Wisconsin Badgers
Penn State
Five Things to Know: Penn State & Illinois
January 05, 2023 | Wrestling
No. 11 Wisconsin opens Big Ten dual season
MADISON, Wis. - Ranked No. 11 by Intermat, Wisconsin (6-1, 0-0 B1G) opens the Big Ten season with a home dual vs. No. 1 Penn State on Friday at 8 p.m. CT at the UW Field House. Wisconsin then travels to No. 28 Illinois on Sunday for a dual at 3 p.m. CT.
Both duals will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network television, the first two of four duals for the Badgers on TV this season.
UPDATE: Read the Wisconsin vs. Penn State Recap
QUICK LINKS
- Penn State Roster and Dual Match Preview
- Illinois Roster and Dual Match Preview
- Wisconsin Team and Individual Statistics (PDF)
- Wisconsin Match Notes (PDF)
Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono spoke with the media on Monday at the Kohl Center. Watch his media conference:
Big Ten Network also featured Dean Hamiti in the "On the Mat" series this week:
No sophomore slump here – only swagger! ☝️
— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) January 5, 2023
@BadgerWrestling's @HamitiDean has his own specific style that is quickly turning heads.
This is Dean Hamiti's story: 𝗢𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁 pic.twitter.com/z02CxLEEc1
1. MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Badgers had 21 wrestlers competing this past week at two different tournaments - the Midlands Championships in Illinois and the Soldier Salute in Iowa.
Helping lead the Badgers to a fourth-place team finish (and just 0.5 points shy of tying for second), Eric Barnett won the 125-pound title at Midlands after defeating Arizona State's Brandon Courtney in a high-flying 6-2 decision. Barnett joined six of his teammates to finish on the podium in one of the country's top mid-season wrestling tournaments.
Wisconsin's Drew Scharenbrock (157), Dean Hamiti (165) and Braxton Amos (197) all finished second in their respective weight classes and first appearances in the Midland finals. Garrett Model (157) finished fifth, Trent Hillger (285) finished sixth and Taylor LaMont (133) finished eighth overall. Read the recap here.
2. SOLDIER SALUTE: Seven Wisconsin wrestlers traveled to Iowa for the Soldier Salute tournament held at XTream Arena in Coralville. Hosted by Iowa, the event was dominated by 30 Hawkeyes in the individual and team standings (228 team points), but the Badgers small roster of younger wrestlers collected 39 team points with four UW student-athletes placing on the podium.
Freshman Gannon Rosenfeld led the team with a fourth-place finish at 285 pounds. Rosenfeld earned three victories on his run, collecting a 8-1 decision over Terren Swartz (Wyoming) and a sudden-victory 3-1 decision over Austin Kohlhofer (Army West Point). After entering the consolation bracket, Rosenfeld climbed back into the third-place match thanks to a victory over Bradley Hill (Iowa) with a 9-5 decision. Read the recap here.
3. SCOUTING NO. 1 PENN STATE: Penn State is coming off a strong 3-0 performance at the Collegiate Duals in New Orleans, La., on Dec. 19-20. The Nittany Lions beat beat Central Michigan 50-3 and North Carolina 37-3 on the first day and then took down No. 5 Iowa State 22-12 the next day in the event's finale. The wins improved Penn State to 7-0 on the year heading into the Big Ten portion of its schedule. Penn State has four wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their weight classes by Intermat: Roman Bravo-Young (133), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184), and Greg Kerkvliet (285). Read Penn State's preview here.
4. SCOUTING NO. 28 ILLINOIS: Illinois start off with a road trip to Iowa on Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. CT before hosting Wisconsin on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT. The match at the State Farm Center on Sunday will also be Alumni night forthe Illini. Illinois wrestled at the 58th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships a week ago where two Illini were crowned champion: Redshirt junior Zac Braunagel (197 lbs.) and redshirt sophomore Edmond Ruth (133 lbs.). Zac Braunagel will have a potential rematch with Braxton Amos. Braunagel defeated him at Midlands last week for the 197 title. Five other Illini also placed at Midlands. Edmond Ruth is currently on a 18 match win streak, boasting an 18-1 record. Read Illinois' preview here.
5. LINEUPS:
#11 WISCONSIN (6-1, 0-0 B1G)
- 125: #5 Eric Barnett (11-1)
- 133: #27 Taylor LaMont (7-6) or Nicolar Rivera (2-3)
- 141: #26 Joseph Zargo (7-3) or Felix Lettini (2-4)
- 149: #2 Austin Gomez (7-1) or Aidan Medora (8-10)
- 157: #16 Garrett Model (10-3) or Drew Scharenbrock (6-3)
- 165: #5 Dean Hamiti (10-3)
- 174: Josh Otto (5-7) or James Rowley (2-4)
- 184: Tyler Dow (4-6)
- 197: #14 Braxton Amos (10-2)
- 285: #11 Trent Hillger (9-2) or Peter Christensen (4-1)
- HC: Chris Bono
- AC: Jon Reader (Assoc. HC)
- AC: Seth Gross
NO. 1 PENN STATE (7-0, 0-0 B1G)
- 125: Gary Steen (4-7)
- 133: #1 Roman Bravo-Young (6-0)
- 141: #5 Beau Bartlett (11-0)
- 149: #15 Shayne Van Ness (9-1)
- 157: #28 Terrell Barraclough (6-2) or Levi Haines (10-1)
- 165: #14 Alex Facundo (9-1)
- 174: #1 Carter Starocci (7-0)
- 184: #1 Aaron Brooks (4-1)
- 197: #5 Max Dean (9-2)
- 285: #1 Greg Kerkvliet (6-0)
- HC: Cael Sanderson
- AC: Cody Sanderson (Assoc. HC)
- AC: Casey Cunningham / Jimmy Kennedy
NO. 28 ILLINOIS (2-2, 0-0 B1G)
- 125: Maximo Renteria (3-3)
- 133: #10 Lucas Byrd (14-3)
- 141: Danny Pucino (8-5)
- 149: Kevon Davenport (6-7)
- 157: Anthony Federico (5-7) or Luke Odom (4-6)
- 165: #11 Danny Braunagel (15-3)
- 174: #10 Edmond Ruth (18-1)
- 184: #29 Dylan Connell (12-9)
- 197: #13 Zac Braunagel (13-3)
- 285: Matt Wroblewski (10-7)
- HC: Mike Poeta
- AC: Jeremy Hunter
- AC: Ed Ruth
Players Mentioned
