Rutgers Wrestling Preview: Wisconsin & Princeton

The last weekend of the regular season....and Rutgers is sub-.500. Let me catch my breath.

It’s been a rough season: the high of putting Nick Suriano on the mat coupled with the low of not having Anthony Ashnault. Injuries and a lack of depth. Closely fought matches. And you end up with 6-7 going into your last two matches. And an opportunity to finish above .500.

The program has had eleven straight winning seasons, so this weekend is important. Scott Goodale, though, isn’t concerned about that; he said so in the press conference after the Minnesota match. Sure, it would be nice to wrap it up at 8-7, but he’d probably rather see a good finish at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. And he’s said it’s important for the team to lock in over the next 30 days.

Wisconsin match

The No. 18 Badgers are 7-3, 4-3 B1G as they host RU tonight in Madison. They’re coming off a split weekend, a 19-16 win over Illinois on Sunday that was preceded by a 24-10 loss at home to Nebraska on Friday night.

Projected matches with ranked wrestlers (Intermat)

125 No. 1 Nick Suriano

133 No. 20 Scott DelVecchio

149 No. 11 Eleazar DeLuca vs. No. 15 Zander Wick - UW (10-2)

157 No. 14 Andrew Crone - WI on a seven match win streak

165 No. 7 Richie Lewis vs. No. 11 Evan Wick - WI (15-3)

184 No. 12 Nick Gravina vs. No. 9 Ricky Robertson - WI (21-6)

Princeton Match

The Tigers have struggled this season, entering the weekend 3-8, 2-2 Ivy. They are at home on Saturday to face Penn before hosting the Knights on Sunday in Dillon Gym at 1 pm.

125 No. 1 Nick Suriano

133 No. 20 Scott DelVecchio

149 No. 11 Eleazar DeLuca vs. No. 12 Matthew Kolodzik - PU (18-5); Kolodzik and Ashnault met last season with the Tiger besting AA, 4-3

157 No. 13 Mike D’Angelo - PU (20-5)

165 No. 7 Richie Lewis vs. No. 11 Evan Wick - PU (15-3)

184 No. 12 Nick Gravina

197 No. 17 Patrick Brucki - PU (24-5)

Scott Goodale said that both the Wisconsin and Princeton matches have 5-5 split written all over them, so it comes down to effort, grit, and bonus points. Who steps up?

From out of left field....

A lot of the BTN Plus streaming and even some regular BTN bradcasts are provided by students, like Rutgers’ RVision, through BTN StudentU. These are young people who enjoy sports and, possibly, want to get into broadcasting some day. They work hard and are not professionals. And then you see this:

Wow, there’s an enlightened view by Alex. Well, the wrestling community came on strong to back Rutgers’ Gina DeSabatino, including Scott Goodale:

We welcome everyone into the wrestling community, even those on the level of Neanderthals. Good to know people care and think! Gina appreciated the support, too.

Up next

The Big Ten Championships will be at Michigan State on March 3-4.

This Week in the Big Ten

Feb. 16, 2018

Clarion at Michigan State (BTN Plus) 2:00 p.m.

Eastern Michigan at Michigan State (BTN Plus) 6:00 p.m.

Minnesota at Rider 8:00 p.m.

Rutgers at Wisconsin (BTN Plus) 8:00 p.m.

Nebraska at Stanford 9:00 p.m.

Feb. 18, 2018

Rutgers at Princeton 1:00 p.m.

Purdue at Wisconsin (BTN Plus) 1:00 p.m.

Iowa at Iowa State 2:00 p.m.

Central Michigan at Michigan (BTN Plus) 2:00 p.m.

Northwestern at SIUE 2:00 p.m.

Buffalo at Penn State (BTN Plus) 2:00 p.m.

Rider at Maryland (BTN Plus) 3:00 p.m.

Ohio University at Maryland (BTN Plus) 5:00 p.m.

Ohio State at North Carolina State 4:30 p.m.