Confidence is a special trait. It allows us, as humans, to trust in ourselves in the face of adversity. To get up when we’ve been knocked down. To keep marching forward.
But, confidence is not an inherent trait. Some struggle with confidence — Mason Posa is not one of those people.
Posa, the Badgers’ star sophomore linebacker, burst onto the scene as one of the most dominant freshmen in the country last season, earning Freshman All-American honors. He didn’t waste any opportunities to showcase his skillset when he made 13 tackles in his first career start against Oregon, and he followed that up with an 11-tackle, 2.5-sack performance against Washington.
Posa remembers feeling the nerves before his first start, but he credits his family for giving him the reassurance he needed before stepping onto the field that day.
“I just knew, I was like ‘Mason, this is a chance for you to be a starter for the rest of your career, so you gotta bring it,’” Posa told The Daily Cardinal in a post-practice interview. “There was a lot of pressure, and my dad really helped me a lot. He was like, ‘Mason, go be the kid you’ve always been.’ I give a lot of thanks to my dad, because he helped me a lot that week.”
Before arriving in Madison, Posa was a dominant wrestler. Dominant actually might be underselling it; he was unstoppable on the mat.
Posa was a four-time New Mexico State Champion for La Cueva High School, posting a record of 129-3 across four weight classes in four years. He participated in the 285-pound weight class his senior year despite weighing 75 pounds lighter than the threshold to compete. That didn’t matter to Posa, who posted a perfect 43-0 record that year and was rightfully named the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner for New Mexico in 2025.
Although wrestling and football are two completely unique and different sports, Posa believes his background as a wrestler is still present in the way he mentally approaches the gridiron.
“In wrestling, you’re kind of just by yourself. You don’t have to depend on any teammate. So I kind of bring that same mentality [to football],” he told the Cardinal. “Every time I step on the field, I’ll just be like, ‘hey, you’re the spotlight, you got the pressure, you gotta deliver for these fans, you gotta deliver for your teammates.’ So I definitely think my wrestling background has helped me a lot with the mentality of being in that spotlight.”
After his monstrous freshman campaign for the Badgers, Posa could have ridden the treadwinds into the transfer portal, where he likely would have received offers from several blue-chip programs. Instead, he chose to stay right here in Madison.
When asked about this during spring practice, he emphasized his profound love and dedication to Wisconsin football.
“It’s the place I fell in love with during my recruiting process … coach [Fickell], I’m ride or die with that dude,” Posa told reporters back in April. “I’ll defend Badger nation with all my heart. I love this place, and I’m willing to die and sacrifice anything for this program to be winning again.”
His admiration and loyalty to Wisconsin Head Coach Luke Fickell has remained strong, and Posa elaborated on what makes his relationship with his coach special after practice on Sep. 29.
“Coach Fick’s always had my back,” he said. “He’s always wanted the best for me. And no matter what, ups, downs, highs and lows, I’ll always be a coach [Fickell] supporter no matter what.”
The Badgers got one step closer to Posa’s goal of restoring a winning culture with Wisconsin’s thrilling comeback win over No. 13 Penn State in Happy Valley. Posa played a huge part in that victory, posting a career-high eight solo tackles and an additional tackle for loss.
He said what a win like that is big for the program going forward.
“[The win] does a whole lot. It gives us confidence going into this next week and also going into Big Ten play. We were really excited after that win at Penn State,” he said.
Posa said the victory also made a noticeable impact in the way the team practiced on Sep. 29.
“I feel like even today’s practice was a lot different, we were all sharp, we’re just being overly physical today,” Posa said.
Mason Posa is confident in this team and confident in himself. But confidence isn’t linear. Posa knows better than most.
“I feel like [my confidence has] changed over time,” he said. “I try to stay humble as much as I can, but you gotta have that confidence to succeed in this world.”
Although he tries to remain humble, that doesn’t stop Posa from chasing a not-so humble goal: perfection. He knows it’s impossible, but having that ambition in mind pushes him to become a better version of himself every day.
“I definitely think highly of myself. I always try to be the best version [of myself] I can,” Posa said. “I always try to be perfect, and nobody can be perfect so it just makes me work harder every day. I definitely think my confidence has grown every single day, just kind of working.”
Posa, like anyone, is human. There are times when that confidence gets shaken and tested. But his ‘so what, now what?’ mentality allows him to regroup and respond to the next challenge ahead.
“Obviously, when I give up a touchdown, or when I make a bad play, I get shaken up a little bit,” Posa said. “I also think, ‘so what, now what?’ kind of mentality. So what, I gave up a touchdown, now it’s time to make a play. I always look at the next play going forward.”
Posa also credits his friend and fellow inside linebacker Cooper Catalano for helping him in those moments and building his confidence back up.
“Kudos to Coop. He does a really good job of hyping me up, saying, ‘hey, Mason, you’re that dog, you’re that guy, let’s go, let’s go make a play,’” he said. “Cooper does a really good job of helping me settle in.”
Catalano and Posa, who both earned starting roles as true freshmen last season, have a special bond. They’re close friends, so close that they often treat each other like brothers. And Posa made sure Catalano got the full brotherly treatment after dropping an interception late in the fourth quarter against Penn State.
“I still give him crap about it,” Posa said, wearing a big grin. “Coop knew it was coming, he didn’t expect the ball to come out like a rocket.”
With that said, Posa will always have his brother’s back.
“Coop had a hell of a game, regardless of that play,” he said, adding he’s been in the same boat before. “I just dropped a pick too, an easy one, so we both have bad hands.”
As Wisconsin prepares for their matchup against Michigan State and the rest of Big Ten play after shocking the college football world last weekend, Posa knows the Badgers have to keep their eyes forward.
He pointed to Ole Miss as an example, who got rocked by Florida one week after defeating LSU in Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford.
“We kind of have that in the back of our minds. We can’t be that team,” Posa said. “We’re obviously gonna remember [the win], but we gotta put it in the back of our minds and continue forward and take on this new challenge with Michigan State. They’re a good, physical football team … so we gotta get ready for another battle.”
Back in April, Mason Posa said he wanted this program to start winning again. One win — no matter how thrilling — doesn’t accomplish that. But it’s a start.
Posa, unsurprisingly, remains confident. There’s still plenty of football left to be played and plenty left for Wisconsin to prove on the field. But for the first time in a while, Badger fans have a reason to believe.
“This [win] gives us all the confidence in the world going into these Big Ten [games],” Posa said. “We’re excited to keep improving and showing who we are.”
