Wisconsin Badgers
NCAA Championships
This Week in Wrestling: March 17-19
March 15, 2016 | Wrestling
Five Badgers to compete at NCAA Championships in New York City
BADGERS COMPETE AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS, MARCH 17-19
Wisconsin's (4-8, 3-6 Big Ten) lineup for the NCAAÂ Championships includes five wrestlers:
- 125: Johnny Jimenez
- 133: No. 12Â Ryan Taylor (#7)
- 165: No. 2Â Isaac Jordan (#2)
- 174: Ricky Robertson
- 184: Ryan Christensen
| Wisconsin at NCAA Championships | |
| Date | Thursday-Saturday, March 17-19 | All Day |
| Location | New York City | Madison Square Garden |
| Watch | WatchESPN | Watch Live |
| Follow | Live Stats | @BadgerWrestling |
| Notes | Wisconsin | Championship Central |
NOTES TO KNOW
1 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY: Wisconsin has had 13 NCAA champion wrestlers and 18 NCAA Championships. The most recent national winner came in 2010 when Andrew Howe won the 165-pound title. Wiconsin's last NCAA Champion, Andrew Howe, was a two-time All-American. He capped off a perfect season in 2010 with a conference and NCAA title. Howe defeated Penn State's Dan Vallimont, 9-3, for the 165-pound title. He compiled a 37-0 record, including four wins by pin, two by tech fall and 13 by major decision. Howe is just the fourth Badger to go undefeated in a single season. Last year, UW boasted seven NCAA qualifiers and three (Ryan Taylor, Isaac Jordan, Conor Medbery) went on to become All-Americans.
2 LOOKING FORWARD: UW features five NCAA qualifying wrestlers, two of which will enter the tournament with a seed. After taking the 165-pound Big Ten title, Isaac Jordan is the No. 2 seed for the NCAA Championships. He has the chance to be UW's fifth-ever wrestler to go undefeated in a season. He currently has an unscathed 25-0 record and a 26-match winning streak, which dates back to last season. The junior's victory at RU on Feb. 5--a 4-0 shutout over No. 8 Anthony Perrotti--gave him the longest winning streak by a UW wrestler since Howe went 30-0 during the 2009-10 season. Ryan Taylor (133), who snagged third place at the conference championships, is seeded 12th for the national tournament. The Badgers' three other NCAA qualifiers are Johnny Jimenez (125), Ricky Robertson (174) and Ryan Christensen (184).
3 MATCHUPS: Second-seeded Isaac Jordan (25-0) will take on CSU Bakerfield's Adam Fierro in the first round. Fierro is 17-9 on the year. If Jordan wins he will either face No. 15 Clark Glass (22-8) of Oklahoma or Lehigh's Ryan Preisch (16-8). No. 12 Ryan Taylor (9-5) will take on Mizzou's Zach Synon (16-12) in Round 1 of the NCAA tournament. The winner will take on Penn State's fifth-seeded Jordan Conaway (26-5) or Corey Keener (18-10) of Central Michigan. Taylor defeated Conaway twice at the Big Ten Championships en route to taking third. Entering the tournament the Nittany Lions' 133-pounder had just three losses on the year. In the 125-pound bracket, Johnny Jimenez (18-13) is set to match up with seventhseeded Darian Cruz (28-5) of Lehigh. 174-pounder Ricky Robertson (14-13) meets Keaton Subjeck (20-7) of Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Championships. The winner will take on Illinois' Zach Brunson (20-3), who is the fifth seed. Ryan Christensen (18-18) takes on No. 10 Nate Brown (21-4) of Lehigh in the 184- pound bracket.
4 B1G RECAP:Â For the second-consecutive year Isaac Jordan defeated his cousin, Bo Jordan of Ohio State, to eclipse the 165-pound Big Ten title. There was no score in the first period, as the duo sized one another up not wanting to make an early mistake. Bo chose bottom to start the second and later escaped but Isaac had amassed nearly a minute and a half of riding time which meant the match was essentially tied entering the third. It looked to be going to overtime but with just two seconds left Isaac picked up Bo and dropped him for the takedown and the win. ?Wisconsin now has 70 total Big Ten champions with 17 of those honors coming under head coach Barry Davis. It was the second UW Big Ten Champion since assistant coach Trevor Brandvold won in 2011. ?After losing in the semifinal of the 133- pound bracket, sixth-seeded Ryan Taylor worked back to win the consolation semifinal, 9-5, over No. 10 Anthony Giraldo of Rutgers to earn a spot in the third-place match against Penn State's three seed, Jordan Conaway. Taylor and Conaway fought to a stalemate in the first period and were knotted at three apiece through two. Wisconsin's 133-pounder recorded a reversal 20 seconds into the third before allowing an escape but Conaway was unable to notch any more points, as Taylor sealed the victory, 5-4. ?Among the five other Badgers competing at the conference championships, three (Johnny Jimenez, 125; Ryan Christensen, 184; Brock Horwath, 285) earned seventh-place finishes while two others (TJ Ruschell, 157; Ricky Robertson, 174) were eighth. ?Wisconsin finished with 67.5 team points to place eighth--one spot back of last year's finish. Penn State took the tournament championship with 150.5 points.
5 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS INFO: The 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, March 17-19. A limited number of single session tickets are still available. In addition wrestling fans can buy and sell official tickets through the NCAA Ticket Exchange™. This gives ticket holders who are unable to attend a session a place to safely sell their tickets. Buyers can also get their tickets knowing the tickets are authentic and guaranteed, visit here for more information.
Players Mentioned
