This weekend, the Wisconsin men's wrestling team will travel to Evanston, Ill., to compete in the Big Ten Championships.
Senior Trevor Brandvold looks to defend his Big Ten at title at 197 lbs., while two-time Big Ten Champion junior Andrew Howe (165 lbs.) is set to make his return to the mat for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury on Jan. 16 against Illinois.
According to head coach Barry Davis, Howe has been on the mat the last three weeks, wrestling hard and looks to be at 100 percent.
""A lot of the doctors cannot understand how can he tears his hamstring that way and comes back the way he is. But we know Andrew Howe is a very unique individual, maybe he heals fast, but he's doing great right now,"" Davis said. ""His body looks just as good now as it did at the beginning of the season, so it's an exciting thing.""
The Badgers are coming off an rocky Big Ten season. After climbing as high as No. 3 in the country, the team hit a snag in conference play.
Following a tie against Illinois in their first Big Ten match, the Badgers lost four matches in a row to conference opponents. Wisconsin ultimately stopped the bleeding by beating unranked Ohio State.
The Badgers then went on to split their final two duals of the season to finish eighth in the Big Ten standings with a 2-5-1 record (11-6-1 overall). However, despite an eighth place conference finish, Wisconsin still ranks No. 15 in the country, a testament to how tough the Big Ten is this year.
The Badgers' second to last match of the season saw the team suffer a tough 30-12 loss to No. 3 Penn State. Wisconsin lost eight of the 10 weight classes with its only wins coming from junior Travis Rutt (184 lbs.) and Brandvold (197 lbs.) This match also saw sophomore Tyler Graff (133 lbs.) lose only his second bout of the season, snapping a 17-match win streak.
The Badgers finished off the season on a high note, however, beating Michigan State 27-9. Wisconsin won seven of the 10 bouts to notch its 11th win of the season.
Highlighting the victory were three wrestlers earning bonus point victories. Graff earned a technical fall defeating the Spartans' Chris Lyon 22-6. In the next weight class (141 lbs.) sophomore Shane McQuade earned an impressive victory for the Badgers, pinning his opponent at 1:21. Wisconsin's final bonus point victory came from Brandvold in the form of an 8-0 major decision. His record now stands at an unblemished 11-0.
When asked what he thought about the Badgers' chances at bringing home a title, Coach Davis thought it could come down to just a few weight classes.
We've just got to make some breaks,"" Davis said. ""But that's why we wrestle the tournament, and that's why you train all year long for this here. And we've made some good effort this year as a team. We've been through the battles. We do the wars, so we'll step up Big Ten time.""
