We're just under 24 hours away from the start of the 2010 NCAA Division I Championships here in Omaha, Neb. Session I kicks off at 11 a.m. (CT) on Thursday morning.
The team practiced this morning at the Qwest Center for about an hour from 10-11 a.m.
Paired up this morning were Tyler Graff (133) and Cole Schmitt (141), Kyle Ruschell (149) and assistant coach Jared Frayer, Andrew Howe (165) and associate head coach Donny Pritzlaff, Travis Rutt (184) and Trevor Brandvold (197) and Eric Bugenhagen (HWT) and volunteer assistant coach Kyle Massey.
The coaches have a meeting with NWCA at 11:30 this morning and a mandatory meeting at 1 p.m.
The student-athletes don't have much planned for the rest of the day. I know they're going to head to the store at noon to stock up on whatever they need and I believe they are supposed to work out on their own again sometime today.
Well we made it safe and sound to Omaha, got in about 15 minutes ago. We finished the 7 hour bus ride watching Step Brothers, 3:10 to Yuma and Reservoir Dogs. Some of the guys did get in some studying time, too.
Tonight is a low-key night for the team, nothing really planned for the evening. They'll be hitting the mats tomorrow morning from about 10-11:15 a.m. at Qwest Center Omaha. There's a coaches' meeting at 1 tomorrow afternoon, but the guys are on their own for another workout tomorrow afternoon/night.
The Wisconsin wrestling team has hit the road for Omaha and the NCAA Championships. We left the McClain Center a little after 11 this morning. After a quick pit stop to get some food/snacks, we've taken to the road again. Step Brothers is playing on the TVs now. It's about a 7 hour drive. I'll check back in later with another update.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Quick update from Crisler Arena. Team got here at about 8 a.m. (ET) and had skin checks and weigh-ins at about 8:50 a.m. (ET). Everyone was cleared in both instances. Since they don't have to wrestle until much later, Trevor Brandvold and Eric Bugenhagen are heading back to the hotel. They'll return at about 11:30 a.m. (ET). Arena is fairly uneventful right now. Final preparations being done by everyone. Only two guys out on the mats right now, UW assistant coach Jared Frayer and a coach from Iowa.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- For the Wisconsin wrestling team, all
the preparation for the Big Ten Championships is finished. All that's left to
do is wrestle. Hopefully that clears up the title of this post.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- I'll
have more posts coming up soon about the coaches' meeting from this afternoon and
the team's meeting tonight, but I thought first I'd recap what's taken place so
far on the trip. If I don't do it this way it's going to turn into a Joe
Posnanski-esque blog entry that, while very enjoyable to read, seems to daunting to even begin.
Four different wrestling publications released their updated rankings Tuesday, and the Wisconsin wrestling team is ranked in a different spot depending on which publication you look at. After going 0-2 last weekend in Oregon, the Badgers have dropped in all three team polls, but in some more than others.
The weekend has come and gone, with the dreaded Monday here again. This past weekend, however, was extra special. My family and I planned a surprise 50th birthday for my mother in Madison. Being only a monotonous two-hour drive from my hometown of Random Lake, my mother comes to visit about twice a month. She's kind enough to take me grocery shopping, out to eat, do my laundry, and, sometimes, clean my apartment. You are probably thinking "Wow, what a Momma's Boy" or "What a great mother." Both are very accurate. I realize that my mother is unique, as most would not dare to even go into a bathroom in a college apartment occupied by three men, nonetheless clean it for an hour.
I want to start by thanking all of the fans for the decent turnout and great support for our team. Intrasquad scrimmages are always difficult to watch and compete in. There are awkward silences for the fans, and we are competing against our practice partners whom we are very familiar with. However, it's a good way to gauge where we are at as a team, what we have to work on, and how we have to adjust our competition-day routine.
As a team, we looked pretty active and aggressive for the most part. The teammate I was most impressed with was freshman Shawn Perry. It did not matter to him that Ruschell is a returning All-American; he came after Kyle every second and did not stop until the whistle blew. The mentality that Perry showed is what we strive to attain throughout practices and competition. Despite those who went out there and opened up their offense, there were a few guys who froze up. I know that these guys have solid offense, I observe it daily, but they need to open up when they get on the competition mat and let it all out. We are a very offensive team, both on our feet and on the mat, but it will become a problem if we cannot transfer that aggressiveness over during competition.
