UWBadgers.com:

Wrestling staff shares Thanksgiving plans

By Allison Metcalf on November 25, 2010 8:48 AM

UWBadgers.com caught up with some of the coaches and staff members of the Wisconsin wrestling program to find out what they are doing for Thanksgiving.

Wisconsin associate head coach Donny Pritzlaff, assistant coach Jared Frayer, program assistant Sandy Berndt and Wisconsin wrestling athletic training Jesse Donnenwerth shared their Thanksgiving plans, favorite traditional Thanksgiving dish and more.

Continue reading Wrestling staff shares Thanksgiving plans.

Archived Blog: Wrestling Intrasquad Scrimmage

By Allison Metcalf on October 28, 2010 9:00 PM

Allison Metcalf chronicled all the action from the Badgers' Intrasquad Scrimmage on Oct. 28, 2010.

Continue reading Archived Blog: Wrestling Intrasquad Scrimmage.

Howe returns from Azerbaijan

By Allison Metcalf on July 21, 2010 10:36 AM | No TrackBacks

2010 Golden Grand Prix

Junior Andrew Howe traveled to Baku, Azerbaijan July 5-18 to train for and compete in the 2010 Fila Golden Grand Prix international tournament at 74 kg.

In the international tournament, Howe fell to Azerbaijan's Chamsulvara Chamsulvaraev 1-0 and 2-1. Due to tournament rules, he was then eliminated when Chamsulvaraev lost his second match.

Continue reading Howe returns from Azerbaijan.

Howe travels to Azerbaijan

By Allison Metcalf on July 7, 2010 12:20 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

Representing the U.S. national team, Wisconsin's Andrew Howe traveled to Baku-Azerbaijan on July 5. The defending 2010 NCAA champion is attending a training camp before the country hosts the Final Golden Grand Prix international wrestling tournament July 16-18.

Wrestlers from all over the world including Iran and Russia will compete in the three day tournament. Two representatives from each national team will wrestle in the international competition.

Continue reading Howe travels to Azerbaijan.

Balanced success

By Brian Lucas on March 23, 2010 9:34 AM

With "March Madness" in full bloom, I thought it would be appropriate to see how the UW athletic department stacks up with other schools around the country in terms of regular-season success.

There are currently 35 schools that compete at the Division I level in men's basketball, women's basketball and men's hockey. Among those schools are Big Ten members Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State as well as "big-names" such as Notre Dame, Connecticut and Boston College.

Out of those 35 schools, only two qualified teams for the NCAA tournament in all three sports. One, obviously, is the Badgers or I probably wouldn't be writing this. The other is Vermont who, coincidently, was paired up against UW in the first round of both the women's basketball and men's hockey tournaments (the Badger men's hockey team will look for revenge for the loss Vermont hung on the women's hoops team).

It is just the second time in school history all three Badger teams advanced to the NCAA tournament. The only other time was in 2001 when UW was a No. 6 seed in men's basketball, a No. 7 seed in women's basketball and a No. 4 seed in men's hockey. This year, men's hoops was a No. 4 seed, women's hoops a No. 7 and men's hockey a No. 1.

Continue reading Balanced success.

Historic night for Wisconsin wrestling

By Karl Anderson on March 21, 2010 10:02 AM

In case you missed it last night, sophomore Andrew Howe capped off a perfect season with a national championship at 165 lbs. He finished the year with a 37-0 record to become the fourth wrestler in UW history to go undefeated.

In addition, the team finished fourth which ties for the best finish at the NCAAs in school history. They also did it in 1976 and 1978.

Lastly, head coach Barry Davis was honored as the NWCA National Coach of the Year.

Read all about it in our Session VI Recap.

After the event was over, the team convened at a local restaurant with lots of family, friends and UW supporters to celebrate one of the best seasons in Wisconsin wrestling history.

We're on our way back to Madison now. We left Omaha at about 8:15 this morning. The bus has satellite TV so hoping it'll work for us to watch some basketball later in the day. As for now, we're watching Twilight. Nope, not a typo.

All three coaches' wives are on the bus and they won out in the movie selection. Coach Davis said it was a reward for them for all they put up with during the season. I'm thinking this is going to be time for the guys to get some sleep after a big night.

Howe goes for NCAA title tonight

By Karl Anderson on March 20, 2010 5:46 PM

Sophomore Andrew Howe is looking to cap off his season with an NCAA championship tonight at 165 lbs. at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

The session kicks off at 6:30 and can be seen live on ESPN.

Howe faces Dan Vallimont of Penn State. They have already met twice this year, with Howe winning 7-2 in the dual matchup and 3-1 in the Big Ten Championship semifinals. Howe also beat Vallimont last season, 3-2.

As a team, Wisconsin sits in fifth place with 66.5 points. The best finish in school history came in 1976 when the team finished fourth. The team's best finish under Barry Davis is ninth, which happened in 2000 and 2009.

Howe (36-0) is looking to become the 13th different NCAA Champion in school history and the first since current UW Associate Head Coach won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001.

Howe also has a chance to be just the fourth Badger to go undefeated in a single season, joining Matt Demaray (42-0 in 1990-91), Andy Rein (40-0 in 1979-80) and Lee Kemp (39-0 in 1975-76).

I talked with assistant head coach Jared Frayer about 10 minutes ago and he says Andrew is feeling good leading up to the match. Frayer said one of the big things is that Andrew has been in this position before (he was a runner-up last season) so he knows what to expect.

Brandvold places sixth at NCAA Championships

By Karl Anderson on March 20, 2010 1:03 PM

No. 5 seed Trevor Brandvold finished in sixth place at 197 lbs., at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships with a 7-0 loss to No. 6 Eric Lapotsky of Oklahoma.

Lapotsky earned a takedown with 2:04 remaining in the first period, then added two nearfall points at the very end of the stanza to lead 4-0.

The second period started in neutral but Lapotsky extended his lead to 6-0 with a takedown with 40 seconds left. Brandvold then started down in third period but was unable to score. Riding time made it a 7-0 final for Lapotsky.

Ruschell places fourth at NCAA Championships

By Karl Anderson on March 20, 2010 12:03 PM

Senior Kyle Ruschell entered the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as the No. 4 seed at 149 lbs., and the seeding held true as he was defeated by No. 3 Kyle Terry of Oklahoma, 5-4, in the third place match.

Terry got a takedown 32 seconds into the match to lead 2-0, but Ruschell answered with a reversal with 1:42 to go in the period. Terry went ahead 3-2 though with an escape six seconds after Ruschell's takedown. Terry added to his lead with a 5-2 takedown with 41 seconds to go.

The second period was scoreless, although Ruschell nearly scored a takedown at the end of the period, but the action went off the mat before that could happen.

Terry started down in the third period and Ruschell was able to add two nearfall points 16 seconds into the frame. Ruschell rode him for the duration of the match but was unable to turn him to earn additional points.

Ruschell is a two-time All-American, placing third last season and fourth this season.

Graff takes fifth at NCAA Championships

By Karl Anderson on March 20, 2010 11:39 AM

No. 8 Tyler Graff took home fifth place at 133 lbs., at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships with a 5-3 decision over No. 6 Dan Mitcheff of Kent State.

Graff had a 2-0 lead just 25 seconds into the match with a takedown. Mitcheff escaped 22 seconds later to leave the score at 2-1 in favor of Graff after the first period.

Mitcheff started down in the second period and tied the match at 2-2 with an escape five seconds into the frame. Graff regained the lead though at 4-2 with 27 seconds left in the period. With five seconds left, Mitcheff was able to escape to cut the lead to 4-3 after two periods.

In the final period, Graff started down but escaped just 12 seconds in. He was able to stave off repeated takedown attempts to capture fifth place.