UW Parkside, News and Notes

1/20/03
By TONY MOOREN
Waukesha Freeman Staff

DELAFIELD A fresher Brad Russell at season's end could mean big things.

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside junior wrestler is coming off a 33-13 season in which he placed second in the NAIA national meet and sixth in the NCAA Division II national meet.

And that was a problem.

"We were the only school in the nation with dual affiliation," he said. "I ended up kind of burned out at the end of the season. We had an NAIA regional one weekend, a Division II regional the next weekend followed by the NAIA national meet and then Division II national meet.

"Every other Division II school had a break, regional, break, national. I felt weaker from all the traveling."

This season, dual affiliation was not allowed so the school chose the NCAA Division II level.

Because Russell, a Kettle Moraine High School graduate and former Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state champion, won his first 11 matches this season, another championship seems possible.

"I'm pretty confident," he said. "I've been wrestling real tough lately."

He is ranked No. 4 in the nation at his 141-pound weight class and is focused on improving what he considered to be a disappointing sophomore season.

"I was ranked first in the NAIA but then lost in the finals," he said. "I should have won last year."

Despite Russell's disappointment, he has had a spectacular wrestling career, compiling a 145-9 career record at Kettle Moraine and, as of last week, amassing another 79 victories at UW-Parkside with 27 losses.

He also finished third in the NAIA national meet and qualified for the NCAA Division II meet as a freshman a year in which he set a school record with 37 victories.

His high school record included two third-place finishes in the WIAA state meet.

Russell was also a three-time all-American in Greco-Roman junior nationals while in high school posting second-, fourth- and seventh-place finishes.

"College wrestling is no comparison to high school," he said. "Practices are a lot tougher, which keeps me more focused on school work but it wears me out. It's hard on my body and I don't recover the way I used to."

So far this season he has a victory over last year's third-place finisher (at 133 pounds) in the NCAA Division II national meet and has a narrow focus.

"I set goals for myself and my goal is to win the national meet," he said. "I've always had pretty high goals."

Tendinitis in a knee shelved Russell for a few matches this season and he's also had fewer matches because his lofty national status has him receiving a number of first-round byes in tournaments.

"I don't like the byes," he said. "I'd rather be wrestling."

Still, the fewer matches might be beneficial.

"I'm getting older, I'm mentally stronger, I haven't been injury prone and not competing in two national tournaments this year could help," he said.

Russell, who eventually would like to coach, works hard on flexibility, strength and conditioning.

"I think my best assets are technique and positioning," he said. "Someone with good technique and position feels stronger than they really are. I probably need to work on my strength a little bit but my weight's comfortable and things are going well."

Russell, who has been wrestling since he was in first grade, is on a team that is ranked No. 15 in the nation.

(Tony Mooren can be reached at tmooren@conleynet.com

UW-Parkside Wrestling Schedule 2002-2003

Day	Date		Place	Time
Sat.	Nov. 9	away	UW-Stevens Point Open	9:00 a.m.
Sat.	Nov. 23	away	Concordia Open (Mequon, WI)	9:00 a.m.
Wed.	Dec 4.	away	UW-LaCrosse Dual	7:00 p.m.
Sat.	Dec. 7	home	Wisconsin Open	9:00 a.m.
Sat.	Dec. 14	away	Northwestern Triple Dual (Evanston, IL)	11:00 a.m.
Fri.- Sat.	Jan. 3-4	away	Midwest Classic (Indianapolis, IN)	4:00 p.m./ 9:00 a.m.
Sat.- Sun.	Jan. 18-19	away	NCAA II National Duals (Columbus, OH)	10:00 a.m. / 10:00 a.m.
Wed.	Jan. 22	home	UW-Oshkosh Dual	7:00 p.m.
Sat.	Jan. 25	away	Elmhurst College Dual	1:00 p.m.
Wed.	Jan. 29	away	UW-Stevens Point Dual	7:00 p.m.
Sat.	Feb. 1	away	UW-Eau Claire Invitational	9:00 a.m.
Fri. - Sat	Feb. 7-8	away	Wheaton College Invitational	2:00 p.m. / 9:00 a.m.
Fri	Feb. 22	away	Minnesota State - Mankato	7:00 p.m.
Sun.	Mar. 2	away	NCAA II Midwest Regionals (Kirksville, MO)	11 a.m.
Fri. - Sat	Mar. 14-15	away	NCAA II Nationals (Wheeling, WV)	11:00 a.m. / 11:00 a.m.

Head coach: Jim Koch
E-mail: koch@uwp.edu
office: 262-595-2267
home: 262-552-8670
FAX: 262-595-2225

Sports Information: 262-595-2045
Athletic Office: 262-595-2245

2004-2005 Archive UW Parkside News and Notes