2008 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS University of Wisconsin Wrestling WISCONSIN Wrestling Release Contact: Betsy Golomski March 17, 2008 Offi ce: (608) 262-1811 / Cell: (414) 688-0264 E-mail:[email protected] 2007-08 SCHEDULE/RESULTS Date Opponent Time/Result Nov. 2 Dubuque W, 58-0 Tri-State University W, 45-9 UW-Oshkosh W, 53-0 Nov. 16 No. 8 Cornell W, 21-18 Nov. 17 Body Bar Invite 2nd/130.5 pts. Nov. 30 Cliff Keen Invite 5th/107.5 pts. Dec. 1 Cliff Keen Invite 5th/107.5 pts. BADGERS HEAD TO ST. LOUIS FOR 2008 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS Dec. 8 Northern Iowa T, 16-16 The University of Wisconsin wrestling team (14-4-1 overall, 5-3-0 Big Ten) closes Dec. 10 No. 13 Ohio State L, 23-13 out the 2007-08 season at the 2008 NCAA Championships. Competition at th3 78th Jan. 5 Utah Valley State^ W, 28-7 annual championship takes place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., and Cal State-Fullerton^ W, 28-12 begins Thursday, March 20 and runs through Sunday, March 22. Brown^ W, 34-6 The session breakdowns are as follows: Session 1, 11 a.m. (Thursday), Session No. 21 Navy^ W, 23-12 II, 6:30 p.m. (Thursday), Session III, 10 a.m. (Friday), Session IV, 6 p.m. (Friday), Jan. 18 No. 8 Iowa State L, 24-18 Jan. 20 No. 18 Oklahoma W, 18-15 Session V, 10 a.m. (Saturday), Session VI, 7:30 p.m. (Saturday). Jan. 25 No. 17 Indiana W, 20-15 ESPNU will provide live coverage of the event, beginning with the quarterfinal Feb. 1 MICHIGAN STATE W, 26-12 round at 10 a.m., Friday. ESPN360 will also cover the quarterfinal round on Friday. Feb. 3 No. 1 IOWA L, 22-20 ESPNU continues coverage at 6 p.m. Friday and at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Feb. 8 No. 9 Illinois L, 24-13 UWBadgers.com will also be blogging live throughout the NCAA Tournament. Feb. 15 No. 10 MICHIGAN W, 20-18 Feb. 17 No. 4 Minnesota W, 20-17 Feb. 22 No. 10 N’WESTERN W, 21-19 WISCONSIN QUALIFIES EIGHT March 8-9 Big Ten Championship 6th/85.5 pts. The Badgers qualified eight grapplers for the 2008 NCAA Championships. Last March 20-22 NCAA Championship ALL DAY year, Wisconsin qualified nine and six of those nine are returning to this year’s ^Indicates Lonestar Duals NCAAs along with two others that qualified in previous seasons. *All matches are in central time Collin Cudd (125 lbs.)-Cudd is competing in his fourth-consecutive NCAA **Bold indicates home matches at the Championships. He finished fifth at Big Tens for the third-straigt season and takes a UW Field House 20-10 overall record into NCAAs. He currently ranks at No. 17. Wrestling Quick Facts Zach Tanelli (133 lbs.)-Tanelli is making his second trip to NCAAs. He also fin- Home Arena/Capacity: UW Field ished fifth at Big Tens, has a 25-10 overall record this season and is ranked No. 9. House/10,300 Kyle Ruschell (141 lbs.)-Ruschell placed sixth at Big Tens to qualify for his sec- 2006–07 Overall Dual Meet Record: 19-3-0 ond NCAA Championships. Ruschell is ranked No. 6 overall in his weight class and 2006–07 Big Ten Dual Meet Record: 5-3-0 has a 25-6 overall record this season. 2007 Big Ten Championships Finish/Points: Jake Donar (165 lbs.)-Donar makes his second trip to NCAAs and his first since 2nd/99.5 qualifying during his freshman year. This year, Donar wrestled to a 12-14 record and 2007 NCAA Championships Finish/Points: upset the No. 3 seed Tyler Safratowich from Minnesota at Big Tens to finish seventh 13th/45.5 Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 19/1 and qualify for NCAAs. 2007 NCAA Qualifiers Returning/Lost: 8/1 All-Americans Returning/Lost: 1/1 19/1 All-Time UW Record: 647-432-35 2008 NCAA QUALIFIERS Head Coach: Barry Davis Wt. Name Year Hometown Overall Dual Big Ten Finish Alma Mater: Iowa, 1985 125 Collin Cudd Sr. River Falls, Wis. 20-10 10-6 Fifth Career Record/Seasons: 155-100-10/14 133 Zach Tanelli Jr. Short Hills, N.J. 25-10 13-5 Fifth Record at UW/Seasons: Same 141 Kyle Ruschell So. Crittenden, Ky. 25-6 16-2 Sixth Assistant Coach: Bart Chelesvig Alma Mater: Iowa, 1992 165 Jake Donar Sr. Cuba City, Wis. 12-14 7-9 Seventh Assistant Coach: Donny Pritzlaff 174 Dan Clum Sr. Arvada, Colo. 8-11 3-6 Seventh Alma Mater: Wisconsin, 2002 184 Trevor Brandvold So. River Falls, Wis. 19-12 7-7 Fourth Volunteer Assistant Coach: Cory Wallman 197 Dallas Herbst Jr. Winneconne, Wis. 28-4 16-3 Third Alma Mater: Wisconsin, 1999 Hwt. Kyle Massey Jr. Champlin, Minn. 27-7 15-2 Fourth Athletic Communications Office • University of Wisconsin • Kellner Hall • 1440 Monroe Street • Madison, WI 53711 Dan Clum (174 lbs.)-After transferring from Wyoming two seasons ago, Clum 2007-08 Rankings qualified for his first NCAA Championships as a Badger by finishing seventh at this year’s Big Tens. Clum qualified twice while at Wyoming. This year, Clum went 8-11 WIN Magazine overall and was 4-6 when wrestling at 174 lbs. March 10, 2008 Trevor Brandvold (184 lbs.)-Brandvold will wrestle in his second NCAA Tournament Point Index Championships. He qualified as a true freshman last season and qualified again this year after finishing fourth at Big Tens. He is currently 19-12 overall. Wisconsin-No. 21 Dallas Herbst (197 lbs.)-Wisconsin’s pin leader will make his third-straight appearnce at NCAAs. He leads the team with 14 pins and has the best record on the team at 28-4. Herbst currently ranks at No. 5 in the country. Rank Name Weight 7 Kyle Ruschell 141 lbs. Kyle Massey (Hwt.)-Massey makes his second trip to the NCAAs after finishing 8 Kyle Massey Hwt. fourth at this year’s Big Tens. He has a 27-7 overall record and went on a 12-match 8 Dallas Herbst 197 lbs. winning streak at the end of the season. He ranks at No. 5 overall. 11 Zach Tanelli 133 lbs. 18 Collin Cudd 125 lbs. WISCONSIN’S HISTORY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS Wisconsin finished 13th at last year's NCAA Championships that were held WIN Magazine in East Lansing, Mich. This was the third-highest finish during head coach Barry Top 10 Teams Davis’s tenure at Wisconsin. The Badgers qualified nine grapplers last year and brought home two All- Rank Team America honors. Then-senior Tyler Turner earned his first All-America honor after 1 Iowa* placing sixth at 149 lbs. Then-junior Craig Henning placed second at 157 lbs. and 2 Minnesota* finished the highest of any Badger since Donny Pritzlaff won the NCAA title in 2001. 3 Michigan* It was Henning’s second All-American award. 4 Nebraska Davis has coached 15 All-Americans and two NCAA champions (Pritzlaff and Jeff 5 Iowa State* Walter) while at Wisconsin. 6 Ohio State* 7 Oklahoma State Wisconsin’s best finish at NCAAs in the Davis years came in 2000 when the 8 Central Michigan Badgers finished in a tie for ninth. The Badgers did not have a good showing at Big 9 Illinois* Tens that year, like this year, and finished ninth. 10 Northwestern* Fifty-eight wrestlers have qualified for the NCAAs under Davis’s direction and they include current Badgers Trevor Brandvold, Dan Clum, Collin Cudd, Jake Donar, * Indicates Wisconsin opponent Craig Henning, Dallas Herbst, Matt Maciag, Kyle Massey, Kyle Ruschell and Zach USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Tanelli. Henning and Maciag are not competing in this year’s NCAA Championship. March 12, 2008 SEASON HEADLINES (NCAA Tournament Strength) The Badgers were honored a school record, four times by the Big Ten Conference with Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Awards. Three different UW grapplers were hon- Wisconsin-No. 18 ored (which is also a school record) and they included Dallas Herbst (twice), Zach Tanelli and Kyle Massey. Rank Name Weight Wisconsin won three-straight to end the season, all against top-10 opponents. 5 Kyle Massey Hwt. The Badgers have been ranked all season earning their highest ranking of the year at 5 Dallas Herbst 197 lbs. No. 7 after winning three-straight. 6 Kyle Ruschell 141 lbs. The Badgers competed at the Body Bar Invite in Ithaca, N.Y. back in November. 9 Zach Tanelli 133 lbs. 17 Collin Cudd 125 lbs. Wisconsin finished second and had two individual champions (Collin Cudd at 125 lbs. and Dallas Herbst at 197 lbs.) Wisconsin also competed at the Cliff Keen Invite in Las Vegas and finished fifth USA Today/InterMat/NWCA with 107.5 points. Herbst also won the individual title and five other Badgers fin- Top 10 Teams ished in the top seven of their respective weight class. Dallas Herbst already has his name in the UW record books but could break Rank Team another very soon. The junior tied Lee Kemp’s single-season pin mark (18) last year 1 Iowa* and this year, his 14 pins ranks fourth-most on UW’s list. He needs four more to 2 Minnesota* break Kemp’s school record of 47 career pins. 3 Michigan* 4 Iowa State Head coach Barry Davis recorded his 150th win at Wisconsin when the Badgers 5 Nebraska defeated Oklahoma, 18-15 on Jan. 21. Davis has the second-most wins of any UW 6 Oklahoma State wrestling coach with 155, trailing only George Martin who had 182 wins in his 32 7 Central Michigan seasons.