The #26 Wisconsin Badgers wrestle Sunday in Cedar Falls at 1pm against the #19 University of Northern Iowa Panthers. The Badgers 12-4 on the season entering into their last dual with UNI. The Panthers are 10-8 and on a 2 dual losing streak right now. This will be the last dual for both teams and it will be live on Flowrestling.
The Badgers bounced back in a big way last Sunday taking out #13 Michigan in their final home dual of the season. That came just a week after dropping an ugly loss to Indiana. All seems to be right again in Madison as the guys turned back to form and had a very tough team win.
A great opportunity to cap off the dual season here for the Badgers to claim another upset win. Taking a look at the matchups I think the Badgers lineup pretty well with the Panthers. The Badges and UNI both have 7 ranked wrestlers. However there will be 5 head to head nationally ranked matchups between the two teams and based on rankings the Badgers will be favored in 4 of those 5 matches. A key here is that Wyatt Ingham does not have a nationally ranked opponent at 197 and that could mean some much needed bonus points for Wisconsin.
I imagine Coach Bono will continue to roll with the theme of starting at 197 this year with a favorable matchup for Wisconsin, but I will start by looking at 125 with Rivera. Here the Badgers will have #18 Rivera vs #28 Anderson. A win should be expected here for Wisconsin as Rivera is already 2-0 against Anderson in previous meetings. Rivera has been a bit of a rollercoaster this year which does make things uncertain, but I still think they can get a win and bonus points would be nice but I won’t be expecting it.
At 133 #15 Fugitt has a tough #22 Farber. Fugitt is 1-0 against him in his career, defeating him 5-0. This will again likely be a very competitive match. Don’t let the 22 by Farber’s name fool you; he can scrap.
After that we have #13 Zargo who has looked excellent most of the year. A win here for Zargo would really put a stamp on that previous sentence as #31 Rathjen is 2-0 against Zargo in their careers. Previously defeating Zargo 8-1 and 7-2. Zargo looks to be a new guy though since a couple years ago and much more dynamic on his feet.
At 165 #24 Goebel has probably wrestled more of the top guys in the country than most. That’s the way of the road sometimes. Goebel is certainly battle tested but still searching for that top ranked win. He will have an opportunity here that would also go a long way for him come NCAA’s as he will face #6 Downey. Goebel is 0-1 against Downey losing by major 14-6 last time. UNI will be expecting something of the same again if they want to win this dual.
At 174 and 184 the UNI Panthers will have two ranked wrestlers to close out the dual, if Coach Bono has his way with where we start. At this point you will hope to see a solid lead for the Badgers so you don’t have to put all the pressure on a young Condon and whoever takes the mat at 184.
The final weight to mention is with the big fella #10 Braxton Amos and #32 Ahrendson. These two have not met but I am expecting Amos to put a beat down here. After his tough loss last weekend, a competitive and top ranked guy like Amos; I have a hunch a sour taste has been left in his mouth and he needs to change that. Hopefully I am right, because the Badgers not only need the win but could use the bonus points he is capable of to help earn the upset dual victory.
Last dual for the Badgers this year. If they win they will improve to 13-4 to end the season. A complete 180 from a year ago. Watch the Badgers live Sunday afternoon at 1pm on Flowrestling.
#26 Wisconsin Badgers
#18 Nicolar Rivera 125
#15 Zan Fugitt 133
#13 Joe Zargo 149
#26 Luke Mechler 157
#24 Cody Goebel 165
#21 Wyatt Ingham 197
#10 Braxton Amos 285
#19 Northern Iowa
#28 Trevor Anderson 125
#22 Julian Farber 133
#31 Calb Rathjen 149
#6 Ryder Downey 165
#13 Jared Simma 174
#21 Nick Fox 184
#32 Adam Ahrendson 285
