Brackets were released this week for the 2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships and the University of Wisconsin will be represented by a trio of wrestlers.
The competition is set to begin on March 21 and will run through March 23 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
133 pounder Tyler Graff (28-4), who finished third at the Big Ten Championships last week, was tabbed as the No. 3 seed at his weight class. He will square off with the winner against the winner of a pigtail match between Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland, 22-9) and Devon Lotito (Cal Poly, 24-5).
Graff is the only Badger making a return appearance to the national tournament. The two-time All-American, qualified in both 2010 and 2011. He took a redshirt last season in an attempt to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
If he can manage to acchieve All-American status for a third time by finishing eighth or better, Graff would become just the 12th wrestler in program history to have recorded at least three All-American finishes.
Big Ten Freshman of the Year Connor Medbery (24-6) received the No.7 seed at 285 pounds. He will do battle with David Malone of Virginia Tech who enters the tournament sporting a record of 16-9. Medbery, who took fourth at heavyweight in the conference tournament, defeated Malone 3-2 at the Hokie Duals back on Nov. 18.
Medbery is the fourth UW wrestler ever to be named Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten and the first to bring home the honor for Wisconsin since Andrew Howe did it back in 2009.
Jackson Hein(20-10) is the only unseeded grappler that will be representing UW. He will go toe-to-toe with No. 12 Brent Haynes (Missouri, 31-8) in the first round. Hein was seventh at his weight in Champaign last weekend.
Wisconsin has not had a national champion since 2010 when Howe took home the crown at 165 pounds.
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