Yet another UW team is set to engage in a national tournament. The Wisconsin wrestling team is headed to Auburn Hills, Mich., this weekend in an attempt to make some noise and improve on its 21st place finish a year ago.
UW will send nine wrestlers to the Palace of Auburn Hills, including three that are seeded. In the 157-lb class, junior Craig Henning earned the highest seed for a UW wrestler this year by receiving a No. 7 seed. Freshman Kyle Ruschell heads to the tournament with a No. 10 seed in the 141-lb class and sophomore Dallas Herbst was given a No. 12 seed in the 197-lb class.
Henning has been one of the most consistent wrestlers all season for the Badgers. He claimed third place in this year's Big Ten Championships and also tallied a 14-match winning streak before being upset in the final match of the season against Indiana. Henning will face off against an unfamiliar foe, Devin Mesanko of Columbia University.
One of the great young Badgers who faired incredibly well in his opening season wearing the Cardinal and White was Ruschell. In his debut Big Ten Championships, Ruschell finished second in the 141-lb class, good enough to land him the No. 10 seed heading into the NCAA Championships. Ruschell, like all other Badger wrestlers, will match up with an unfamiliar foe in his first match. Michael Keefe of Chattanooga.
UW sophomore Dallas Herbst compiled a strong season as he was able to lock up a No. 12 seed heading into the championships in the 197-lb class. Herbst, like Henning, finished third in his respective weight class in the Big Ten Championships and hopes to build off that success on the national stage. Herbst will grapple with Jeremie Cook of Lock Haven this weekend.
Coming off a fourth place finish in his debut Big Ten Championships, UW freshman Trevor Brandvold will wrestle No. 5 seed Raymond Jordan of always-powerful Missouri. UW's lone senior Tyler Turner will head to the NCAA Championships after finishing fifth in his class at the Big Ten's. He will face No. 9 Morgan Atkinson of Fullerton.
UW sophomore Kyle Massey and junior Collin Cudd, each coming off fifth-place finishes in the heavyweight and 125-lb classes respectively, will match up with No. 12 Wade Sauer of Fullerton in the heavyweight division and Eric Stevenson in the 125-lb class.
UW junior Matt Maciag will wrestle John Heleniak of Millersville as his first opponent in the NCAAs. Rounding out the field of UW wrestlers is sophomore Zach Tanelli, who was voted into the national field by the coaches as a wildcard. He will go up against No. 11 Drew Headlee of Pittsburgh.
The wrestling begins Thursday at 10 a.m. and ends Saturday with the 7 p.m. finals.
