After 'terrible performance' vs. Minnesota, Wisconsin wrestling prepares for final tuneup before Big Ten Tournament
MADISON – Simply put, Chris Bono needs to see more.
The crunch time of the college wrestling season will soon be upon us. Wisconsin closes the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday with a non-conference dual against Northern Iowa at the UW Field House then turns its attention to the Big Ten Tournament on March 4-5 at Michigan.
The dual is a final tuneup that comes with the Badgers fresh off what Bono described as a flat performance in a 19-15 loss to Minnesota on Saturday at the Field House.
Eric Barnett had the win of the day, scoring a 5-4 decision over Patrick Mckee, the fifth-place finisher at the NCAA’s tournament last year.
Otherwise. ...
“Tonight was a terrible performance,” Bono said. “I need to see 10 guys with some energy. Our program is only built on hustle, effort and energy. That’s all. Attitude. I didn’t see it.”
Badgers finish tied for 12th in rugged Big Ten
With 13 of its 14 ranked in the InterMat (dual) top 30, the Big Ten is against flexing its muscle as the nation’s premier conference. Wisconsin, despite its 1-7 conference record, finished the league season No. 19 in the dual meet rankings and No. 15 in the website’s tournament rankings.
The dual with Minnesota came down the final match. The tightness of the meet was symbolic of UW’s Big Ten dual season. Three matches were decided by one point. Senior All-American Austin Gomez missed three of the duals, including the one Saturday, and was unable to finish another due to injury. In each of those cases his presence may have flipped the final result.
“We got one win in the grand scheme of things, so it’s terrible,” Bono said of the Big Ten season. “We’re going to be just fine, but it’s not real good right now.”
Gomez, who is ranked second in the nation at 149 pounds, could have competed this past weekend but is being cautious with his return.
“We are at the point in the season where you tweak something here, you tweak something there, you’re out a week, you’re out two weeks (and) you’re wrestling at the Big Tens with a brace on your elbow,” Bono said. “That’s not conducive to winning the national championship, so we will keep evaluating Gomez every single day. When he looks at me and says I’m ready to go he’s going to go.”
Austin Gomez, Dean Hamiti, Eric Barnett led UW through Big Ten
Gomez is 5-1 against the Big Ten. Three other Badgers are over .500 against the conference: senior Eric Barnett (5-4 at 125 pounds), senior Garrett Model (6-4 at 157), sophomore Dean Hamiti (8-1 at 165), sophomore Braxton Amos (5-4 at 197) and senior Trent Hillger (5-4 at 285).
Two other wrestlers: senior Taylor LaMont (133), sophomore Joe Zargo (141) are also ranked.
Despite that talent, Bono wants to see more attention to detail moving forward.
“I have zero concerns about D.J. I have zero concerns about Barnett," Bono said. "There’s guys on the team I have zero concerns with, but there’s also guys on the team I’m very, very concerned about because things have not changed from week to week from what we talk about all week and then they go back to doing the same old same old. That’s where we are.”
The good news for UW is its dual with Northern Iowa will present plenty of challenges throughout the lineup.
The 17th-ranked Panthers have seven ranked wrestlers including former Nicolet High School standout Parker Keckiesen, a sophomore ranked No. 2 at 184.
“There is no excuse for not having the energy and hustle and the fight in a wrestling match, so I’ve got to go re-evaluate what went wrong in the training,” Bono said. “We’ll correct it. I’m not too worried about it. They’re good kids. They’ll find what’s wrong and they’ll get it done.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin wrestling tunes up before Big Ten Tournament
