Athlete of the Year nominees: Tyler Graff

Junior became just the ninth three-time All-American in Wisconsin wrestling history

Originally published at UWBadgers.com on June 10, 2013

As part of its year-end look back, UW Athletics profiles 10 candidates this week leading up to the announcement of the 2012-13 Athlete of the Year awards this Friday. Today, we profile Athlete of the Year candidate Tyler Graff of the wrestling team.

MADISON, Wis. – Perhaps no individual athlete was more valuable to his team this season than redshirt junior Tyler Graff was for the Wisconsin wrestlers.

Returning from his Olympic redshirt year in 2011-12, Graff led the way for a much-improved Badgers squad that notched four more Big Ten dual victories than it did a season ago, while collecting a plethora of individual successes along the way.

After a 33-win season that put him among the Badgers’ career leaders in win percentage, Graff became just the ninth three-time All-American in Wisconsin history with a third-place finish, at 133 lbs., at the 2013 NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. The bronze medal was Graff’s highest career finish at the NCAA meet, following back-to-back fifth-place finishes in 2010 and 2011.

In addition to his performance at the NCAA championships, Graff was also the third-place winner at the 2013 Big Ten Championships and earned a pair of top-three finishes at two prestigious national tournaments. He placed third at 141 lbs., at the Cliff Keen Invite and at 133 lbs., at the Midlands Championships.

The Loveland, Colo., native was among the nation’s elite wrestlers throughout the season, ranking in the top 10 in his weight class for the duration of the 2012-13 campaign and finishing as the No. 3-ranked grappler at 133 lbs.

Graff was invaluable for the Badgers this season, leading the team in wins (33), dual wins (13), dual points (56), Big Ten wins (11), wins over ranked opponents (14), technical falls (7) and major decisions (7).

All that considered it should be no surprise that Graff was named the Badgers’ Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.

Graff takes top spot at ASICS University National Championships

Three-time All-American moves on to compete at World University Games in August

Originally published on UWBadgers.com on May 28, 2013

MADISON, Wis. – A first-place finish for three-time All-American Tyler Graff highlighted Wisconsin’s effort at the 2013 ASICS University National Championships in Akron, Ohio this past weekend.

Graff put together a perfect 6-0 record at the tournament to take home the freestyle 60 kg title. Each of the University Nationals champions from the seven Olympic weight classes, including Graff, qualified to wrestle at the World University Games which will take place in August in Kassan, Russia.

Graff put together an impressive tournament run to reach the championship match, winning three matches by technical fall and conceding only two points in the five matches prior. In the title match, Graff swept Purdue’s Cashe Quiroga in the best-of-three series, winning the first round by technical fall, 10-0, before closing out his championship effort with a 5-4 decision in the second round.

Wisconsin head coach Barry Davis said he could see Graff’s momentum from his U.S. Open third-place finish in April carry over to Akron, but that it was Graff’s offensive mindset that was the key to his University Nationals title run.

In his six matches, Graff scored 47 points, including four double digit efforts.

“He knows that when he attacks he’s a much better wrestler,” Davis said. “When he’s in an offensive mindset he gets better results.

“When you’re scoring almost ten points a match, you know you’re doing something right.”

Three other Wisconsin wrestlers also placed in their respective weight classes in Akron. 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Connor Medbery placed fifth in the 120 kg freestyle competition with a 6-2 record, Timmy McCall went 4-3 in the 96 kg bracket for an eighth-place finish and Cole Tobin had a 4-3 mark, good for an eighth-place finish at 120 kg.

Ten other Badgers also competed at University Nationals, but failed to place in their respective weight classes.