Davis addresses the media
December 07, 2010 | Wrestling
Dec. 7, 2010
Davis addresses the media 
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin wrestling head coach Barry Davis addressed the media Monday in the Athletic Department's Monday news conference. Among other topics, he discussed Andrew Howe's return after a perfect season last year, the growth of two local wrestlers and preparing for two home duals at the UW Field House this weekend.
A complete transcript is available below.
The Badgers return to the mat Saturday at 7 p.m. as they host Northern Iowa and wrap up the weekend against Michigan at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both duals take place at the UW Field House in Madison, Wis.
Barry Davis: “Right now we’re fourth in the country overall. WIN magazine just came out today, just right before I got here. We have Andrew Howe, number one in the country, Trevor Brandvold, number one in the country, and Tyler Graff, number two in the country. And we just got, the recruiting class came out, and we were number one in the country recruiting wise this year too. So it’s been a good year so far for us. We’re just, we’re moving forward.
We just got back from the Las Vegas Invite, took second there to the number one team in the country, Cornell. And then we beat the number two team in the country, Boise State, by half a point.
QUESTION #1: Coach, with the season that Andrew is coming off of, do you have to find a different way to motivate him at all this year? You know, what else, what more can he accomplish besides what he did last year, I guess?
DAVIS: I think Andrew’s pretty self-motivated. He has high expectations, higher than the college expectations as far as winning another state title. I know his mind’s on making the world team, and thinks of being an Olympic champion. But not too much. He’s just a self-motivator. He has a game plan throughout his career, and he just worries about getting better every day.
The biggest thing with him, he’s such a competitor. He just can’t stand to lose, and he works too hard to lose. I think his mentality is, you know, I put this much effort into training, I go out there, you better be ready because it’s going to be basically a war out there. And when you have that type of attitude, etc., it’s not too hard to motivate a kid like that.
QUESTION #2: You got a pair of local kids in Cole and Kalvin who are seeming to be cracking the lineup. What do you see from them going ahead into this season, and what have you seen so far from them?
DAVIS: I think, you know, Cole was an NCAA qualifier last year. I think he’s moved up a weight class, which I think is better for him. He’s making some changes in his training somewhat. We had a talk a couple of weeks ago. He has responded very well to those talks. That’s a good thing to see. I think he’s moving forward. He beat a couple of ranked guys this past weekend. That’s a good sign.
Kalvin’s coming back from an injury. He’s back in the lineup this weekend. We as coaching staff have seen some really good things from him as well too. So both guys responded very well. And I think if they continue to do that, they can make some things happen in March.
But I know we’re looking forward to our two home dual meets this weekend, being in front of our home crowd. Northern Iowa, they got a brand new coach in Doug Schwab. I know those guys will come out hard right there, as well as Michigan. We’ve seen Michigan this past weekend at the Las Vegas Invite. I think they were ranked top seven in that tournament. I think coming in, they’ll probably be a top ten team. And Joe McFarland will have his guys ready, but hopefully we’ll respond strong and come away 2-0, and then get ready for Christmas break and move on for the second half of the season.
QUESTION #3: Can you talk a little bit about how Tyler Graff and Travis Rutt have really kind of stepped it up?
DAVIS: I think, especially Travis Rutt has done a great job. He’s, this past year, he’s picked it up in the weight room. He made some good mental changes. I know, being last year he hurt his ankle, got beat by a couple of guys maybe he shouldn’t have gotten beat by, a rough start, but off season, I think his preparation’s really paid off. He’s beat like six ranked guys this year. I think he’s on a roll right now. I think he has an inner confidence, and I think he’s a young man that’s really stepped up to the challenge.
Tyler Graff, he actually took fifth last year, his goal is to win the state this year. Both those guys, all their prep work is paying off, it’s showing in their competition. So they are two guys down the road we’re going to need to make a run at the title. And I think if they continue the progress that they are, I think some great things will happen in March.
QUESTION #4: With conference play starting up now, what do you expecting from the Big Ten and how difficult will it be?
DAVIS: I think, you know, any time you wrestle a Big Ten team, I don’t care whether it’s in football or basketball or any sport, you’ve got to expect some tough teams coming in. We’re looking forward to the challenge. The biggest thing is we take it one day at a time, one match at a time. I go, guys, you’re doing a good job on doing that. And then we have UNI on Saturday, Michigan on Sunday. But we’ll take care of those two first, then I think we’ll just continue to move on down the line.
But the Big Ten is tough again this year. I think every dual meet will be, could be prepared for. It’s going to be a battle all the way through. And by having that tough a schedule too, I think it’s going to help us become big time . . . especially in March at the NCAA championship, because when you have that type of schedule, you’ve been in enough tough battles, you’re in some tight matches again in tournament time, that’s what prepares you for that competition.
