The UW wrestling team (18-2 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) dropped its second conference match Sunday when they lost to No. 9 ranked Illinois 21-16 at the Field House.
Coming into the match the Badgers held the No. 6 ranking in the country which was UW's highest ranking in five years. It was not enough, however, as Bucky fell short in front of a record crowd of 2,200 people.
The match could not have started better for UW as sophomore Kyle Massey dominated Illinois's John Wise in the first period, giving the Badgers an early 6-0 lead.
UW's lead would not last for long, however, as Illinois reversed the momentum and captured each of the next three matches in the 125, 133, and 141-lb. weight classes respectively, including U-of-I's sixth-ranked Gabe Flores's five-point tech fall over UW junior Collin Cudd to give Illinois a 12-6 lead.
UW junior Craig Henning extended his individual winning streak to 12 matches in the 157-lb. weight class by defeating Fighting Illini wrestler Clint Arlis 11-0. Henning's victory compounded with senior Tyler Turner's victory in the 149-lb. weight class gave the Badgers the edge at 13-12.
However, Illinois was able to take control of the match with a victory in the 165-lb. weight class featuring UW junior Jake Donar and Illinois grappler Roger Smith-Bergsrud. After two scoreless periods Smith-Bergsrud and Donar each scored two points in the third period to force sudden-death overtime where Smith-Bergsrud notched a takedown, winning the match for the Fighting Illini 4-2.
UW rallied back to win the next match in the 174-lb. weight class, but that was the last time UW would see itself adding points to the scoreboard.
While the Badgers did have one last chance to claim victory, UW sophomore Dallas Herbst came up short in the 197-lb. weight class allowing Illinois to win the meet 21-16.
The Badgers will welcome No. 1 Minnesota next Friday evening, followed up by No. 22 Indiana next Sunday afternoon.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
