Five Things to Know: No. 8 Michigan

Sunday, January 15

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4:00 PM CT

Wisconsin Badgers

Michigan

Photo by: Sam Janicki

Five Things to Know: No. 8 Michigan

January 11, 2023 | Wrestling

Watch No. 13 Wisconsin wrestle Michigan on B1G+

By: Jessica Burda Leslie

MADISON, Wis. - Ranked No. 13 by Intermat, Wisconsin (6-3, 0-2 B1G) travels to No. 8 Michigan (5-0, 0-0) on Sunday, Jan. 15 to wrestle the Wolverines at 4 p.m. CT.

The dual at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan will be streamed live on B1G+ at https://go.wisc.edu/wrst_mich23_b1gplus (subscription required).

Wisconsin last wrestled Michigan in Feb. 2020, a dual the Badgers won at home 20-12. UW's current 184 starter Tyler Dow beat UM's Max Maylor in a 4-3 decision.

Quick Facts:

Michigan Roster and Match Preview
Watch on B1G+ https://go.wisc.edu/wrst_mich23_b1gplus
Read Wisconsin's Match Notes (PDF)

Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono spoke with the media on Monday. Watch Bono here:

Here are five more things to know:

1. Big Ten Opening Weekend: Wisconsin opened the Big Ten dual season this past weekend in rough fashion with two losses. Then-ranked No. 11 UW lost 28-11 on Friday to No. 1 Penn State at the UW Field House before losing to No. 28 Illinois 18-17 on the road in Champaign on Sunday, despite splitting the bouts 5-5 with the Illini at the State Farm Center.

Two Badgers were undefeated on the weekend as Eric Barnett (125 pounds) and Hamiti both earned two victories a piece. Barnett earned an impressive 15-0 tech fall (5:11) over Penn State's Gary Steen to open the dual on Friday, while he won by 5-1 decision against Illinois' Anthony Federico on Sunday. Barnett has seven bonus-point wins (1 F, 2 TF, 4 MD). Hamiti collected a 18-6 major decision over Penn State's Matt Lee, before earning a dominant 15-0 tech fall (5:41) over Illinois' No. 11 Danny Braunagel on Sunday. Hamiti has 10 bonus-point victories (2 F, 2 TF, 5 MD) for the season so far.

Austin Gomez earned a 6-2 decision against Penn State's No. 15 Shayne Van Ness at 149 pounds on Friday for the Badger's third victory against the Nittany Lions at home. Read the recap vs. Penn State here.

Garrett Model open the dual against Illinois with a 5-1 win over Anthony Federico, while Trent Hillger defeated Matt Wroblewski 3-0 at heavyweight. Joe Zargo, wrestling up a weight class at 149, also earned a 9-7 decision against Jake Harrier on Sunday. Read the recap at Illinois here.

2. B1G Match Up at 165: No. 5 Drew Hamiti will likely see a rematch with No. 6 Cameron Amine at 165, after Amine earned a narrow 7-5 decision over Hamiti in last year's NCAA Championships.

3. Scouting No. 8 Michigan: Michigan opens Big Ten action at Michigan State (7-0, 0-0 B1G) on Friday before Wisconsin on Sunday. Michigan is 5-0 in duals with two ranked wins -- against No. 16 North Carolina (23-12, Nov. 13) and No. 25 Cal Poly (30-11, Jan. 6). Mason Parris has 8 falls this season and claimed his 100th win en route to the title at the Cliff Keen LVI. Parris is 15-0 this season with 11 total bonus wins. Two-time NCAA All-American Amine returned to the lineup after recovering from injury. He went 2-0, earning a ranked win over Cal Poly's No. 30 Legend Lamer, 5-2, before cruising to a 16-1 TF against CSUB's Braden Smelser. Amine is 6-1 on the season. Matt Finesilver is 5-0 in duals -- 12-3 overall; he was a three-time NCAA qualifier at Duke before joining Michigan this season. Read Michigan's preview here.

4. Ranked Badgers: Wisconsin has eight Badgers ranked nationally by Intermat and other national polls: Eric Barnett (125, 5th), Taylor LaMont (133, 27th), Joseph Zargo (141, 24th), Austin Gomez (149, 2nd), Garrett Model (157, 17th), Dean Hamiti (165, 5th), Braxton Amos (197, 14th) and Trent Hillger (285, 11th).