INSIDE WRESTLING
BY RYAN EVANS
@Badger_Wrestle
SCHEDULE (7-8, 4-4)
This Week
Thurs.-Sat. NCAA
Championships
Face the nation: Three
Badgers set for NCAAs
Graff, Hein, Medbery to take on nation's best
W
isconsin has produced a total of 65
individual
All-Americans
in its history, and when the
Badgers come back from Des
Moines, Iowa, they hope to
have three more names to
add to that illustrious list.
Tyler Graff, Jackson Hein
and Connor Medbery will represent Wisconsin at the 2013
50 » VARSITY
MAR CH 21, 2013
NCAA Wrestling Championships this Thursday through
Saturday seeking spots on the
podium, a task that UW head
coach Barry Davis believes
they are up for.
Davis should know. He
was well-decorated at the
national level during his collegiate career, earning four
All-America honors and
All Day
three national titles at Iowa from
1981-85. On a stage as bright as the
NCAA championships, Graff, Hein
and Medbery will have to keep their
poise, something he's prepared them
for by setting up high-pressure situations in practice.
"You can't flinch," Davis said of competing at NCAAs. "The higher the competition, the more guys tend to panic in
matches and you can't do that.
"You have to stay in position, not get
in a hurry and wrestle complete matches. A full seven minutes."
Graff is the third seed at 133 lbs., Hein
is unseeded at 197 lbs., and Medbery is
the seventh-seeded heavyweight. Competing against the best wrestlers in the
country, there is going to be a spirited
battle for the eight spots on the podium.
"These guys have to wrestle above
their seed," Davis said. "At NCAAs, anything can happen."
"There can be no easy points," he
added. "They can't assume guys are going to fall down, they have to put them
down on a move."
The 2013 NCAA Championships begin Thursday morning at 11 a.m., and
run through Saturday night.
Graff ... for three!
» After fifth-place finishes in 2010
and 2011, Tyler Graff is looking to
become the ninth three-time AllAmerican in Badgers history this
weekend in Des Moines.
