The second longest winning streak on campus collapsed this past weekend when the UW wrestling team fell short by losing 19-18 to Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.
Marking the first loss of the season for the Badgers, they were going into Northwestern knowing that it was going to be a very tough match as both teams found themselves tied for ninth in the national rankings.
Northwestern earned the early lead after UW junior Collin Cudd lost a heart-breaking match 3-2 in triple overtime in the 125 lb. class. The Wildcats also earned a victory in the 133 pound weight class when they were able to find themselves leading the match 6-0.
After UW tallied four consecutive match wins UW stormed back and regained the lead at 11-6 when senior Tyler Turner pinned NU's Marty Gould. UW junior and No. 3 Craig Henning followed up Turner's victory with a win of his own.
The Badgers continued to ride their momentum to a win in the 165 pound class where junior Jake Donar beat Northwestern's Greg Hagel 6-4 extending the Badger lead to 12 at 18-6 with four matches yet to be determined.
The UW momentum was suddenly lost and Northwestern reeled off several victories as their big hitters—three top 5 ranked wrestlers—closed the Badger gap and cut the score to 18-16 with one match to go when UW sophomore Kyle Massey lost a tough one 3-2 allowing Northwestern to take the match 19-18.
Saturday night the fortunes changed for Bucky as UW was able to defeat Iowa for the first time in nearly a half century, 42 years to be exact, in Iowa City, Iowa.
UW notched victories in six of the eight bouts including wins in the 133, 141, 149 and 157 lb. weight classes before the Hawkeyes drew within one point of the Badgers.
No. 15-ranked freshman Trevor Brandvold defeated Iowa's Phillip Keddy 6-2 after recording two escapes and two takedowns which gave Wisconsin a four-point gap heading into the 197 pound bout featuring UW sophomore Dallas Herbst against Iowa's Rick Loera.
Herbst dominated the match, earning a pin fall at 49 seconds to relinquish any idea Iowa had of beating the Badgers for the 43rd straight time.
Wisconsin will head to West Lafayette, Ind. on Feb. 2, and Ann Arbor, Michigan on Feb. 4 to take on the Boilermakers and Wolverines respectively as the Big Ten season continues.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
