OMAHA, Neb. — It's been a long time since many of Wisconsin's wrestlers last stepped foot on a competitive mat. But you wouldn't know that from the results this weekend at the
2020 UWW U20 and U23 Nationals in Omaha, Nebraska.
The elite event saw wrestlers with ties to Wisconsin earn one national title (Evan Wick), along with 10 All-America Honors.
"First and foremost, it was great to be back! I was so happy for our student-athletes to do what they love!" said Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono. "My heart was so happy to see our guys compete! In today's world, when you get a day to do what they love, it is a great day!
"I am so proud of these guys! Our team over the last few months have improved leaps and bounds. Not just in wrestling, but coming together during hard times to help each other train and improve when training opportunities have been few and far between. More importantly, they have done an unbelievable job of staying in their (COVID-19 safety) bubble, so they can have a chance to compete! 10 All-Americans! Let's go!"
Wick, who's currently taking a year off from the Badgers roster to train for the Olympics, claimed the crown at 74 kilograms in U23 Freestyle. He finished with a 5-0 undefeated record, collecting 53 points to his opposition's 14 total across the five matches. He defeated Danny Braungel 10-4 to earn the national title and additional All-America honor.
In Greco-Roman competition on Friday, three Badgers — Tyler Dow (77 kg), Eric Barnett (55 kg) and Seth Vosters (72 kg) — earned All-America honors in their respective weight classes. Dow led his teammates after finishing second in the U23 tournament, while Barnett (U20) and Vosters (U23) both finished fifth.
In Freestyle competition, six out of the 15 wrestlers with UW ties earned All-America honors. In addition to Wick's national championship, the current Badgers roster saw Jared Krattinger (79kg U20) finish third and Garrett Model (70 kg U23) finish fourth.
Barnett, who wrestled 17 total bouts this weekend in the two modes, finished sixth overall at 57kg in the U20 tournament. He earned All-America honors twice this weekend in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle.
Ethan Rotondo earned eighth-place honors at 57kg amongst U23 wrestlers and teammate Josh Otto also finished eighth in the 74kg bracket for the U20 freestyle tournament.
Full results for all 15 wrestlers are below, including Wick (Olympic waiver), 12 current Badgers and two future Badgers — Graham Calhoun and Joseph Zargo — who both recently signed national letters of intent to wrestler for Wisconsin in 2021. All-American place finishes are noted in RED.
FREESTYLE
Devin Bahr - 70kg U23 Freestyle
- W VSU1 15-4 5:10 Lenny Merkin Unattached Rnd of 64
- W VFA 2:30 8-2 Mason Boutain San Francisco Wrestling Club Rnd of 32
- L VPO 4-0 Will Lewan Cliff Keen Wrestling Club Rnd of 16
- L VPO1 5-3 Cory Crooks Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club Cons 16 #2
Eric Barnett – 57kg U20 Freestyle 6th Place
- BYE Rnd of 128
- W VFA 1:06 10-2 Aizayah Yacapin Unattached Rnd of 64
- L VSU1 12-2 2:15 Noah SurtinTiger Style Wrestling Club Rnd of 32
- W VSU1 12-1 1:50 Carson Smith Unattached Cons 32 #2
- W VFA 1:50 2-0 Beau Bayless New England RTC Cons 16 #1
- W VFA 5:53 6-4 Louis Newell Pittsburgh Wrestling Club Cons 16 #2
- W VPO1 17-11 Dylan Shawver Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club Cons 8 #1
- W VPO1 10-6 Noah Surtin Tiger Style Wrestling Club Cons 8 #2
- W VFA 1:44 6-6 Chance Lamer Mat Sense Wrestling Cons 4
- L VPO 6-0 Jesse Mendez Bulldog Premier Wrestling Club C-Semis
- L VFA 1:18 2-2 Jesse Ybarra Hawkeye Wrestling Club 5th Place
Kyle Burwick – 57kg U20 Freestyle
- W VSU1 14-4 2:20 Alec Hunter Team Nazar Training Center Rnd of 128
- W VSU 10-0 1:16 Carson Smith Unattached Rnd of 64
- W VPO1 13-8 Marcus Castillo Arkansas RTC Rnd of 32
- W VSU1 17-4 3:52 Nicholas Babin New York City RTC Rnd of 16
- L VPO1 8-8 Jesse Mendez Bulldog Premier Wrestling Club Quarters
- L VPO1 3-1 Timothy Levine Unattached Cons 8 #2
Graham Calhoun – 79kg U20 Freestyle (Signed NLI for 2021)
- BYE Rnd of 64
- L VSU1 15-4 3:24 Jaden Bullock Cliff Keen Wrestling Club Rnd of 32
- L VPO1 7-5 Gage Hockett Wyoming Wrestling RTC Cons 32 #2
Jared Krattiger – 79kg U20 Freestyle – 3rd Place
- W VSU 10-0 2:22 Tate Battani Cyclone RTC C-RTC Rnd of 64
- W VSU 11-0 4:30 Connor Strong Pennsylvania RTC Rnd of 32
- W VFO Nathan Dugan Unattached Rnd of 16
- W VSU 10-0 3:46 Gerrit Nijenhuis Boilermaker RTC Quarters
- L VPO1 6-4 Patrick Kennedy Hawkeye Wrestling Club Semis
- W VPO1 4-2 Sean Harman Tiger Style Wrestling Club C-Semis
- W VPO 6-0 Nick Incontrera Pennsylvania RTC 3rd Place
Anders Lantz – 74kg U23 Freestyle
- L VSU 10-0 1:22 Philip Conigliaro New England Regional Training Center Rnd of 32
- W VPO1 7-5 Hunter Mullin Western Colorado Wrestling Club Cons 16 #1
- L VSU1 16-5 5:56 Grant Zamin Unattached Cons 16 #2
Aidan Medora – 65kg U20 Freestyle
- W VSU1 12-2 2:51 Cade Schmitz Unattached Rnd of 64
- W VSU1 12-1 1:59 Austin Keal Arkansas RTC Rnd of 32
- L VSU1 18-8 5:51 Sammy Alvarez Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club Rnd of 16
- W VSU 10-0 3:16 Danny Fongaro New York City RTC Cons 16 #2
- L VPO1 10-4 Cameron Robinson Cyclone RTC C-RTC Cons 8 #1
Garrett Model – 70kg U23 Freestyle – 4th Place
- W VSU1 12-2 0:33 Austin Duren Unattached Rnd of 64
- W VSU1 14-4 2:39 Brawley Lamer Central Coast Regional Training Center Rnd of 32
- W VSU 10-0 0:27 Rj Bingham Brunson UVRTC Rnd of 16
- W VFA 3:13 12-4 Baltazar Joel Gonzalez Silverback Wrestling Club Quarters
- L VSU 10-0 1:02 Kaleb Young Hawkeye Wrestling Club Semis
- W VSU 12-0 3:09 Jaron Jensen Wyoming Wrestling Reg Training Ctr C-Semis
- L VSU1 12-1 1:12 Jake Keating Cavalier Wrestling Club 3rd Place
Gavin Model – 74kg U20 Freestyle
- L VSU1 12-2 1:27 Isaiah Alford Nebraska Wrestling Training Center Rnd of 64
- BYE Cons 32 #1
- L VSU1 12-1 1:43 Cael Valencia Unattached Cons 32 #2
Joshua Otto – 74kg U20 Freestyle – 8th place
- BYE - Rnd of 64
- W VPO1 6-2 Zane Mulder Burg Training Center Rnd of 32
- L VPO1 20-18 Donald Cates Wolfpack Wrestling Club Rnd of 16
- W VPO 4-0 Kekana Fouret Brunson UVRTC Cons 16 #2
- W VPO1 10-4 Daniel Snediker Brunson UVRTC Cons 8 #1
- W VSU1 17-6 3:56 Robert Kanniard Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club Cons 8 #2
- L VPO1 14-8 Isaiah Alford Nebraska Wrestling Training Center Cons 4
- L VSU 10-0 1:12 Cael Valencia Unattached 7th Place
Ethan Rotondo – 57kg U23 Freestyle – 8th Place
- BYE Rnd of 64
- L VSU 10-0 1:31 Patrick McKee Gopher WC – RTC Rnd of 32
- W VSU1 16-6 6:00 Ryan Hoskins Unattached Cons 32 #2
- W VSU 10-0 1:23 Kyler Rodriguez Unattached Cons 16 #1
- W VPO1 6-1 Jack Medley Cliff Keen Wrestling Club Cons 16 #2
- W VPO1 11-5 Codi Russell Blue Ridge RTC Cons 8 #1
- W VPO1 5-4 Brandon Courtney Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club Cons 8 #2
- L VSU 10-0 1:01 Paul Bianchi Arkansas Regional Training Center Cons 4
- L VPO1 15-11 Patrick McKee Gopher Wrestling Club – RTC 7th Place
Seth Vosters 74kg U23 Freestyle
- L VPO1 8-6 Grant Zamin Unattached Rnd of 32
- L VSU 11-0 0:58 Brett Donner Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club Cons 16 #1
Evan Wick 74 kg U23 Freestyle – 1st Place (Olympic Waiver)
- W VSU1 12-1 1:19 Sam Webster New York City RTC Rnd of 32
- W VSU 10-0 1:38 William Formato Unattached Rnd of 16
- W VSU 10-0 2:04 Joshua Kim New England Regional Training Center Quarters
- W VPO1 11-9 Jacori Teemer Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club Semis
- W VPO1 10-4 Danny Braunagel Illinois Regional Training Center/Illini WC Finals
Joseph Zargo – 65kg U20 Freestyle (Signed NLI for 2021)
- W VFA 0:51 5-0 Pedro Lozano Hill Country Wrestling Club Rnd of 64
- W VSU 11-0 1:16 Hunter Gilmore Unattached Rnd of 32
- L VPO1 9-9 Cameron Picklo Unattached Rnd of 16
- W VSU1 13-2 4:27 Joey Bianchi Arkansas RTC Cons 16 #2
- W VPO1 14-6 Kyle Prewitt Arkansas RTC Cons 8 #1
- L VPO1 10-6 Cobe Siebrecht Hawkeye Wrestling Club Cons 8 #2
GRECO-ROMAN
Eric Barnett – 55kg / Junior Greco-Roman – 5th place
- L - VPO1 4-2 Carter Stephenson, Black Fox Wrestling Academy Rnd of 32
- BYE - Cons 16 #1
- W VSU1 10-2 2:20 Austin Kegley Eastern Iowa WC Cons 16 #2
- W VSU 8-0 1:48 Darrick Stacey Wyoming Wrestling Reg Training Ctr, Cons 8 #1
- W VFA 2:46 4-1 Alex Logsdon Cougar WC Cons 8 #2
- W VSU1 9-1 3:37 Carter Stephenson Black Fox Wrestling Academy Cons 4
- L VFA 0:58 6-0 Jacob Cochran Unattached C-Semis
- W VSU1 10-2 4:23 Sam Smith LaCrosse Area Wrestlers 5th Place
Tyler Dow – 77kg / U23 Greco-Roman - 2nd Place
- W VSU1 12-4 5:59 Eddie Smith Dubuque Wrestling Club Quarters
- W VFA 2:12 5-2 Ryan Epps Unattached Semis
- L VSU1 11-1 3:48 Jesse Porter New York Athletic Club Finals
Seth Vosters – 72kg / U23 Greco-Roman – 5th place
- BYE Rnd of 16
- L VSU 9-0 3:32 Calvin Germinaro Unattached Quarters
- W VSU 8-0 1:21 Caden Moore Wolves Wrestling Club Cons 8 #2
- W VSU 8-0 0:25 Ryan Ojeda Unattached Cons 4
- L VSU1 15-7 4:58 Riley Briggs Community Youth Center - Concord Campus C-Semis
- W VPO1 8-4 Zachary Tolver Interior Grappling Academy 5th Place
Scoring Key
- FA- Fall
- VPO- Points without the opponent scoring, ex 6-0
- VPO1- Points and the opponent scores, ex 5-1
- VSU- Superiority aka Technical Fall
- VSU1- Superiority aka Technical Fall with opponent scoring
- VIN- Injury default