The No. 13 Wisconsin wrestling team (1-1 Big Ten, 10-2-1 overall) worked out of an early 6-0 deficit to defeat No. 17 Indiana, 20-15, in Bloomington, Ind., thus recording its first Big Ten win of the season.
The duel started off in the 157 pounds class where UW's No. 2 ranked Craig Henning met IU's No. 9 Brandon Becker for the fifth time in his career.
Just as the previous four meetings concluded, Henning was on the short end of a 2-0 match that snapped his 10-match winning streak and allowing the Hoosiers to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.
Indiana was quick to increase that lead when UW senior Jake Donar lost shortly after his valiant comeback to tie the match in the third period. IU's No. 9 Matt Coughlin recorded two takedowns to win the 165 pounds class and give Indiana a 6-0 match lead.
The 174 pounds match featuring UW senior Dan Clum and IU's Trevor Perry was the Badgers first win of the duel. Clum, who usually competes in the 165 pounds class, was too much for Perry as he dismantled him en route to a decisive 11-4 victory.
Trailing 6-3 in the match, sophomore Trevor Brandvold was unable to close the gap and fell 9-3 to IU's Marc Bennett. Following that match UW junior Dallas Herbst, ranked No. 4 in the 197 pounds class, dominated Hoosier Joe Fagiano 21-4 in his match to trim the Hoosiers' lead to 9-8.
With momentum on its side, UW finally took the lead when No. 14 ranked junior Kyle Massey pinned IU's Nathan Everhart in the third period to earn six crucial points for his team.
With the Badgers now leading 14-9, Indiana climbed back into the match as senior Collin Cudd fell to last year's national runner-up in Indiana's Angel Escobedo in the 125 pounds match by way of a 9-2 decision that closed the Badger's lead to 14-12.
However, No. 12 UW junior Zach Tanelli got his team back on track after upsetting Indiana's All-American and No. 10 ranked Andrae Hernandez, 5-2, to give the Badgers a 17-12 edge heading into the final two matches.
Needing only one more match victory to seal the win, UW looked forward to No. 8 ranked sophomore Kyle Ruschell's match at 141 pounds A low-scoring affair ensued, but eventually Ruschell was able to beat IU's Scott Kelly 2-0 to give the Badgers their first conference victory.
Indiana's Kurt Kinser defeated UW freshman Kendall Vogel in the final match of the duel, 5-0, to make the final score 20-15 in UW's favor.
After a long hiatus, the Badgers will return home to the Field House this weekend as they welcome Michigan State Friday evening, and Iowa, the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Sunday afternoon.
