Disappointed_Badger_Fan

Man posts like this are going to make have me going to church every week just to pray for the coaching change.

We can name as many names as we want, but if UW moves on from Bono (which they should) the main requirement for whoever gets hired will be to establish a great relationship with the AWA club. They have so many talented wrestlers that we need to keep in the state. My personal choice would be Ben Askren because the hire would give the program quite a bit of buzz in the wrestling world.

Bono gets the full blame for the program declining because every All American level guy has transferred away from UW except Barnett and the biggest issue is that the state of Wisconsin has a ton of elite high school recruits that all decide to go elsewhere. Some people in the state blame Askren, but the reality is whatever issues Bono and Ben have is Bonos problem because he needs Ben's athletes but Ben doesn't need Bono.

It has been 5 years and the program is worse than where he started. Also he has let numerous high level in state wrestlers leave and go somewhere else. Whether you blame Askren for them leaving or Bono it ultimately is Bono's problem because he needs them and they don't need him. The program also has 1 returning qualifier and I would bet my life's savings that he is not an All American level guy. It isn't about instant gratification. It is about the program being worse than when he started and his lack of recruiting ability.

The lack of development is an issue, but a massive issue is that Bono hasn't been able to keep any of the top level WI recruits in the state. They are all leaving and going to many other programs, and not just 1 program.

It would be a temporary Band-Aid on a broken program. The main reason Bono needs to be let go is because of all the talent that is in the state going everywhere BUT UW.

That would also be great. I was just suggesting Ben because that hire would get more attention, but Max would also be great

there were numerous people commenting about how Bono is meeting what realistic expectations sould be at WI. A lot said they should be in a tier below PSU, Iowa, OSU, Nebraska, Michigan, and Minnesota which is where they are so he is about where he should be. My point is that the program is not growing and we should be striving to move up to the next tier of Big 10 teams and Bono is not the guy to do it.

I don't think that would happen because AWA would still be around. Ben coaches at 1 location I believe and they have numerous locations across southeastern WI

I mean I would think they might consider it, but the reality is even if they stay put the program literally can't get any worse so the AD took a chance when he hired a new football coach and I'm hoping he takes a chance with the wrestling coach. The AD is a wrestling guy so there is actual hope inside the state that he cares about the program, but it has been 5 years of Bono and the program is worse now than when he arrived. With an Askren hire I would hope we could get a couple transfers, but the real move would be to try getting the Mirasolas or Sinclair to flip their commitments and stay at UW

I posted this topic about a month and a half ago and a lot of people made comments about how he is doing fine, but let's take a look now. 1 AA out of 5 qualifiers. 4 of the 5 qualifiers will not be on the team next year. 3 seniors and Hamiti transfer. This program is a sinking ship. The AD has a chance to fix a mistake that was made 5 years ago fire Bono and hire Ben Askren. He publicly commented about wanting the job back then so he might still be interested now.

Or here is an idea. HIRE Ben Askren. He wanted the job when they decided to hire Bono. Rarely in life can you fix past mistakes, but the AD has a chance to fix it now by hiring Ben. I don't care about his "lack" of college coaching experience. This program needs some energy and excitement behind it and Ben would bring both.

Dude claims that the refs just inserted themselves in the match but the reality is that if Fix wasn't stalling in the 3rd and ot the ref wouldn't have to make the call. Fix deserved that lol

I think Hamiti if he doesn't AA will probably transfer for his senior year. If he loses to Carr he will most likely get Olejnik who killed him this year in the blood round

you are spot on. The way things are going with Bono all the tier 1 nationally ranked high school wrestlers in Wisconsin leave and the tier 2 guys stay, and then we get to listen to the clown hype man talk about how great it is to have 5-7 Wisconsin guys in the lineup. This really comes down to Bono not being able to lock down the border from a recruiting standpoint. Just imagine where this team would be ranked if O'Toole, Messenbrink, Mocco, Keckeisen, Whiting, Buchanan, and any other Wisconsin guys were at UW.

Sure he hasn't coached at a college level, but look at the guys I mentioned they were all ready and able to step in as freshman and make an impact. Even the more than likely "worst" rated recruit Keckeisen came in as a freshman and dominated. Either way experience or not the Badgers program under Bono has been going down hill and if you actually follow the Badgers and look at the recruits that are coming in it doesn't look like they will be ascending any time soon. Bono relies on getting senior transfers way to much. There current ranked guys Barnett, Maylor, Liegel are all seniors and the other 2 ranked guys Hamiti and Zargo are juniors. Basically none of the young talent has shown very much of anything besides Rivera and Condon and the recruits is extremely underwhelming. I mean for god sake Little Rock is currently ranked higher than Wisconsin and they also have 2 Wisconsin guy in their lineup. It is no disrespect to them, but how are they able to recruit and develop better as a still relatively new program than a established big 10 program like Wisconsin. There is 1 answer and it is Bono. He can't recruit well or develop well. At this point they should fire Bono and take a chance on Askren because it really can't get much worse and the potential upside could be huge for the program.

Why not bring in Ben to be the coach. He has massive name recognition and has proven that he can coach wrestling. I also think that if he were the coach we might see some Wisconsin guys that left the state come back home and wrestle for the badgers. Also it is very fair to say Bono isn't good at developing guys. Hamiti came in as a freshman and was an all American but hasn't reached the next tier yet. Amos was a top 5 recruit and hasn't even made the round of 12 in his 2 years. Rowley was a top recruit and left after 1 year. You brought up that Bono is only getting mid tier guys and that is another problem. If all you can get is mid tier you need to be good at developing them. If you look at statistics the Badgers fired Barry Davis because he wasn't meeting the standard they felt they should be at and Bono has had either the same or less success. Instead of hiring Bono they should've hired Ben because then they would've at least had a chance at keeping O'Toole, Keckeisen, Clayton Whiting, Peyton Mocco, Mirasola twins, Sinclair, Millard, Mesenbrink, Scoles, and Mulvaney in Wisconsin for college. They were/are all were top recruits and I'm probably missing some people, but having that much talent in the state and seeing them all leave should be exhibit A for why Bono needs to go.

I am so sick of this guy. He isn't a coach. He is a high energy hype man. Nobody develops when they get to Wisconsin. He also sucks at recruiting. He gets an elite recruit every couple years, and they either are a immediate stud or they don't develop beyond what they were as freshman and they never reach their full potential. Fire Bono. Hire Askren.

My high school just got their 226 consecutive Conference Dual win and it made me curious what other schools have massive streaks like that. I figure someone on here knows of a longer one. Also not just 226 straight but they are now 226-0 so if anyone knows a better conference record let's hear it.

honestly has this one commentator pronounced 1 guys name right yet

This ref is having a ROUGH night.

I believe Ben has publicly said that if he was to ever coach it would only be for UW. Things could've changed since his comments, but at this point the Badger AD needs to move on from Bono because he is just a middle aged hype man that can't develop any wrestlers beyond what they were when they arrived on campus

I would think a lot of guys would either think about transferring or he might get a lot of young guys to flip their commitments. I think so many guys would want to come home where their parents/families could see them in person, but instead of transfers I'd love to see Millard, and the Mirasolas at UW.

Ragusin was still going to redshirt at that time. Amine was dealing with injuries. Deagustino doesn't seem like the ducking type. Lewan also has never been a guy that ducks people

Michigan had at least 4 people wrestling in that dual that are now backups...