To win a Big Ten championship in wrestling is no easy feat. Just to make it to the championship match is no cup of tea. And to do it as a No. 5 seed and a red-shirt freshman, as Kyle Ruschell did last year, is simply unheard of.

At last year�s conference championships, Ruschell, wrestling at 141 pounds, defeated No. 4 seed Cassio Pero of Illinois 6-5 in the quarterfinals. He then went on to upset top-seeded Manual Rivera of Minnesota in the semifinals 7-4 before losing in the title match to Northwestern�s Ryan Lang 5-1.

�I had nothing to lose,� Ruschell said of his performance last season. �I didn�t really have too high of expectations because I had to wrestle two guys I had lost to (in the regular season). So I went out there, I wanted to win � not just not to lose.�

Heading into this year�s championships this weekend in Minneapolis, Ruschell has garnered the No. 2 pre-seed, right behind Michigan�s Kellen Russell. Ruschell is taking somewhat of the same attitude as last season, but with a bit of a twist.

�I want to be on the top of the stand,� Ruschell said. �I�m going in with the same game plan � to get to the title match. But this time win and not be so nervous in the finals, or be so tight, and just happy to be there.�

Ruschell�s performance last season, as well as his work ethic both on and off the wrestling mat, led the coaching staff to name Ruschell one of this year�s tri-captains. Head coach Barry Davis knows Ruschell is the type of guy he wants his team to look up to.

�He takes time to think of the sport out of the room,� Davis said. �And in order to be a captain, you have to take the time outside of the room, you have to take wrestling with you and think about things. All those things come together.�

One of only a handful of Division I wrestlers who call Kentucky �home,� Ruschell knew early on that he had to make a name of himself at a national tournament, rather than his state tournament, to get to where he is now.

�In high school, I was a little guy,� Ruschell said. �I was a [103]-pounder up through junior year and then senior year I wrestled 119 in Kentucky. But out of state at senior nationals I wrestled 112. I did that to help get coaches look at me because they usually don�t come to our state tournament.�

Davis, along with assistant coach Barry Chelesvig, approached Ruschell at the senior national tournament in March of 2005 and offered him a chance to be a Badger. It was a move that pleased Ruschell�s parents.

�My parents just fell in love with Barry,� Ruschell said. �They felt that he cared about us, that it wasn�t just about us coming here but to help me grow as a person and make me a better person. It�s not just for Barry � it�s for the university and for me.�

Family and friends in Kentucky were all smiles, but there were some in Madison who didn�t know what to think of the news.

�I know the coaches kind of got a little heckling because they got a kid from Kentucky,� junior Dallas Herbst said. �Not a lot of guys knew him or knew what he could do.�

Ruschell arrived on campus not quite sure what to expect, but soon learned his place the first day of practice.

�I was pretty raw my freshman year,� Ruschell said. �I remember my first practice. I was wrestling (Zach) Tanelli. He got my leg and just lifted it up and smacked me down to the mat. Right then I knew I wasn�t the best in the room anymore. I needed to work everyday.�

As Ruschell enters this weekend’s tournament, he has somewhat of the same situation as last season. Despite being seeded higher, he enters again having two losses in the Big Ten � to Russell, and to Illinois� Ryan Prater � in back-to-back matches. Ruschell bounced right back to defeat then-3rd ranked Rivera as the Badgers upset the Gophers Feb. 17.

Davis thinks it’s situations like these where Ruschell�s mentality rises above all.

�I think experience played a part there,� Davis said. �He thought, �You know, I�m good enough, I�ll bounce back and put that behind me and move forward.� It just says a lot about him as an individual and his maturity to let things go and move on.�

Entering the weekend, Ruschell has a legitimate chance to walk away on top. With the NCAA Championships just two weeks away after this weekend, Ruschell feels he�s got a legitimate chance there, too. Either way, he has made his name known not only in Kentucky, but now in Wisconsin and the rest of the nation.

�I want to win it, of course,� Ruschell said. �Anything else is a little bit of a disappointment. First off, I want to get on the stand, but, second, I want to be at the top of it.�