INSIDE WRESTLING
BY RYAN EVANS
@Badger_Wrestle
SCHEDULE (7-8, 4-4)
Coming Up
Mar. 21-23 NCAA
Championships
Fab frosh Medbery nabs
conference honor
Heavyweight named 2013 Freshman of the Year
I
t's hard enough just to
break into college wrestling
as a freshman, let alone into
arguably the toughest weight
class in the country, but that's
exactly what Badgers redshirt
freshman Connor Medbery
did this season.
Medbery established himself as one of the top heavyweights in the country, a feat
54 » VARSITY
MAR CH 14, 2013
that was recognized by the
Big Ten this past weekend
when the conference named
the Loveland, Colo., native its
2013 Freshman of the Year.
The Big Ten is laden with
heavyweight talent, with
seven wrestlers currently
ranked in the top 25 in the
weight class, and Medbery
more than held his own
All Day
against some of the nation's best. He
put together a 22-4 record to go with
a 7-1 conference mark that included
five wins over ranked Big Ten opponents, all while being the only ranked
freshman heavyweight in the country
for much of the season.
UW head coach Barry Davis said
what Medbery has accomplished in a
conference that has the potential to
put seven heavyweights on the NCAA
podium is nothing short of amazing.
He believes it is Medbery's drive that
has gotten him to this point.
"He has high expectations and high
goals," Davis said. "He's learning every day and he wants to get better.
"He can go anywhere he wants to
go in this sport," he added.
Medbery joins Andrew Howe ('09),
Jeff Walter ('92) and Keith Davison
('90) as UW's Big Ten freshman of
the year winners, a group that has
seven All-America honors, four Big
Ten titles and two national titles
between them. Only time will tell if
Medbery joins those ranks, but the
future looks bright.
Three Badgers off to NCAAs
» With their performances at the Big
Ten championships, Tyler Graff
(133 lbs.), Jackson Hein (197 lbs.)
and Medbery (Hwt.) qualified for
the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will be
held March 21-23 at Wells Fargo
Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
