MADISON, Wis.-  The 16th-ranked Wisconsin wrestling team (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will be on the road Friday for a matchup against a Big Ten foe, the No. 25 Northwestern Wildcats (6-1, 1-1 Big Ten). Action begins at 7 p.m. inside Patten Gymnasium since Welsh-Ryan Arena is undergoing renovations.

Beginning with Northwestern, the Badgers begin a two-week stretch that includes four conference duals, including a weekend trip to both Ann Arbor and East Lansing to take on the Wolverines and the Spartans on Jan. 19 and Jan. 21, respectively. They will then end that stretch with a home dual against Indiana on Jan. 26 in the UW Field House.

The dual against the Wildcats will not have a radio or video stream, but will have live stats available through Trackwrestling and live updates available through Wisconsin wrestling's Twitter @Badgerwrestling.

1. PREVIOUSLY ON THE MAT: The Badgers were last in action at the 55th Midlands Champions late last month, taking 16th place out of 58 competing programs. The last dual UW competed in was back on Dec. 7 when it trampled the Maryland Terrapins in its Big Ten conference opener, 32-6.

2. FIRST GO AROUND: With competition intensifying in the always difficult Big Ten, sixth-ranked freshman Evan Wick (165 pounds) is currently one of two ranked Badger wrestlers. Wick is 15-2 on the season entering the thick of conference dual action, with his two losses coming to No. 4 David McFadden and No. 5 Logan Massa. He also currently leads with the team with 50 takedowns and is tied with Ricky Robertson for the least amount of takedowns surrendered at seven.

3. LAST GO AROUND: Senior Ricky Robertson is the other ranked wrester for UW, coming in at ninth at 184 pounds in Intermat's most recent poll. Robertson is also on a tear thus far, having the best start of his career in his senior season with a record of 18-3. He currently is leading the team in ranked wins with five, including a 3-1 sudden victory over then eighth-ranked Emery Parker of Illinois and a 2-0 decision over then seventh-ranked Drew Foster from Northern Iowa.

4. SLOWLY RISING: Wisconsin sits at No. 16 in the most recent USA Today/NWCA Coaches poll, after ranging in the 18-20 range since the beginning of the season. The Badgers (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) are looking to improve from last year where they started off 3-0 in duals before dropping five-straight conference duals against hard competition.

5. SURGING WILDCATS: Northwestern is having one of its best seasons in recent history, as they enter the ranks at 25th for the first time since November of 2015. The Wildcats also have four wrestlers in the individual rankings with Sebastian Rivera ranked 10th at 125 pounds, Colin Vildiviez is ranked 18th at 133 pounds , Ryan Deakin stands in ranked fourth at 141 pounds and Johnny Sebastian is 18th at 174 pounds.


PROJECTED WISCONSIN LINEUP 
125-Johnny Jimenez (Sr./ 1-2) 
133-Jens Lantz (RS-Jr./ 14-7)  
141-Eli Stickley (RS-So./ 14-4)
149-Cole Martin (RS-So./ 11-6)
157-Andrew Crone (RS-Sr./ 15-7)
165-#6 Evan Wick (RS-Fr./ 15-2)
174-Ryan Christensen (RS-Jr./ 16-7)
184-#9 Ricky Robertson (RS-Sr./ 18-3)
197-Hunter Ritter (RS-So./ 14-7)
285-Ben Stone (RS-So./ 6-8)