Badgers wrestling set to open season with UW-Whitewater

[BuckySaunders]

Thursday marks more of an official beginning to Wisconsin’s 2015-16 wrestling season as the Badgers welcome NCAA Division III UW-Whitewater to Madison.

The Warhawks and Badgers last met in 2013 with Wisconsin capturing a 27-12 win in Whitewater.

“It’s great for the state to have, in my mind, the top two wrestling programs in the state, collegiately, going after it,” Whitewater head coach Ned Shuck said. “As a coach, you’re always looking for a way to test your guys. I think this is a great way to test the early season.”

Wisconsin enters the contest at the No.13 team in the land, according to FloWrestling.

“It’s tough competition. The Badgers are always tough,” Shuck said. “That’s really going to help us evaluate how the preseason has been.”

Here is UW’s projected lineup for Thursday’s dual:

125: Johnny Jimenez
133: Jens Lantz
141: Luke Rowh
149: Andrew Crone
157: TJ Ruschell
165: Seth Liegel
174: Ricky Robertson
184: Jake Stilling
197: Eric Peissig
285: Brock Horwath

Ryan Taylor (133) and Isaac Jordan (165), two of Wisconsin’s three nationally-ranked wrestlers, are not scheduled to compete. Taylor is ranked third at his weight, while Jordan is second. Neither wrestler saw action at last month’s Red/White Dual.

Ricky Robertson (174), who is ranked No.10 by Flo, is scheduled to take to the mat.

Thursday will provide the first glimpse of both Jens Lantz (133) and Seth Liegel (165) this season.

Regardless of how the starting lineup shakes out, UW head coach Barry Davis sees Thursday’s dual as an opportunity for his wrestlers to test the techniques they have been developing against an unfamiliar opponent.

“You want to wrestle at a high level,” Davis said. “It’s a chance to go out and work on what you’ve been working on.”

UW-Whitewater enters the season as the No.11 team in Division III according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The Warhawks have claimed the last four Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and placed fourth at the NCAA DIII Championships a year ago.

Shuck has taken some time to help his wrestlers keep the moment in perspective.

“This is a cool opportunity for us and we definitely don’t want to take that for granted, but so is every other match that we wrestle,” Shuck said. “From that standpoint, we’re not trying to making it bigger than it needs to be. It’s just another guy that we’re wrestling.”

Matt Adcock (141 pounds) is one of three returning All-Americans for Whitewater, but he will be the only one in action on Thursday. Jordan Newman (174) and 2015 National Runner-up Shane Siefert (197) are expected to join the team next month.

As the dawn of a new campaign approaches, it’s clear that both sides are ready to get after it.

“It’s been since March since we’ve wrestled. For me, it’s my passion, it’s what I love doing. For me, selfishly, personally what I’m most looking forward to is: just getting in the corner of our guys and having their backs and going to battle together,” Shuck said. “It’s going to be a cool stage to do it. It’s going to be fun in Madison. It’s a cool venue with a lot of history.”

Wisconsin heavyweight Brock Horwath is hoping the match will provide plenty of excitement for those in attendance.

“I think it’s big just to get the fans of Wisconsin to get together at one dual. So there should be a lot of people there. Whitewater is a good team. I know they’ve been successful in DIII so far,” Horwath told uwbadgers.com “So hopefully we can put on a good show.”

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