The Wisconsin wrestling team will face a true test of its abilities this weekend at the 26th annual Cliff Keen Invite in Las Vegas.
The competition, which spans all Friday and Saturday, will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Matches begin at 11 a.m., while the Championship round will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Over 40 teams are set to compete in the invite, with 12 teams ranked in the top 25. The Badgers (4-0 overall) are ranked No. 9 going into the invite with seven ranked grapplers.
Four other Big Ten teams - No. 10 Michigan, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 18 Illinois and Purdue - will also be present.
We'll see a little bit more of where we're really at [and] where we stand overall in the country [after this weekend],"" Wisconsin head coach Barry Davis said. ""It'll be a good chance for our guys to get some good matches in against some highly ranked guys, and so we'll see where we stand overall as a team, as well as individual-wise. It'll be a good test for us.""
While the Badgers expect strong opposition in each weight class, the fiercest competition is likely to come from the 157 lbs. category, where the top three ranked grapplers - No. 1 Gregor Gillespie from Edinboro, Wisconsin senior Craig Henning (No. 2) and No. 3 Mike Poeta from Illinois - will all be in attendance.
The Badgers made their second appearance at the invite last year, finishing fifth out of 47 teams. Wisconsin was led by third-place finishes from Henning and sophomore Kyle Ruschell at 141 lbs.
Junior Dallas Herbst finished fifth at 197 lbs., while senior Matt Maciag finished seventh at 175 lbs.
Amid their strong start to the season, there was more joy for the Badgers Monday as Davis announced nine wrestlers will join the Badgers for the 2008-'09 season.
Of the nine recruits, two - Tyler Graff at 130 lbs. and Andrew Howe at 152 lbs. - are ranked No. 1 in the country and five are ranked within the top 20 in their respective weight classes.
""I think it's one of the better recruiting classes that we've ever had, but again, you don't really know until you get the kids in the room,"" Davis said. ""We have a lot of depth. We cover nine different weight classes in this recruiting class. We're very fortunate to get a couple kids, and we did our homework on them.""
With seniors set to graduate next year, the infusion of fresh blood is just what the Badgers need.
""They are a very physical group,"" Davis said. ""I call them old-school wrestlers, so we're real excited about that.""
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
