Finishing with 85.5 points, the UW wrestling team placed sixth at the 2008 Big Ten Championships at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. In doing so, the Badgers were able to qualify eight wrestlers for the NCAA Championships.
Badger junior Dallas Herbst anchored the team by earning a third-place finish in the 197-pound division. That performance is not unusual for Herbst, as he ended the 2007 Big Ten Championships in the exact same position. This time around, Herbst defeated No. 3 seed Patrick Bond from Illinois 5-1 and qualified for his third straight national meet.
UW sophomore Trevor Brandvold finished fourth in the 184-pound class at this year's competition, the same spot he found himself last year. The unseeded Brandvold won by injury default and moved into the third place match.
However, No. 3 seeded Philip Keddy of Iowa beat Brandvold 6-3. The fourth place showing was good enough for the sophomore to qualify for NCAA Championship competition.
Badger junior grappler Kyle Massey matched Brandvold and finished fourth in his heavyweight bout. Massey entered the duel with the No. 3 seed, however, Iowa's Matt Fields overtook him 3-1 in the second overtime. The fourth place finish secured Massey a spot in the national competition.
Senior Colin Cudd, notched a fifth place finish for the Badgers as he upended No. 7 seeded Nikko Triggas from Ohio State 10-4 in the 125-pound division. With the win, Cudd guaranteed himself his fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Championship meet.
In the 133-pound division, UW junior Zach Tanelli recorded a fifth-place finish. The Badger grappler defeated No. 6 seed Andrae Hernandez from Indiana 9-5 to claim the final place. When the National Championships begin, Tanelli will be wrestling in the meet for the second straight season.
At 165 pounds, UW senior Jake Donar pinned No. 3 seeded Gopher wrestler Tyler Safratowich to claim the major upset and qualified for his second NCAA appearance and first since his freshman campaign.
Another Badger senior qualified for the championship meet Sunday afternoon. Dan Clum finished seventh in the 174-pound class after dramatically reversing Michigan State wrestler John Murphy's move to win 5-3 in the closing seconds of the match. With the win, Clum becomes a three-time national competition qualifier.
Finally, sophomore Kyle Ruschell was able to qualify for the NCAA Championships - as he suffered an injury that forced him to forfeit his third-place match. The forfeit dropped Ruschell into sixth place, however, that finish was good enough to qualify for the next competition.
After having a week off, the eight Badgers will travel to St. Louis, Mo. March 20-22 for the 2008 NCAA Championships.
- uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report
