Completing a weekend sweep of dual meets, the Wisconsin wrestling team defeated No. 17 Northern Iowa 27-18 Sunday afternoon at the UW Field House. With this weekend’s victories against Northern Iowa Sunday and No. 25 Northern Illinois Saturday night, the Badgers improve their overall record to 4-0 in dual meets.
“We’ve beaten two ranked teams now that are ranked ahead of us, and we got the ball rolling,” Wisconsin head coach Barry Davis said. “The guys can take pride in that, and we’re looking good right now, but we need to keep this going and keep working hard. We’ll continue to work on our skills.”
Down by nine points after two matches, Wisconsin co-captain Ralph DeNisco, ranked sixth in the nation according to InterMat, spurred the Badger lineup into action after pinning No. 14 Jordan Holm at the two-minute mark of the 184-pound contest for a 9-6 team score.
Bringing the Badgers back into the meet, heavyweight Justin Staebler earned a technical fall after scoring 17 unanswered points against Michael Shedak, and Wisconsin jumped to its first lead of the dual with back-to-back falls by the Black brothers.
At 125 pounds, Tony Black pinned UNI’s Chad Davis in 57 seconds to earn six team points for UW, while Kevin Black (133 lbs.) completed his pin of opponent Mark Manchio in 3:17 to help the Badgers jump to a 23-12 lead.
Cementing his spot in the starting lineup, Wisconsin red-shirt freshman Ed Gutnik scored UW’s final win of the day with an 11-1 major decision against UNI’s Jon Garvin at 149 pounds.
For the Panthers, No. 8 Eric Hauan (174 lbs.) pinned UW’s 16th-ranked Brady Reinke in 2:05 early in the meet to lead his teammates.
In the team’s first weekend dual Saturday afternoon, UW defeated No. 25 Northern Illinois 26 -12 at the newly built Convocation Center. Freshman Lee Kraemer, a native of Stoughton, Wis., opened up competition against the Huskies Saturday night in the 197-pound weight class. Down by two points with 25 seconds left after a late takedown by NIU senior James Oliva, Kraemer rallied back to tie the match on a reversal and enter the overtime period.
Oliva earned the win on an overtime takedown for the 9-7 decision and 3-0 NIU team advantage, but Kraemer’s performance on the mat electrified the Badger bench for the remainder of the dual. Wisconsin captured a 4-3 team lead minutes later, courtesy of a 9-0 major decision by UW heavyweight Justin Staebler, and the Badgers began to build their team victory.
Senior Tony Black notched Wisconsin’s only fall of the night at 125 pounds after pinning NIU opponent Jeremy Ryerson in 1:37, while his brother, Kevin Black, posted three points for UW on a 12-5 decision over Sam Hiatt.
At 141 pounds, Wisconsin’s Tyler Laudon collected seven takedowns against NIU’s John O’Malley in a 16-5 major decision, while UW teammates Ed Gutnik, Kelly Flaherty and Brady Reinke secured crucial decision points for the Badgers in the eventual 26-12 victory.
Northern Illinois earned a fall at 157 pounds and tallied the Huskies’ last three team points after No. 9 Ben Heizer defeated UW’s sixth-ranked Ralph DeNisco 8-1 at 184 pounds.
— compiled from staff reports
