In what is turning into a very special season for second-year head coach Chris Bono, the No. 4 Badgers (3-3 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) will face one of their toughest opponents of the year this Friday night when the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1 Big Ten, 9-2 overall) come to town.
The Badgers have the opportunity to score a big win for the program in the upcoming match against the Nittany Lions. With the high ranking of both teams in the NCAA standings, this match could be a great barometer to how the Badgers as well as the Nittany Lions will perform in the coming Big Ten Championships in New Jersey as well as the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis later this year.
Legendary Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson looks to continue his spectacular season by picking up a win tonight at the Field House, and Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono hopes to upset one of the premier wrestling programs in the entire country.
Wisconsin’s success this season has been due, in large part, to the strong performances of transfers. Seth Gross, Johnny Sebastian, and Eric Barnett have all wrestled extremely well this season and are all above .500 on the year. The matchup of the night will be at 133lbs, where Wisconsin star Seth Gross will take on Roman Bravo-Young in a match that the victor will leave as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the weight class. Other key matches include at 141lbs, where No. 7 Tristan Moran will try to continue his improbable and impressive season against No. 2 Nick Lee, and at 165lbs, where Penn State’s No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph will wrestle No. 3 Evan Wick in what will be their first time ever meeting each other on the mat.
Wisconsin is only favored in a couple of weight classes, and the unranked matchups at 125lbs and 157lbs could provide valuable points if the Badgers hope to pull off the upset against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
