“Whitewater has a winning tradition, with a great staff working hard to make sure Whitewater athletics stays on top,” Heilman remarked. “Coach Fader and his staff have raised the bar and I’m looking forward to being a part of that. I am anxious to get on campus to start helping the team grow. I have always been an offensive minded wrestler, so I think our styles will mesh well. Coach Fader emphasizes developing the whole student athlete, and I couldn’t agree more with that. I think we will do some great things.”

Heilman was the wrestling coach and a physical education instructor at Davenport (Iowa) West High School for the last two years. Prior to that he was a graduate assistant coach at Saint Cloud State University (Minnesota) for two seasons.

UW-Whitewater wrestling just completed one if its best seasons of competition, winning the WIAC crown and placing eighth in the NCAA III championship,” UW-W director of athletics Paul Plinske said. “He brings great enthusiasm, along with a sound background of high school, Division II and Division III wrestling knowledge . His ties will help us attract the best wrestlers in the region.”

Heilman earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, graduating in 2008. He followed with graduate study at Saint Cloud.

“UW-W wrestling is very excited about Chris joining us as an staff, full-time assistant coach,” UW-W head coach Tim Fader said. “This is an important hire for our program and really for our sport. Chris has an impressive background and I always found myself getting matside to watch him compete when he wrestling at Cornell. He was quick, technically superior, and an obvious leader in their program.”

“It was clear in his interview that Chris has the same passion for wrestling that our staff has, and he will be a high energy, tenacious instructor in the room and recruiter on the road,” Fader added.

Heilman was a four year letterwinner at Cornell. He won the 125 pound class in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2008, the first league champion at Cornell in ten years. Heilman earned All-America honors three times, finishing seventh in the NCAA III championship in 2006, fourth in 2007, and third in 2008 when he compiled a 38-4 record. He is fourth all-time in the Cornell record book with 132 career wins, fifth with a .809 (132-31) winning percentage, and he holds the number one spot with 23 career technical falls.

For additional information: Tim Fader, UW-W head wrestling coach, facertW@uww.edu or 262-472-1867

The Hayfield High wrestler who placed third at the 2012 Virginia AAA State Tournament was coached by Roy Hill. Kargbo is also a FILA Cadet Greco-Roman All-American.

Coach Russell continues to add to the pool with this signing.

“I am proud to announce the signing of these three additions to the Huskie family,” said Head Coach Ryan Ludwig. “They have passion for the sport and the will to accomplish their goals. These are young men of character that will mesh well with our philosophy here at Northern. My staff and I can’t wait to get them on campus to start working with them.”

The three newest Huskies include NIU’s third signee from Michigan in Shawn Scott (Holly, Mich./Holly HS), along with Texan Braun Marquez (Amarillo, Texas/Randall HS) and New Jersey native Bryan Laughlin (East Rutherford, N.J./Becton Regional HS).

All three signees earned high school All-American honors following the 2011-12 season.

Complete bios for each signee are listed below.

Class of 2012 Signees

*Billy Chancey 160 Braidwood, Ill. (Reed-Custer HS)
*Trace Engelkes 160 Winnebago, Ill. (Winnebago HS)
Bryan Loughlin 182 East Rutherford, N.J. (Becton Regional HS)
*Tanner Lowe 285 Coon Rapids, Minn. (Coon Rapids HS)
Braun Marquez 113 Amarillo, Texas (Randall HS)
*Andrew Morse 152 Alto, Mich. (Lowell HS)
*Gabriel Morse 145 Alto, Mich. (Lowell HS)
Shawn Scott 215 Holly, Mich. (Holly HS)
*Signed in November

BRYAN LOUGHLIN
East Rutherford, N.J.
Becton Regional HS
182 LBS.

High School: Recorded an 87-24 record in four seasons at Becton Regional High School… Four-time all-conference honoree and a team captain for two seasons… Placed fourth at state as a senior after winning the conference and sectional tournaments… Went 42-2 in 2011-12 with 35 pins to earn all-area and all-state recognition… Set the BRHS record for most wins in a single season… Helped the Wildcats take the Meadowlands Conference, the Group 2 County and District 15 team championships during his senior season… Placed sixth at Senior Nationals at 184 pounds, defeating Oklahoma State signee Kyle Crutchmer in the process… Posted a 16-5 record with 12 pins as a junior, winning the conference title at 171 and taking third at sectionals… Contributed to team’s conference and District 15 championships in 2010-11… Placed third at 152 pounds in the conference tournament as a sophomore.

Personal: Born September 12, 1994, in Hackensack, N.J… Son of Eugene and Deborah Loughlin… Admires Kyle Dake.

BRAUN MARQUEZ
Amarillo, Texas
Randall HS
113 LBS.

High School: Two-time state champion and three-time placewinner at the Texas state tournament… Finished his senior season 37-5 en route to conference, sectional and state championships… Placed second at 113 pounds in the NHSCA Senior National Tournament… Won the 112 pound state championship following his junior season… Took seventh place at the NHSCA Junior Nationals in 2011… Earned a third place finish in the state tournament at 103 pounds in 2010… Helped Randall Raiders to state team championships in 2010 and 2011.

Personal: Born September 13, 1993, in Alva, Okla… Son of Jaret and Angela Marquez… Enjoys biking and longboarding… Admires Rulon Gardner

SHAWN SCOTT
Holly, Mich.
Holly HS
215 LBS.

High School: Registered a 215-22 record in four seasons at Holly High School… Four-time all-conference and all-area selection… Also a four-time Michigan state tournament qualifier… Three-time all-state honoree and team captain with the Bronchos… Went 54-0 with 30 pins during his senior season, winning the Flint Metro League and sectional titles in the process… Won the Michigan Division 2 state championship in 2011-12 at 215 pounds… Earned team MVP, all-conference, all-area and first team all-state honors as a senior… Took fourth place at the Senior Nationals Tournament while wrestling at 195 pounds… Took second place at state as a junior with a 54-2 record… Won the conference and sectional titles at 215 in 2010-11… Earned a fourth place at state as a sophomore, while winning a conference title and a second place sectional finish.

Personal: Born December 8, 1993, in Pontiac, Mich… Son of Don and Cari Scott… Plans to major in business.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the United States managed a paltry 3 medals. In the 18 weight classes across all three styles, only Henry Cejudo (Gold,FS), Adam Wheeler (Bronze, GR), and Randi Miller, (Bronze, WFS), brought home hardware.

Two years later, when U.S. Men’s Freestyle had a disastrous, 23^rd place showing at the World Championships in Moscow, USAWrestling, the national governing body of the sport, came under heavy criticism.

Last summer in Turkey, the U.S. Freestyle team made strides. From the seven weight classes, the Stars and Stripes garnered two medals while three others placed in the top five. The performance was good enough for 38 points and a Team Bronze, trailing just Russia (43pts) and Iran (41).

Jordan Burroughs, who ran a gauntlet of world-credentialed foes all the way to the Gold, paced the way and became the face of the America’s re-energized international movement.

At the Olympic Team Trials in Iowa last month, the international styles were on full display. In front of a sold-out Carver Hawkeye Arena, on NBC, and on the web, the trials inspired optimism and interest in what had to be considered a marketing boon for USAW, its image, and the health of the international program in general.

Over the course of the 2012 Olympic qualifying system the U.S. leads all nations in total qualifiers with 17, including secure positions for each of the 7 freestyle weights. (Russia, missing out on spots at 66kg in GR and 48kg in Women’s FS, has a final count of 16.)

Building on recent momentum, last weekend, in the final major litmus test prior to the pinnacle of the sport, the 2012 Olympics in London, our men’s freestyle contingent confirmed progress and gave us increased optimism.

In Baku, Azerbaijan, the U.S. Men’s Freestyle Team competed at the World Cup, posting a 4-1 record in the dual format and earning Bronze.

As the results whet the palates of international aficionados heading into the grandest of stages, we’ll brief you on the results of the team and the individuals.

Team

Head Coach Zeke Jones and staff have to be encouraged. The team went 4-1, earning Bronze, and losing only a narrow 4-3 dual to Iran, the eventual champions and the 2011 World Championship Runners-Up. For comparative purposes, Iran edged host nation Azerbaijan (2^nd and 4^th at the last two World Championships) in the finals, 4-3, lending to the possibility that ‘we’re right there’ with the best.

The one reservation from our 3^rd place performance is that Russia was not at full strength. While our U.S. contingent beat the perennial power handily (5-2) in the 3^rd place dual, Russia was without the constituents expected to compose their Olympic Team. Due to Russia not yet having held their Olympic Team Trials, their top guys did not compete here.

The loss to Iran largely came down to 96kg, where Jake Varner, 3^rd at the 2011 Worlds, lost to Rezi Yadzani, the 2011 World Champion.

In what was perhaps the States’ most impressive victory, they smashed Georgia, who placed 5^th in each of the last two World Championships, 6-1.

There were three 2011 World Bronze medalists on the Georgian team, and the U.S. came away with two wins in those bouts. Burroughs (74kg) and Tervel Dlagnev (120kg) each won. Keith Gavin (84kg), wrestling in injured Olympian Jake Herbert’s stead, lost. Coleman Scott (66kg) beat the 2011 World 5^th place finisher.

Full TEAM USA Results

POOL MATCHES

USA 5, JAPAN 2
55 kg/121 lbs. –Yasuhiro Inaba (Japan) dec. Sam Hazewinkel (USA)
60 kg/132 lbs. –Coleman Scott (USA) dec. Kenichi Yumoto (Japan)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Takahiro Yonemitsu (Japan) dec. Jared Frayer (USA)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs (USA) dec. Sohsuke Takatani (Japan)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Keith Gavin (USA) dec. Atsushi Matsumoto (Japan)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. –Jake Varner (USA) dec. Takeshi Yamaguchi (Japan)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tervel Dlagnev (USA) won by forfeit

USA 5, TURKEY 2
55 kg/121 lbs. – Sam Hazewinkel (USA) won by forfeit
60 kg/132 lbs. –Coleman Scott (USA) dec. Bayosul Mahmut (Turkey)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Jared Frayer (USA) dec. Mustafa Kuyucu (Turkey)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs (USA) dec. Demirsin Batuhan (Turkey)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Ibrahim Bolukbasi (Turkey) dec. Keith Gavin (USA)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Serhat Balci (Turkey) dec. Jake Varner (USA)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tervel Dlagnev (USA) dec. Yildrim Riza (Turkey)

IRAN 4, USA 3
55 kg/121 lbs. –Hassan Rahimi (Iran) dec. Nick Simmons (USA)
60 kg/132 lbs. –Coleman Scott (USA) dec. Behnam Ehsanpoor (Iran)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Mehdi Taghavi (Iran) dec. Jared Frayer (USA)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs (USA) dec. Sadegh Goudarzi (Iran)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Ehsan Amini (Iran) dec. Keith Gavin (USA)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. –Reza Yazdani (Iran) dec. Jake Varner (USA)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tervel Dlagnev (USA) dec. Parviz Hadi (Iran)

USA 6, GEORGIA 1
55 kg/121 lbs. – Sam Hazewinkel (USA) dec. Georgi Edisharashvili (Georgia)
60 kg/132 lbs. –Coleman Scott (USA) dec. Malkhaz Zarkua (Georgia)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Jared Frayer (USA) dec. Zurabi Iakobishvili (Georgia)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs (USA) dec. Davit Khutsishvili (Georgia)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Dato Marsagishvili (Russia) dec. Keith Gavin (USA)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. –Jake Varner (USA) dec. Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tervel Dlagnev (USA) dec. Davit Modzmanashivili (Georgia)

THIRD PLACE MATCH

USA 5, RUSSIA 2
55 kg/121 lbs. – Sam Hazewinkel (USA) dec. Sanna Artas (Russia)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Coleman Scott (USA) dec. Aleksandar Bagmaev (Russia)
66kg/145.5 lbs. – Jared Frayer (USA) dec. A. Kuzmanaliev (Russia)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs (USA) dec. Ammet Gadzimagomedov (Russia)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Magomed Ibragimov (Russia) dec. Keith Gavin (USA)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Shamil Akhmedov (Russia) dec. Jake Varner (USA)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tervel Dlagnev (USA) dec. Jevgenij Kolomeits (Russia)

Weight-By-Weight

55kg

Sam Hazelwinkel, FL, Sunkist Kids, 3-1

Nick Simmons, MI, Sunkist Kids, 0-1

Our Olympian, Hazelwinkel, earned one match by forfeit. The match we can use most as an indicator is Haze’s three-period loss to Japan’s Yashuro Inaba, who took World Bronze in 2010 and Silver in the last two Asian Championships.

The man who beat Inaba in the Asian finals last year was Iran’s Hassan Rahimi, who afterwards went on to 2011 World Bronze. In his only match in Baku, Simmons lost to Rahimi.

It would have been nice to have Hazewinkel wrestle that bout for two reasons: 1) to gauge where he’s at against a World medalist, and 2) we needed that bout in a dual we lost 4-3.

Overall we’re left with an assessment that Haze could make Top 5 run in London, like Simmons did last year in Turkey. Russia’s Viktor Lebedev, crowned World Champion the last two years, is the prohibitive favorite. Along with Rahimi and Bulgaria’s Velikov, there are plenty of clear contenders. So Haze will have to wrestle lights-out and win the close ones.

60kg

Coleman Scott, PA, Gator Wrestling Club, 5-0

Scott was by far the biggest individual success story in Baku, going undefeated and defeating two Top 5 finishers from 2011 Worlds.

His first big win came over Japan’s Kenichi Yumoto, a veteran as Japan’s rep at the World Championships the last three years and a Bronze medalist in 2011. The second was over Georgia’s Malkhaz Zarkua, who finished just behind Yumoto in 5^th.

By virtue of beating two guys that finished ahead of our World Team Representative from the 2011 Championships, Reece Humphrey, who finished 9^th, Scott seems to be the man right now.

Of course, while the U.S. has qualified the weight for London, just who represents us is still to be decided. Wrestle offs will take place between Scott, the Olympic Trials winner, Humphrey, the 2011 World Team Member, and Shawn Bunch, who qualified the weight.

Russia again has the favorite at the weight in Besik Khudukhov, who might be the best wrestler on the planet. He’s reached the finals of the World Championships for five straight years, winning the last four of them. To make matters worse, he’s still hungry, lacking an Olympic Gold. He took Bronze in Beijing.

60kgs is a pivotal weight for the U.S., who got just 2 team points out of Humphrey at 2011 Worlds. It’s a weight where any improvement to greatly help our team standing.

It’s a tenuous situation where our best medal hope might not be the rep. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.

66kg

Jared Frayer, FL, Gator Wrestling Club, 3-2

Frayer looked great at the Trials. Finally getting over the hump and looking like a true freestyler, Frayer was active and resourceful. He hit par in Baku, winning the matches he was supposed to, and losing to credentialed veterans.

He posted wins over Russian, Georgian, and Turkish counterparts, none of whom competed in a World Championships before.

His losses came to the finalists of the 2011 World Championships, both of whom have been studs for a long time. Takahiro Yonemitsu (JPN) has World Silver and Bronze medals to his credit. Medhi Taghavi has three World Golds under his belt, two at Seniors and one as a Junior.

This weight has been a bane for the U.S. in recent years. We haven’t scored a team point at the World/Olympic Championships since Doug Schwab took 5^th in 2007, and haven’t earned a medal since Bill Zadick won 2006 Worlds’.

It’s difficult to take anything away from Frayer’s performance at Baku, but the experience, and seeing both World finalists, will certainly help him.

74kg

Jordan Burroughs, NJ, Sunkist Kids, 5-0

You can’t overstate the title, “World Champion,” but the path that Burroughs took to that crown makes it all the more impressive. A recap of his 2011 World Championship is in order in elucidating just how dominating it was.

In 2011 he beat both 2010 World Finalists. In the second round he beat two-time reigning World Champion Denis Tsargush (RUS). Then, in the finals, he dispatched of 2010 Runner-Up, Sadegh Gourdarzi (Iran) in two periods.

But in retrospect, it doesn’t end there. Sandwiched in between those monstrous wins were victories over Venezuela’s Ricardo Moreno (in the quarters), who beat Tsargush in the repechage, and  Azerbaijan’s Ashraf Aliyev (in the semi’s), who would go on to take bronze. Simply translated: in addition to both returning World Finalists, Burroughs also beat two of the four in the medal bouts.

In Baku, he once again upended Gourdarzi, then added another World medalist to his hit list: Georgian Davit Khutsishvili, who won Bronze last year in Turkey.

If you needed any more affirmation on where Burroughs stands, you got it.

84kg

Keith Gavin, PA, Lehigh Valley Athletic Club, 1-4

Gavin took 3^rd in the Olympic Team Trials last month. In Baku, wrestling for the injured Jake Herbert, Gavin was the only U.S. rep to have a rough day.

Gavin wrestled two notables, losing to 2011 World 5^th place finisher, Dato Marsagishvili (GEO) and beating Japan’s Atsushi Matsumoto, who finished 8^th in the world last year. It was the second time in three months Gavin took Matsumoto out, also upending him at the Schultz in February.

84kg is a weight in which we’re counting on points. Herbert was a World Silver Medalist in 2009, and Cael Sanderson reached the medal match last year. The U.S. has reached the medal match at 84kgs in five of the last nine years.

96kg

Jake Varner, CA, Nittany Lion Athletic Club, 3-2

It may be surprising to see the World Bronze medalist post a rather pedestrian record, but two of his losses were rather expected, as they came to 2011 World Finalists.

The first was to reigning World Champ, Yeza Yadzani (Iran). The second loss came to the man Yadzani beat in last year’s finals, Turkey’s Serhat Balci. In a quarterfinal bout, Balci was Varner’s only loss last year at Worlds.

If there was a ‘surprise’ loss in the lot, it was Varner’s misstep against 21 year old Russian, Shamil Akhmedov, who is considered to be third or fourth on the Olympic ladder for that squad.

It was an up-and-down performance for Varner. After an attack was countered and he was scored upon by Yadzani, he seemed discouraged. On the other hand, the loss to the Russian that people will be pointing to needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Akhmedov is a young up-and-comer with tons of talent. And though he’s not at the very top of the Russian food chain, he’s close to it, and 96kgs might be Federation’s deepest weight.

Varner will be fine, and the U.S. will be in medal contention at the weight in London.

120kg

Tervel Dlagnev, TX, Ohio Regional Training Center, 5-0

One of three Americans to go unscathed in Baku, Dlagnev had a great showing.

In Turkey last year, Dlagnev’s front-side loss came to Belarusian Alexei Shemarov, who would go on to win the Gold. In the medal match, Dlagnev was on the verge of bringing home some hardware. He was beat in that bout 1-0, 0-1, 1-0, by Georgian Davit Modzmanashvili. While it didn’t get him his medal back, Dlagnev exacted some revenge in Baku.

Tervel is right there with the best in the world and certainly has the potential to medal in London.

The former Big 12 Champion from Nebraska will have two more years of eligibilty. This is a big pick up for Coach Bono. The Brentwood, CA native sat last season out after leaving the Cornhuskers.

This was coming off a surprise run at the Big 12 Championships where he was the fourth seed. He was only the second wrestler to win a title coming from the fourth seed. That is what made most people surprised whem he suddenly left.

Coach Bono is not wasting any time bringing in talent.

They Lose:

• Zack Ellis
• Zack Kemmerer
• Bryan Ortenzio
• Erich Smith

They Get:

• Eric Devos – 125/133 – 3 Star
• Eric Friedman – 125 – 2 Star
• Casey Kent – 157 – 2 Star
• Brooks Martino – 149/157
• Alfred Murabito – 149

125

They will get Rappo back for his 5th year, which will be a boost to the lower weights. Also, the good news is they have three possible candidates already in the room and two more on the way in Devos and Freidman. It is hard to say who will be the person to take over the weight after Rappo leaves, none of the three on the roster stood out last season. We expect that there will be a battle between all five to see who will bet the starter the following year.

Member can read more here…

The United States defeated Russia, 5-2 in the third-place match at the Freestyle World Cup on Sunday.

“Team USA finished strong with a very solid 5-2 victory over a scrappy Russian squad. Three years ago we were losing to this Russian team, but we have clearly progressed and once again established Team USA as one of very top teams in the world,” said Assistant National Freestyle Coach Brandon Slay.

As a nation, the USA finished the event with a strong 4-1 record. Its only loss was in the fourth round of the pool competition on Saturday to Iran by a tight 3-2 margin.

Other U.S. wins came over Japan, Turkey and Georgia.

Winning the team title at the World Cup was Iran, which stopped host Azerbaijan in the finals, 4-3.

Read More Here…

In its fourth year of existence, a modified Academy curriculum is being offered to college coaches who are currently coaching at or wish to pursue coaching positions at faith-based schools. This is in response to the surging number of new intercollegiate wrestling teams being established at faith-based schools. In the past 15 months, 14 of the 19 new teams established are at faith-based colleges. That number includes the WBU wrestling program which just completed its second year of competition.

The Academy Workshop represents a collaborated effort between the NWCA and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes – Wrestling Ministry (FCA). Carl Perry, the new FCA National Director for wrestling, will oversee the delivery of the faith-based component of the curriculum.

The two-day workshop is being hosted by FCA Board member, Mark Mestemacher and the staff at the Jon Davis Wrestling Center in Edwardsville, Ill. This is the third year that Mestemacher has hosted this event in his wrestling specific facility.

The NWCA and FCA-Wrestling have awarded a full “scholarship” to each of the coaches which covers transportation, meals, lodging, and tuition.

Joining the 24 coaches will be six mentors and three presenters who will be in attendance to convey the important lessons that life has taught them.

The group will be facilitated by Dr. Dan Gould of Michigan State University a nationally renowned coaching development expert and the architect of the NWCA Leadership Academy.

Mentors for the FCA Workshop include head coaches Tim Dernlan of Ashland University, Steve Garland of the University of Virigina, Heath Eslinger of Chattanooga, and Franky James of Campbellsville University. Other mentors are former head coach at Liberty University, Jesse Castro, and Jack Spates, former head coach at the University of Oklahoma.

Guest speakers for this workshop are former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and 1963 NCAA National Wrestilng Champion and two-time All-American Tom Jarman.

Hastert wrestled collegiately at Wheaton College and then went on to teach and coach. He was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1999 and remains the longest serving Republican speaker in history.

Jarman is the former head coach and Athletic Director at Manchester College. The co-author of Wrestling for Beginners, which remains one of the top-selling books for young wrestlers, Jarman also competed collegiately at Wheaton.

When Wisconsin redshirt Junior, Ben Jordan (165) upset Iowa State Sr. Andrew Sorenson in the blood round of the 2012 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, it represented a twinkling of light in an otherwise opaque sky.

A single All American and 7.5 team points is all that the Badgers could manage in a year wracked with disappointments following defections and internal conflict.

The point total was good enough to tie for just 41st place at nationals and came two weeks after an embarrassing last place showing at the Big Ten Championships where their 9pts was more than four times less than Michigan St. and Indiana (41pts) who tied for 10th.

Of course the reservation throughout the dismal season was somewhat buoyed with hope for the future. The Badgers had bullets in the chamber; three former All Americans were out of the line-up taking Olympic redshirt years and they had ostensibly secured what would have been the nation’s top recruiting class.
Better days were on the horizon. Or so they thought.

The Unraveling

From a rather reticent group of coaches, details are a little fuzzy. But it’s all semantics anyway. It came down to this: the heart and soul of the program left.

Donny Pritzlaff, an NCAA Champion for the Badgers, and a much revered assistant coach headed to Michigan.

It’s no secret that Pritzlaff’s star pupil, NCAA Champ, Andrew Howe was under his wing. And that the impetus behind the nation’s elite recruits piquing interest in Wisconsin has been almost exclusively because of Pritzlaff’s coaching abilities.
What is (somewhat) a secret is how things went down.

Pritzlaff was a successful assistant at Hofstra prior to returning to his alma mater, and the rumor was that Barry Davis lured him back to Wisconsin with the understanding that Donny would get the reigns to the program in the near future.
Three years into his tenure at Wisconsin, Pritzlaff was promoted to Associate Head Coach. Two years after that, Pritzlaff was wondering when his time would come to fly solo. Or so the story goes.

Dissatisfied with the situation, Pritzlaff explored other options. He eventually resigned and opted for Ann Arbor, thus setting off a chain of events leading to Wisconsin’s demise.

Howe left Wisconsin, declared he was taking an Olympic redshirt, reunited with Pritzlaff and began training at UM.
Two other All Americans, Tyler Graff (133) and Travis Rutt (184), would also be training for the Olympic Trials, leaving the Badgers 2011-2012 line-up severely depleted.

In January the Badgers took another hit when one of just two ranked wrestlers in their line-up, Cole Schmitt (149) was declared academically ineligible. That left just Jordan and led to unprecedentedly poor team scores.

The Exodus

Save situations where a head coach accepts a position at another school, the size and scope of the fleeing from Wisconsin hasn’t been seen before.

What was supposed to be an era of utmost optimism has fans with a wrinkled brow.

When Howe started training in Michigan, the writing was on the wall; he wouldn’t be returning to Madison.

A couple months ago, Howe and Rutt both asked for a release.

Compounding matters is the disintegration of a recruiting class that would have been the best in the country. One that featured three #1 prospects, and that, combined with their existing personnel, would have legitimately vaulted Wisconsin into the National Title conversation.

First it was Cody Caldwell, ranked as a Top 10 174lb prospect, bolting as soon as the Pritzlaff news broke.

In November, prize recruit Destin McCauley, who recently won Fila Juniors, announced that he had reconsidered and would now attend Iowa State.

Last month, in-state product Devin Peterson, ranked as the #1 197lb prospect confirmed he won’t be in Madison this fall.
Howe + Rutt combined with three premier recruit defections collaborate with the two diamonds of the Badgers 2010 Class, Sr. National Champion Derrick Borlie, and 2x NJ State Champ Brendan Ard to create ‘what-could-have-been’ lamentations.

On Wednesday, news broke that Howe and Rutt will attend the University of Oklahoma next season. We all knew they wouldn’t return to Wisconsin, but the announcement made it official and woke us up to the reality and the question:

Just what the heck is going on in Madison?

This isn’t meant to be a referendum on Coach Davis. He’s long been admired for his passion and character. But the revolving door begs avenues of inquiry and discourse.

Coach Davis hasn’t had trouble attracting talent. But will he now? And why do so many leave?

Did Howe and Rutt have that little faith in Davis? Is their relationship strained to the extent that migrating to a new program for one year is more attractive than graduating from a place you’ve called home for four years?

What is the perception amongst future potential recruits of Wisconsin?

Does Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, once a wrestler himself, turn a blind eye to the crumbling façade of the program?

One has to imagine that sometime, somewhere on the Madison campus, maybe over coffee, Coach Davis had a great deal of explaining to do over the past twelve months.

Speaking to Alvarez, it had to go something like this:

“Donny wanted my job. We’ll be ok.”

“We’re only this bad because Graff, Howe, and Rutt are taking Olympic years. We’ll be ok.”

“Schmitt didn’t go to class. He’s ineligible. What could I do? We’ll be ok.”

“Howe and Rutt are leaving. But we have a great recruiting class coming in. We’ll be ok.”

“Our best recruits have reconsidered. But we still have some good guys coming in. We’ll be ok.”

Under continued leadership from Davis, will Wisconsin Wrestling, once thought to be an emerging national power, really be ok?

Potential 2012-2013 Line-Up                           Projected 2012-2013 Line-Up

125: Ryan Taylor                                                         125: Ryan Taylor

133: Tyler Graff                                                          133: Tyler Graff

141: Jesse Thielke                                                       141: Jesse Thielke

149: Cole Schmitt                                                        149: Cole Schmitt

157: Destin McCauley                                                 157: Kalvin York

165: Ben Jordan                                                          165: Ben Jordan

174: Andrew Howe                                                     174: Frank Cousins

184: Travis Rutt                                                                 184: Tim McCall

197: Derrick Borlie                                                     197: Jackson Hein

HWT: Connor Medbery                                               HWT: Connor Medbery

Caldwell wrestled at 165 pounds as a freshman and sophomore at Oklahoma and put together impressive performances both seasons.

He was the 2011 NCAA runner-up after beating the defending NCAA champion, Andrew Howe of Wisconsin, in the semifinals and he finished fifth at the 2010 NCAA Championships as an unseeded freshman. He holds a career collegiate record of 63-20, including a 32-6 mark as a sophomore and a 31-14 record as a freshman.

The Wichita, Kan., native will seek immediate eligibility after taking an Olympic redshirt year in 2011-12 and has potentially two years remaining to compete at the collegiate level.

At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in April, Caldwell reached the semifinals of the 74 kg bracket.

He put together a 150-4 overall record while lettering four years at Goddard High School in Kansas. He was a two-time Greco All-American and four-time Kansas state champion and holds the state record for most falls in a career with 125.