The UW wrestling team (4-3 Big Ten, 13-4-1 overall) is no stranger to drama following an exciting weekend on the mats.
The Badgers completed two come-from-behind victories over defending national champion Minnesota and No. 10 Michigan in matches that were sealed only after the final matchup in each meet.
The Badgers started the weekend welcoming Michigan to the Field House on Senior Night, with hopes of bouncing back from two-straight conference losses.
With the adrenaline flowing, UW jumped out to an early 7-0 lead following victories by senior Colin Cudd and junior Zach Tanelli in the 125-pound and 133-pound classes, respectively.
However, the Wolverines cut the Badger lead to one on the heels of back-to-back victories in the 141 and 149-pound classes. In the 157-pound class, Badger senior and No. 5-ranked Craig Henning beat Michigan's Jeff Marsh 6-2 to give UW a 10-6 edge halfway through the duel.
Michigan responded by rreeling off 12-straight match points, including No. 3 ranked Tyrel Todd's pinning of Badger junior Justin Peterson.
The Badgers, now trailing 18-10 with only two matches remaining, needed to record a pin in one of the final matches to give themselves a chance.
No. 8-ranked UW junior Dallas Herbst did just that, pinning Michigan's Anthony Biondo only 1:17 into the match, cutting the Wolverine lead to 18-16.
In the final match, UW junior Kyle Massey dominated Michigan's Chad Bleske 11-0 to complete the dramatic comeback for the Badgers and give them the 20-18 win.
Sunday, the Badgers traveled to Minneapolis where they met No. 4-ranked rival Minnesota. The match started as Minnesota's No. 1 Jayson Ness defeated the Badger's Cudd 8-0 to give the Gophers an early 4-0 lead.
UW fought back by winning the 133-and 141-pound classes to jump ahead 6-4. That lead was short lived, however. Minnesota's No. 3 Dustin Schlatter upended UW freshman Kendall Vogel 13-3 to reclaim the lead at 8-6.
In the 157-pound class, Henning recorded a tech-fall that gave the Badgers five match points, enough to open an 11-8 margin.
The Gophers fought right back by winning each of the next two matches to put the Badgers in a bind once again, trailing 17-11 with only two matches remaining.
In the 197-pound class, UW's Herbst once again pinned his opponent just over a minute into the match to tie the score and set the stage for his teammate Massey to complete the come-from-behind win for the second time in three days.
The heavyweight match once again went in Massey's favor as he recorded a 6-2 decision which made the final score 20-17 UW.
The Badgers will complete their regular season when they take on Northwestern Friday night at the Field House.
- uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
