Happy Friday Badger Fans! We have a weekend packed with high school and college wrestling on every level, but more importantly we get to kick off our Friday night and wind down our Sunday with Badger duals! Yes, the Wisconsin Badgers are on the road this weekend for not 1 but 2 duals. Tonight at 6pm they will be facing off Maryland and then Sunday at noon central time they will be wrestling Rutgers.
We live in Big Ten Country and this weekend we will get to see two duals with our Big Ten Team. Last time out we saw the Badgers open their Big Ten season by hosting the #2 team in the land, Iowa. That dual was unfortunately a very memorable performance, but for all the wrong reasons. This weekend I expect better. Maryland, who use to be firmly at the bottom of the Big Ten, has built themselves into a middle of the pack program and continues to climb. They defeated top 10 Michigan last weekend. Rutgers has continued to be a strong program currently ranked 17th in the country for dual teams. The Badgers will be road DAWWWGS all weekend. Something that has become to familiar with our team.
However, last time we saw our Badgers on the road it was the Knockout Christmas Classic where they were road dawgs. That time they went 2-1 in duals. Hopefully they can bring that same energy and fight this weekend to get a W.
Up first is a new and improved Maryland, who is coming off one of if not their best dual meet win in several years. Maryland is led with 6 nationally ranked wrestlers. Leading the pack is #7 Ethan Miller at 157 pounds followed by #11 Braxton Brown at 133 and #11 Jaxon Smith at 184. At 133 Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt will again have multiple tough tests this weekend facing #11 Brown from Maryland and #9 Shawver from Rutgers. Wins in either or both of these matches would be a great indication that he belongs in that 10-15 range of 133s in the country. At 285 watch out for Rosenfeld against #14 Nevills. Rosenfeld has had some strong looking performances before, none against someone at Nevills level, so therefore I am eager to see how he can shape up, I think there is opportunity here. If it goes the opposite way then it’s a reality check for sure. Maryland is not what they used to be. They have steadily improved over the last 5 years and a win against them will certainly be earned. The Badgers will need some things to fall in their favor if they want to pull the upset.
Maryland (ranked wrestlers)
133 Braxton Brown #11
149 Kal Miller #32
157 Ethen Miller #7
174 Branson John #32
184 Jaxon Smith #11
285 Seth Nevills #14
The second dual of the weekend is against a tough 17th ranked Rutgers squad. As much as I would like to stay optimistic with this one I also have to be realistic with everyone reading. The Scarlet Knights have 9 nationally ranked wrestlers. The highest is multiple time All American Dylan Shawver at 133 currently ranked 9th. If they wrestler all their starters things could get ugly for the Badgers. I severaley hope the latter is not the case and the Badgers can earn several wins against their starters. It would say a lot of several of the guys on the Badger program if they can. At 125 for the Badgers Nicolar will get a chance at redemption after a tough loss last weekend. The Badger will face #10 Dean Peterson; an extremely tough opponent. Nicolar is a wild man (in all the best ways) and he is capable of using his unorthodox style to beat anyone. However, that same style can sometimes bring the opposite. A young and talented wrestler we will ride the waves with for sure. At 174 Condon for the Badges will get a crack at a solid opponent #23 Jackson Turley. This is the type of match where its capable of Condon to win and if he does it could snowball his confidence in a good way. The Badgers will need to come ready to wrestle and bring their A game against Rutgers if they want to win or keep it close.
#17 Rutgers (ranked wrestlers)
125 Dean Peterson #10
133 Dylan Shawver #9
141 Joey Olivieri #13
149 Andrew Clark #26
165 Anthony White #27
174 Jackson Turley #23
184 Shane Cartegena-Walsh #19
197 John Poznanski #17
285 Yaraslau Slavikouski #10
All of the wrestling this weekend will be Big Ten action. Friday night at 6pm central vs Maryland and then Sunday at noon central gainst #17 Rutgers. Tune in and follow along the Badgers all weekend as they hit the road. Action can be watched live on the Big Ten Network plus.
Wisconsin (ranked wrestlers)
125 Nicolar Rivera #29
133 Zan Fugitt #30