Badgers facing questions at NCAA wrestling championship
MADISON – With the NCAA championships set to begin Thursday, Wisconsin wrestling coach Chris Bono offers this advice.
Expect the unexpected.
“I don't know if you've been to an NCAA wrestling tournament, but wacky things happen all the time,” he said.
For the Badgers wrestlers that means scoring a few upsets that allow them to outperform their seeds and reach the podium to earn All-American status. Three UW wrestlers were AllAmericans last year, the most in one season since 2015.
This year the team has qualifiers in eight of 10 weight classes for the championships, which will be held through Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sophomore Dean Hamiti, who is the No. 3 seed at 165 pounds, leads the Badgers' contingent. He along with seniors Eric Barnett (125) and Austin Gomez (149) were AllAmericans last season. Two other Badgers reached the podium in previous seasons: senior Taylor LaMont at 133 in 2021 when he attended Utah Valley and senior Trent Hillger at 285 in 2019 and 2021.
Wisconsin's best finish at the national tournament in Bono's four previous seasons was 14th last year when the team had nine qualifiers. A similar finish might take off some of the sting from a season when UW finished 12th in the Big Ten during the dual season and eighth at the conference championships.
“It's time to go down there,” Bono said. “With eight guys you can do a lot of damage at the national tournament.”
Here are four questions facing the Badgers heading into the meet:
Can Austin Gomez bounce back?
Gomez missed the final three duals of the regular season due to injury and was visibly hobbled at the Big Ten championships, where he lost his first two matches before taking medical forfeits for his Day 2 matches. A fourth-place finisher at the NCAAs last year, he received an all-large bid to the field this year.
“What happened at the Big Tens is not any kind of reflection of what kind of wrester he is,” Bono said. “Coming off that injury he thought it would be easy. He thought everyone would lay down. It's a wrestling match. It's a fight. He understands that now.”
Gomez is seeded 15th. If he advances and the seeds play out, he could run into Ohio State's Sammy Sasso in the second round and Northwestern's Yahya Thomas in the third round.
How far can Dean Hamiti go?
As productive as Hamiti was last season when he was the Big Ten freshman of the year, he has taken his game to a higher level this season. He has seven wins by major decision or technical fall. At the Big Ten tournament, he scored two major decisions before scoring a 9-6 decision over fourth-ranked Patrick Kennedy of Iowa in the final..
Hamiti finished sixth last season. This year he could be on a collision course to meet defending national champion and Arrowhead High School graduate Keegan O'Toole of Missouri in the semifinals.
“The momentum he has right now is unbelievable,” Bono said. “He thinks he's going to be the national champ and that's 99% of it, believing you can do it. ... He's ready to go.”
Can Trent Hillger, Eric Barnett make history?
There have been just eight three-time All-Americans in program history. Hillger and Barnett can join that exclusive company this year.
Barnett, who earned his All-American honors by taking seventh at 125 last season and eighth in 2021, holds the team's second-highest seed (ninth) and with seven matches against top-10 competition is arguably the most battled-tested Badger.
Hillger, meanwhile, returns to the national meet after just missing the podium last year – he took ninth – following a sixth-place showing in 2021 and an eighth-place finish in 2019. Hillger spent the offseason adding about 50 pounds to his 6-foot-1 frame.
The result has been a 16-8 season and a sixth-place finish against a strong field at the Big Ten championships. The No. 11 seed he received for the NCAAs is his best since he was the No. 7 seed as a freshman.
“What he's done to his body this year is harder than losing weight to be able to gain that much weight, to do with lean muscle mass and to be diligent about it," Bono said. "It started last March. He stayed discipled to his diet, his 14,000-calorie diet a day, which is hard."
Will the close calls go in Braxton Amos’ favor?
If there is one wrestler whose seed doesn't do him justice, it might be sophomore Braxton Amos, a No. 17 seed at 197 who is 18-7 with five of his losses coming by two points or fewer. He has a tough draw. Should he advance, No. 1 seed Nino Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh will be waiting in the second round.
“He's within a takedown of beating anybody in the country,” Bono said. “If he decides to turn it up a little bit, he's a guy who could do some damage.”