I see the Badgers sending up to 7 to the NCAA tournament, 4 of which stand a good shot at becoming All Americans.
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| 125 Eric Barnett Sophomore Record: 32-9 NCAA: 21'8th BIG 10: 21'WC MIDLANDS: 20'R12 |
Barnett seemed to come out of nowhere last season in an 8th place All American showing. Based on his BIG 10 performance of not even placing within the top 8, that is a fair statement to make. Yet, from another perspective, maybe it shouldn't have been as much of a shock as what it was. When he pinned Devin Schroder of Purdue in their first meeting, many thought it was a fluke. Then he proved that it wasn't, with a 5-4 victory over Schroder. A 7-3 victory over Trevor Mastrogiovanni of Oklahoma State and a throttling 17-4 major decision of 3rd place All American Patrick McKee, also stick out. He's not the type that's going to dominate all season. Yet, he'll be game come NCAA's.
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| 133 Kyle Burwick Freshman Record: 23-14 NCAA: 21'NQ BIG 10: 21'5th |
An NCAA qualifier for the Badgers in 2021, it's hard to see Burwick finishing much better at the BIG 10's than he did last season. He's not upending Austin DeSanto of Iowa or Roman Bravo Young of Penn State. He has yet to defeat Northwestern's Chris Cannon or Illinois' Lucas Byrd, but those are both matches that I could see Burwick winning.
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| 141 Austin Gomez Junior Record: 32-7 NCAA: 19'R12 BIG 12: 19'3rd SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 19'2nd |
A lot of questions here. First and foremost, can he stay healthy? That is the most important factor. Secondly, he hasn't wrestled in two seasons. How much of an effect is that going to have? 2 years off is a long time. Thirdly, how is he going to do up a weight class? He more than proved his worth at 133. Many quality wins, a runner-up finish at the Southern Scuffle and a 3rd place finish at the BIG 12's. His potential and his capabilities I have no doubt of. If that's all we're going on, aim your sights on the moon. Yet there's a lot more that factors in here. As of right now calling him an NCAA qualifier, come midseason, I might be predicting a heck of a lot more than that.
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| 157 Garrett Model Junior Record: 38-48 BIG 10: 20'8th |
The past two seasons Model has been "right there" in terms of NCAA qualification. Literally finishing one match shy of qualifying in 2020, I'd say had he won another match at the BIG 10's last year, he either would have qualified or again been one match shy of qualification. And honestly, 2021-2022, I see him finishing about the same. He's like the 34th or 35th best wrestler at his weight class. He needs to step it up a notch and win some of these close matches that he's been losing by 1-3 points. And he can. This isn't mission impossible. He's beaten Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan 9-5. He owns two wins over Elijah Cleary of Pittsburgh, 10-2 and 3-2. He has the ability to be an NCAA qualifier.
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| 174 Andrew McNally Senior Record: 118-41 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'NQ MAC: 19'2nd, 20'2nd, 21'1st |
First an Eastern Michigan Eagle, then a Kent State Golden Flash and now a Wisconsin Badger. Within the BIG 10, I think McNally can finish as high as 4th and I don't see him finishing any lower than 7th. He actually looked pretty good against NCAA champ Carter Starocci of Penn State, so maybe I'm not giving him enough credit. Maybe he can finish higher than 4th. I need to see wins over the likes of Mike Kemerer of Iowa, Logan Massa of Michigan or Mikey Labriola before I start thinking that though. I do think McNally stands a good shot at being an All American this season. He's top 12 without a doubt and seeing him on the award stand at the end of the year would not surprise me at all.
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| 184 Chris Weiler Senior Record: 87-43 NCAA: 18'R12, 20'NQ, 21'NQ EIWA: 18'6th, 20'2nd BIG 10: 21'5th MIDLANDS: 17'R12 SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 18'R12, 19'8th |
I feel the same way about Weiler that I do McNally. He's a top 12 wrestler that stands a shot at being an All American this season. An 11-10 victory over Taylor Venz of Nebraska and a 4-0 decision over Binghamton's Louie Deprez give support to the plausibility. Again, not seeing a real high placing but 6th, 7th, 8th is very doable.
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| HWT Trent Hillger Junior Record: 79-28 NCAA: 19'8th, 20'NQ, 21'6th BIG 10: 19'4th, 20'4th, 21'7th MIDLANDS: 19'8th, 20'3rd |
With Gable Steveson signing a deal with the WWE, I'm waiting for some famous rock band to contact Hillger. With hair like that, you can't tell me he wouldn't make a great front man. As to wrestling? 4th. That's where I see him finishing in the BIG 10 & I can see him finishing that high at the NCAA's. Gable Steveson of Minnesota isn't getting beat by anyone. Then you have Anthony Cassioppi of Iowa, who Hillger is 0-4 against, as well as Mason Parris of Michigan who Hillger is 0-3 against. Other than those three though, there isn't anyone else at HWT that Hillger can't beat. The key for him is to get the early lead. He's not all that great at scoring points, but he's extremely good at keeping his opponent from scoring on him. Excellent defense.
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125 - All American
133 - NQ
141 - NQ
149 - DNQ
157 - If this were the NFL they'd be measuring for a 1st down (1st down = NCAA Qualification)
165 - DNQ
174 - All American
184 - All American
197 - DNQ
HWT - All American
Up to 7 qualifiers and 4 All Americans. See a pretty good year for the Badgers
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