Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - March 13, 2014

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22 // VARSITY March 13, 2014 BARRY DAVIS » WRESTLING HEAD COACH BADGERING Now in his 20th year as the Badgers' head coach, Barry Davis knows a thing or two about competing in March. Under his watch, 67 athletes have qualified for the NCAA championships and 21 have earned All-America honors. This season, Wisconsin will send eight wrestlers to compete at the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla., March 20-22. The Badgers hosted the Big Ten championships last weekend. How did it go? "I think Daron Jones and his (event management) staff did a great job. Selling 28,000 tickets for a weekend was great. It showcased our sport and Wisconsin wrestling. It showcased our state, our fans and the direction we are moving as a pro- gram. A lot of great things are going on in our sport. "Overall, as a staff, we had our guys ready to go. They all bought in and now we are just waiting for NCAA brackets to come out." What are you looking forward to at the NCAA championships? "Some people might think I am crazy, but with eight guys going, I think we have a chance to put all eight guys on the stand. Nobody thought we would have the year we had. Some good things are going on here. "We talked to (Tyler) Graff and (Connor) Medbery about staying loaded when they wrestle, always staying in a position to score, always in your stance. If we continue to look to score points, stay in our positions and do the small things right like wrestle on the edge, score on the edge, we'll get those extra points here and there. "We could have a good weekend, again, just need to make sure we are doing the small things right. It is all about the small detail things that some people forget when they get to nationals." What is one piece of advice you give an athlete, especially an athlete making their first trip to NCAAs? "Take care of yourself. The better you do, the better the team does. You can't worry about anyone but yourself. Worry about what you have to do and keep yourself focused. Right now it is an individual thing. The better you do individually, the better we do as a team. "Take it one match at a time." Favorite pre-match meal? Pancakes How many times a day do you work out? Two What do you do when you get back to the hotel? "I'll look at the bracket, I'll make cards up and watch film on all of the individuals our guys could possible wrestle and write down small detail things about the opponents." Do you ever get too excited during a match? "You can't. If I get too excited, I have to watch out because I can lose focus on the match. I have to be able to keep my poise." QUICK Q'S WITH COACH

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