Wisconsin Badgers
Illinois
Six to Pin: Illinois
February 06, 2024 | Wrestling
Wisconsin celebrates Senior Day
MATCH DAY ??
— Wisconsin Wrestling (@BadgerWrestling) February 11, 2024
Wisconsin vs Illinois
Sunday, Feb. 11
Noon CT
UW Field House
Madison, Wis.
Arrive early and help us celebrate our seniors before the match! ??
Watch live on @BigTenPlus via https://t.co/XlcG8gsYGk pic.twitter.com/VT0gpdmC5a
MADISON, Wis. – No. 23 Wisconsin returns home to the UW Field House in Madison to close the home dual season versus Illinois on Sunday, Jan. 11 at Noon CT.
The Badgers will celebrate their seniors – Eric Barnett, Peter Christensen, Isaac Klarkowski, Shane Liegel, Max Maylor and Josh Otto – prior to the start of the match.
The match will be streamed live on B1G+. Sunday’s home dual will feature Nate Arquinego and Teague Fenwick of WIWrestle.com on the call.
Here’s six more notes to pin:
1. Last Time Out:
Wisconsin swept a weekend of Big Ten action with two victories. UW defeated Northwestern at home 30-12 on Friday, Feb. 2 and then traveled to Purdue to earn a 24-15 road win.
The Badgers won seven of 10 bouts against the Wildcats on Friday, led by Max Maylor with a pin in 1:53 against David Ferrante at 184 pounds and three major decisions won by Eric Barnett (125), Nicolar Rivera (133) and Zan Fugitt (141). The victory marks Fugitt’s first career Big Ten dual win.
In a tighter dual, the Badgers won six of 10 bouts against the Boilermakers.
Down to the final bout, Wisconsin’s Gannon Rosenfeld rallied from almost being pinned to winnning by pin in 4:10 over Tristan Ruhlman at heavyweight and sealing the Badgers’ road win.
Dean Hamiti earned his 20th win of the season with a fall in 1:06 over Stoney Buell.
Rivera, Joe Zargo, Maylor and Shane Liegel all won decisions against the Boilermakers.
Gannon Rosenfeld PIN FOR THE @BadgerWrestling WIN! ??@GannonRosenfeld picks up the heavyweight dub over Tristan Ruhlman. pic.twitter.com/RnM6VFq97W
— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) February 4, 2024
2. Scouting the Illini
Unranked Illinois is currently winless at 0-5 in the Big Ten standings (3-8 overall) after losses to No. 6 Ohio State (36-6), No. 2 Iowa (36-6), Michigan State (29-10), No. 4 Nebraska (28-9) and No. 11 Minnesota (28-12) on Friday.
The Illini won four of 10 bouts against the Golden Gophers during the home loss on Feb. 9 with decision victories at 125, 133, 141 and 174 pounds.
Edmond Ruth won by the largest margin with a 7-1 victory against Andrew Sparks at 174. Justin Cardani earned his win at 125 in a tiebreaker 9-6.
Five of Illinois’ wrestlers are ranked by Intermat this week: No. 30 Tony Madrigal (133), No. 26 Danny Pucino (141), No. 33 Chris Moore (165), No. 8 Edmond Ruth (174) and No. 31 Dylan Connell (184).
3. Dominant Dean
The NCAA announced Hamiti as the No. 3 Most Dominant Wrestler in the country on Tuesday in their first national standings.
Hamiti averages 4.57 points in the standings with a 20-1 season record.
One of the MOST DOMINANT wrestlers in the country?
— Wisconsin Wrestling (@BadgerWrestling) February 7, 2024
Not a surprise to us. @ncaawrestling latest standings are out and @HamitiDean is the No. 3 Most Dominant Wrestler in the country. pic.twitter.com/8n4d7jIs2O
4. Seniors
Wisconsin will honor six seniors prior to Sunday's match:
Eric Barnett
• Completing Bachelor's degree in Personal Finance and pursuing career as a Financial Advisor
• Two-time NCAA All-American
• Two-time NWCA Scholar All-American
• Three-time Academic All-Big Ten
• 19-3 record this season and won Michigan State Open at 125 pounds
• 95 career wins as a Badger
• 20 career pins and 48 bonus-point victories
Peter Christensen
• Completing Bachelor's degree in Sociology and pursuing a career in Law Enforcement
• 2021 Pan-Am Games Silver Medalist in Greco-Roman at 130 Kilograms
• 2021 USA Wrestling Junior Nationals Finalist
• 21 career wins as a Badger
• 7 career pins
Isaac Klarkowski
• Completing Master's Degree in Sports Leadership and pursuing a career in Engineering
• Earned Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at Rice University
• Four-year student-athlete in football at Rice as Offensive Lineman
• Earned Scholar-Athlete Award and conference academic honors
• Played in 18 games and started 15 for the Owls, including the 2022 Lending Tree Bowl
• Wrestled at heavyweight for the Badgers, earning one pin
Shane Liegel
Completing Master's in Business Analytics and pursuing career in the area
Earned Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Accounting at Loras College
2021 NCAA Division III National Champion
Four-time NCAA D-3 All-American and National Qualifier
Four-time NWCA D-3 Scholar All-American and Academic All-Conference
17-6 record this season, won Midlands Championship at 184
117 career wins
47 career pins and 82 bonus-point victories
Max Maylor
• Completing Master's in sports leadership and pursuing a career in coaching
• Earned Bachelor's degree in General Studies at Michigan
• 14-3 record this season
• 53 career wins
• 11 career pins and 22 bonus-point victories
Josh Otto
• Completing Bachelor's degree in Personal Finance and pursuing career as a Marketing Representative
• Three-time Academic All-Big Ten
• 26 career wins as a Badger including five bonus-point wins
5. In the media polls
Five Badgers continue to earn national rankings in the latest Intermat poll, while the team earned a No. 17 team ranking in tournament and No. 23 in duals by Intermat.
- No. 4 – Eric Barnett, 125
- No. 5 – Dean Hamiti, 165
- No. 12 – Max Maylor, 174
- No. 16 - Shane Liegel, 184
- No. 22 – Joseph Zargo, 149
6. Lineup
No. 23 Wisconsin (8-4, 2-3 B1G)
- 125: #4 Eric Barnett (19-3)
- 133: Nicolar Rivera (12-6)
- 141: Felix Lettini (3-13) or Zan Fugitt (8-4)
- 149: #22 Joseph Zargo (15-5) or Julian George (1-3)
- 157: Luke Mechler (6-12) or Cody Goebel (14-9)
- 165: #5 Dean Hamiti (20-1)
- 174: #12 Max Maylor (14-3)
- 184: #16 Shane Liegel (17-6) or Luke Condon (9-2)
- 197: Josh Otto (1-8)
- 285: Gannon Rosenfeld (2-11)
Head Coach: Chris Bono
Record at Wisconsin: 49-32 (6th)
Overall Record: 152-90 (15th)
Associate Head Coach: Jon Reader
Assistant Coach: Seth Gross
Coach (RTC): Garrett Model
Illinois (3-8, 0-5 B1G)
- 125: Justin Cardani (3-8)
- 133: #30 Tony Madrigal (4-3)
- 141: #26 Danny Pucino (9-7)
- 149: Jake Harrier (1-8)
- 157: Joe Roberts (5-7)
- 165: #33 Chris Moore (7-9)
- 174: #8 Edmond Ruth (15-2)
- 184: #31 Dylan Connell (4-7)
- 197: Isiah Pettigrew (5-7) or Chase Waggoner (0-5)
- 285: Peter Marinopoulos (1-5)
Head Coach: Matt Storniolo
Assistant Coach: B.J. Futrell
Assistant Coach: Justin Oliver
