The U.N.I. wrestling squad is riding a winning streak, albeit a small one, as they welcome Wisconsin to the West Gym tonight. The Panthers picked up dual wins over conference foes Northern Colorado and Air Force last weekend, and U.N.I. coach Doug Schwab says it’s easy to see the increase in confidence that putting some wins together can give a team.

Schwab says he’s been talking to the team about putting a string of several victories together to build some confidence and make it so they go onto the mat expecting to win. Just like their dual against Iowa last month and their match-up with Iowa State in three weeks, Schwab says that facing Wisconsin will give his team a good idea of where they stand nationally.

“We’ve had a couple of measuring stick duals, I mean Iowa showed us that we have a long ways to go, we’ve improved since then,” Schwab says. He says the Big Ten is the best wrestling conference in the country and they want to be able to beat teams from that conference.

Wisconsin’s lineup features a couple of ranked wrestlers and Schwab says that those are the matches that the Panthers are going to focus on. Tonight’s matchup is one of just four home dual meets left for the Panthers. The next one will be on February third when they host Iowa State.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls