TULSA — Ranked No. 17 by Intermat and No. 17 by the NWCA, Wisconsin (8-8, 1-7 B1G) competes in the 2023 NCAA Championships held at the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma on Thursday, March 16 - Saturday, March 18.
SCHEDULE
There will be six sessions of the NCAA Championships:
- Thursday, 11 a.m. CT Session 1 - ESPNU - RECAP
- Thursday, 6 p.m. CT Session 2 - ESPN - RECAP
- Friday, 11 a.m. CT Session 3 - ESPNU
- Friday, 7 p.m. CT Session 4 - ESPN
- Saturday, 10 a.m. CT Session 5 - ESPNU
- Saturday, 6 p.m. CT Session 6 - ESPN
HOW TO WATCH:
All matches will be broadcast on either ESPNU or ESPN in addition to streamed live on ESPN+ with all eight mat feeds and matcast. Visit https://linktr.ee/badgerwrestling for all ESPN streaming links for all sessions.
QUICK LINKS:
Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono spoke with the media last week:
Here are five more things to know before the Badgers step on the mat in Tulsa:
1. WHO'S WRESTLING FOR WISCONSIN? Following the Big Ten Championships, seven Badgers - Eric Barnett (125 pounds), Taylor LaMont (133), Joseph Zargo (141), Garrett Model (157), Dean Hamiti (165), Braxton Amos (197) and Trent Hillger (285) all earned automatic qualifications to the national tournament in Tulsa. Austin Gomez, challenged by injury at Big Tens, earned a NCAA At-Large selection last week at 149 pounds.
2. BIG TEN CHAMP: Newly-crowned 2023 Big Ten Champion Hamiti earned the Badgers highest seeding at No. 3 at 165 pounds for the national tournament. He'll open the NCAA Championships against 30th-seeded Evan Barczak of Drexel on Thursday.
3. OPENING BOUTS: Here are Wisconsin's additional opening national bouts:
- Barnett earned the No. 9 seed at 125 pounds and will open his tournament against No. 24 seed Nick Babin of Columbia on Thursday.
- Ranking highly all season at 149, Gomez enters the national tournament seeded at No. 14 and will open competition against No. 19 seed Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan.
- Wrestling in his first NCAAs as a Badger, No. 27 seed LaMont will wrestle sixth-seed Sam Latona of Virginia Tech at 133.
- One of the toughest draws for UW, Zargo is seeded No. 31 at 141 and will open his national tournament against No. 2 Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado.
- Model is seeded at No. 19 at 157 and will take the mat against a familiar foe in Iowa's Cobe Siebrecht, seeded at No. 14.
- Amos earned a No. 17 seed at 197 and will wrestle No. 16 Owen Pentz of NDSU to open his national tournament.
- Heavyweight Hillger is seeded No. 11 at 285 and take the mat against No. 22 Hunter Catka, another Hokie out of Virginia Tech.
4. BONO-FIDE: Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono has now seen 32 Badger qualifications for NCAAs in his five seasons at UW, including nine NCAA All-American honors.
5. WISCONSIN LINEUP & NCAA NOTES: Learn more about Wisconsin's lineup at the national tournament:
- 125 #7 Eric Barnett (20-7): 9th seed - 2021 & 2022 NCAA All-American; Now a 3X NCAA Qualifier
- 133 #24 Taylor LaMont (11-14): 27th seed - 2021 NCAA All-American; Now a 5X NCAA Qualifier
- 141 #29 Joseph Zargo (12-12): 31st seed - 2022 NCAA At-Large Qualifier; 2023 Automatic Qualifier
- 149 #11 Austin Gomez (10-4): 14th seed -Â 2022 NCAA All-American; 2022 Big Ten Champion & Co-Outstanding Wrestler; 2X NCAA Qual.
- 157 #19 Garrett Model (16-10): 19th seed - Now a 2X NCAA Qualifier
- 165 #3 Dean Hamiti (21-3): 3rd seed - 2023 Big Ten Champion; 2022 NCAA All-American; Now a 2X NCAA Qualifier
- 197 #19 Braxton Amos (18-7): 17th seed - Now a 2X NCAA Qualifier
- 285 #9 Trent Hillger (16-8): 11th seed - 3X NCAA All-American and now a 5X NCAA Qualifier
- HC Chris Bono: 32 NCAA qualifications; 9 NCAA All-American honors; 1 NCAA Champ (Seth Gross, 2018 SDSU)
- AC Jon Reader (Assoc. HC): 32 NCAA qualifications; 9 NCAA All-American honors; 1 NCAA Champ (Seth Gross, 2018 SDSU)
- AC Seth Gross: 21 NCAA qualifications; 5 NCAA All-American honors
Team and Individual Rankings InterMat March 7, 2023
