The UW wrestlers were back on the mats this past weekend, upending Purdue 27-12 and defeating No. 21 Michigan to improve their record to 18-1 (4-1 Big Ten).
The Badgers put themselves in an early hole against Purdue after junior Collin Cudd dropped his match in the 125-lb. weight class. However, No. 14 ranked sophomore Zach Tanelli put Bucky back on track notching a take down in the 133-lb. weight class.
UW found itself leading the match 6-3 when UW freshmen Kyle Ruschell got tangled in a back-and-forth affair before Ruschell pulled away late to extend the Badger lead.
Although down, Purdue pulled a major upset in the 149-lb. weight class as UW senior Tyler Turner was defeated in the first period, allowing the Boilermakers to tie the overall score at nine apiece.
In the 157-lb. weight class, UW regained the lead after junior Craig Henning continued his impressive season after defeating Purdue's Jake Murphy 7-3 to push the Badger lead back up to three.
Once again Purdue fought back and tied the match at 12 but that was the last time they would add points to the scoreboard.
In the 197-lb. weight class, UW sophomore Dallas Herbst dominated what was supposed to be a highly competitive match 7-2. In the heavyweight division, UW sophomore Kyle Massey finished up his match in only 1:59, pushing the lead out of reach for the Boilermakers.
The Badgers fell behind early once again Sunday, losing the first seven points to the Wolverines. But they stormed back after Herbst pinned Michigan's Casey White to pull within one. Wisconsin then reeled off four straight victories to leave the Wolverines in the dust.
With only three matches to go before the Big Ten tournament, the Badgers look to keep their momentum strong. Wisconsin takes the mats in front of the Badger faithful next Sunday against Illinois.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
