definitely enjoy seeing them do well.   

b) Like most years, some guys seemed to improve more than others, some stayed about the same and some regressed.  Coaching has something to do with this, but so does individual motivation as well as stuff going on at home, in the classroom, girlfriend issues, etc., etc.  There is a lot of sh*t going on in young guys lives. 

c) I don't like it when folks on here call the coach "Bozo" - I think it's very disrespectful.

d) I know that money has changed things, but it's part of the coach/programs "job" to adapt to the changing environment/landscape.  They don't seem like they have done very well at all in this - I'm sure there are lots of reasons why but it's a bottom-line business. 

e) Speaking of money, I used to donate to the program automatically each month - not a lot but some.  But then a few things happened and transparency seemed to be questionable so I stopped.  I wonder how many others on here did the same thing. 

f) I am not all that sure about how much the university or the AD really support the program and I sometimes wonder if they don't wish it would just go away so they could save a few dollars and headaches.  I sure hope I'm wrong about this. 

g) I would be surprised if Amos or Zargo ever suited up for the Badgers again - in fact I'd say it's more likely that there will be a surprise departure or two from the team.  I hope I'm wrong about this too. 

h) I watched Hamiti lose to O'Toole on Sunday, and while it was a great match the whole thing made me kind of sad.  It is also bitter-sweet watching Messenbrink, Keckiesen, Buchanan and others dominate.  I will be pulling for them (and the 3 Badgers) in Philly even though it still bugs me a bit as it would be so fun seeing these guys wrestling for Wisconsin.

[Handles II]

Seeds: Goebel 31st, Fugitt 14th, Rivera #11
We know you will each give it your all! Go get 'em Bucky!

[Tuco]

It's interesting reading folks viewpoints, I get the sense that some people on here are "plugged in" somewhat, I definitely am not.  Here are a few of my thoughts/viewpoints for what it's worth:

a) I grew up here and have lived here my whole life, so I cheer for the Badgers though I absolutely don't lose any sleep over their teams results.  I pull for all of the guys and definitely enjoy seeing them do well.   

b) Like most years, some guys seemed to improve more than others, some stayed about the same and some regressed.  Coaching has something to do with this, but so does individual motivation as well as stuff going on at home, in the classroom, girlfriend issues, etc., etc.  There is a lot of sh*t going on in young guys lives. 

c) I don't like it when folks on here call the coach "Bozo" - I think it's very disrespectful.

d) I know that money has changed things, but it's part of the coach/programs "job" to adapt to the changing environment/landscape.  They don't seem like they have done very well at all in this - I'm sure there are lots of reasons why but it's a bottom-line business. 

e) Speaking of money, I used to donate to the program automatically each month - not a lot but some.  But then a few things happened and transparency seemed to be questionable so I stopped.  I wonder how many others on here did the same thing. 

f) I am not all that sure about how much the university or the AD really support the program and I sometimes wonder if they don't wish it would just go away so they could save a few dollars and headaches.  I sure hope I'm wrong about this. 

g) I would be surprised if Amos or Zargo ever suited up for the Badgers again - in fact I'd say it's more likely that there will be a surprise departure or two from the team.  I hope I'm wrong about this too. 

h) I watched Hamiti lose to O'Toole on Sunday, and while it was a great match the whole thing made me kind of sad.  It is also bitter-sweet watching Messenbrink, Keckiesen, Buchanan and others dominate.  I will be pulling for them (and the 3 Badgers) in Philly even though it still bugs me a bit as it would be so fun seeing these guys wrestling for Wisconsin.

Nick Saban was so sick of NIL he retired. "For the love of money is the root of all evil".

[wrestle03]

Tuco :  Nice try and I'm not saying NIL was not part of the reason Nick Saban  retired.  The absolute main reason Saban  retired from coaching is he's 73 years old and worth 70 million dollars - the guy wants to enjoy the rest of his short life.

Continuing to blame NIL and lack of facilities for being a bottom dwellar in the Big 10 is simply an excuse.

The following is directly from the bio of Chirs Bono on the Badger Wrestling site:

Hired as the 16th head coach in UW history on March 24, 2018, Bono and his staff are rebuilding the Wisconsin wrestling program into a Big Ten and national powerhouse.

He's been here seven years and the only thing he's done is go completely backwards.  Second to last place in the Big 10 is far from a Big Ten powerhouse.  National powerhouse?  Bono should be embarrassed of himself and what he has done to this program since his arrival.

[Harris]

8 years ago, the Badgers sent 9 to NCAA's under Davis.

[crossface21]

In 2012, Wisconsin scored 9 points in the Big Tens under Davis and had 2 NCAA qualifiers.

[wrestle03]

crossface21 - who the inappropriate term3 cares what happened in 2012?  Start focusing on the present and stop living in the past.  Get a clue.