Wisconsin had a fairly decent showing at this years NCAA tournament. With one wrestler in the finals and another AA Wisconsin finished the tournament in 13th place.

Even though individuals on the team felt that the Badgers could have had a stronger showing at the NCAAs there are still great things to be celebrated this season.

The Badgers finished 2 nd this year in the Big Ten Championships, leaping up seven spots from their 9 th place finish the previous season. This was the largest jump in Big Ten tournament history.

The team also finished 3 rd behind Minnesota and Illinois in the Big Ten dual meet season. During the season the Badgers defeated Iowa and Michigan , two teams which have given them fits for years prior.

Nine NCAA qualifiers come back to the team next season, including NCAA finalist Craig Henning.  

This summer many of the guys will be seeking help from outside of Madison . Kyle Ruschell, Jake Donar, and Dallas Herbst in particular will be training with some of the nations best over the summer.

This week and next the team will be enjoying some time off of the mat. Kyle Ruschell won't get much of a rest however, because he will be competing at the US Open in Las Vegas .

After Spring Break the team will resume weight training and wrestling. This time of the year practices are much less intense. These kinds of practices are great, they often allow guys to learn a lot more about their style and figure things out. 

The coaching staff will also begin meeting with individuals to talk about this past season and the season coming up. It is important right now that our wrestlers develop a plan and a mind set on what it will take to be ready for the next season.

The University will also start construction on a new wrestling facility. The locker room, weight room, coach's offices, training room and showers will all be upgraded. The new wrestling facility will rival any in the country. Not only will this develop more pride in the program, it will help bring in recruits who are looking for the best opportunity out there.

Barry Davis offers these thoughts on the season, and what's next for the Badgers. 

"I think we did great in the Big Tens but we did not win the close matches at the NCAAs. We didn't have that break through round at NCAAs like we did at the Big Tens. I think that this year was an excellent learning experience for our younger guys. We were a young team full sophomores this year, but next year we will be an old team next year with a lot of juniors.

“All nine of our guys scored points at the NCAAs, as a team that is a huge positive. They will all be motivated by what they did this year.

“We are not going to be able to sneak up on teams next year. Everybody is going to know who we are. We need to make some big improvements for next year. That is good though! We need to do that anyways. Our off season work is going to be very critical for us this summer. "