The #14 Wisconsin Badgers have invaded East Lansing Michigan today as they get set to take on Michigan St. Spartans at 6pm central on BTN plus. I will be watching all the action live and you should too! The Badgers are currently 6-2 on the season after coming off a tough loss to Ohio State. The Spartans are 7-3 after a 3 match slide to Michigan, Ruthers and most recently being shut out by Penn State.
This dual is primed for the Badgers to bounce back from Sunday’s loss and pick up their first conference win of the season and do it while on the road. The Badgers will be the favorite in this dual and hopefully can pick up a W before returning home to take on #10 Nebraska at home on Sunday at 1pm.
At 125 nothing more needs to be said than I expect the dawwwg that is #3 Eric Barnett to pick up a bonus point win here.
At 133 Nicolar will have a nice opportunity to get his first conference dual win. He is currently 8-5 on the season while his potential opponent is Hampton is 4-15. Don’t be surprised if he picks up bonus points here as well.
At 141 Lettini will have his work cut out for him facing #30 Jordan Hamdan. The goal here would be for Lettini to keep the match to a decision.
At 149 #23 Joey Zargo has a great chance for a good bounce back match as the Spartans starter is 5-12. As a fan and if I was a coach I would want to see Zargo obtain bonus points here. There is no reason for this match to be close on paper so I am not expecting it to be.
Luke Mechler will have his work cut out for him at 157 pounds as he will face #21 Chase Saldate. Saldate just went to UTB OT with the #1 wrestler in the country this past Sunday and looked great throughout that match. Mechler will need to be on his A-game tonight.
The matchup at 165 pounds will be the premiere matchup of the night with #5 Dean Hamiti taking on #9 Caleb Fish. A top 10 matchup here is exciting for both fan bases, but given Hamiti’s long track record of dominating opponents lower rank than him my intuition tells me something similar is coming. I am happy to see a win here as a Badger fan given the talent of Hamiti’s opponent, but I am not at all surprised if Hamiti get’s bonus, it’s what he does. Fish lost this past Sunday to Wisconsin native Mesinbrink by MD.
Finally the last match we should take note of is #16 Shane Liegel for the Badgers against #21 Layne Malczewski for the Spartans. Another good test for the grad transfer Liegel who has been en fuego lately. I honestly am expecting a victory here against a very game opponent. If Liegel wins this match then I believe it would be fair to say he has proven he will be consistently at least a top 20 guy. If he wins this match by bonus I might start thinking he is top 15 without a doubt. As much as we have seen from the man Shane Liegel there is still some mystery behind him.
When the dust settles the Badgers will be jumping around at this one. As much as I think we will win this one, we also need it. The road is only going to get tougher from here. My final score prediction is 22-16 Badgers. Make sure to tune in and support the guys wrestling tonight at 6pm live on BTN plus!
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