INSIDE WRESTLING
BY RYAN EVANS
Big Ten tourney awaits
Graff leads UW into Big Ten championships
W
isconsin heads to
Champaign, Ill., this
weekend to compete in the
2013 Big Ten Championships,
an event that head coach
Barry Davis says, year in and
year out, may be the toughest
tournament in the country.
Including the NCAAs.
"It may be tougher [than
the NCAA tournament] because it's so compact with
ranked guys at each weight
class," Davis said.
Having as many ranked
wrestlers as the Big Ten conference should make for an
exciting, competitive tournament in Champaign this
weekend, including at 133
lbs., where junior Tyler Graff
will be looking for his first
62 » VARSITY
MAR CH 7, 2013
Big Ten title after secondand fourth-place finishes in
2011 and 2010, respectively.
Davis described Graff as
Wisconsin's "best guy going
in" to the Big Ten championships, but will have his work
cut out for him to reach the
top of the podium. Graff, the
No. 3 wrestler at 133 lbs., is
the third seed for Big Tens
behind Ohio State's No.
1 and defending national
champion Logan Stieber and
Iowa's No. 2-seeded Tony
Ramos.
Davis said Graff will have
to wrestle "mistake free"
matches to win a Big Ten title, but that he belives Graff's
Olympic redshirt last season
taught him how to train and
@Badger_Wrestle
SCHEDULE (7-8, 4-4)
This Week
Saturday Big Ten
Championships
Sunday Big Ten
Championships
Coming Up
Mar. 21-23 NCAA
Championships
All Day
All Day
All Day
prepare for big matches like the ones
he'll face at this weekend.
"He's got as good a shot as anybody
to win it," Davis said of Graff. "To beat
the No. 1 and No. 2 guys in the county.
Is that possible? Yes."
Badgers wrestling on BTN
» Big Ten Network will provide coverage of both days of the 2013 Big
Ten Championships. Sessions I
and II on Saturday will be available
via the Big Ten Digital Network
(BTDN) at BTN.com, and Sunday's
final session will be broadcast live
on BTN starting at 1:30 p.m.