The Wisconsin wrestling team was six points away from blanking the Northwestern Wildcats in one of its strongest showings of the season. Wisconsin came out firing, taking the first four matches before heavyweight Jarreck Horton lost his match in overtime. The win improves the Badgers to 17-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten.

Junior Chad Steldt got things going for Wisconsin with a second-period headthrow that put him up 7-1 over Northwestern’s Nick Hayes. Hayes battled back in the third period, but it wasn’t enough, as Steldt came away with a narrow 7-5 victory. The victory was Steldt’s first Big Ten dual win of the year.

After the 165-pound match, senior tri-captain Ralph Denisco dominated Nolan Walther 13-3 in the 174-pound bout. Denisco was able to ride out Walther for more than half the match while controlling the tempo from start to finish. The victory left Denisco’s Big Ten dual record above .500 at 4-3.

The domination continued at 184 pounds when Brady Reinke picked up his fifth Big Ten dual victory of the season with a crushing 19-6 victory over Joseph Gulotta. After splitting time early in the season with Lee Kraemer, Reinke has been on fire, winning five of his last six Big Ten duals and carving out a 15-4 overall record.

Wisconsin took a 13-0 lead into the heavyweight match. Senior Jarreck Horton was out looking for his first Big Ten dual victory of the season. Horton and Northwestern’s Michael Little fought to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. In the first period of overtime, Horton slipped while shooting a takedown, allowing Little to scoot around for the victory.

At 125 pounds, Wisconsin’s Tom Clum finally got a break, receiving a forfeit and finishing the Big Ten season with a team-best record of 6-1. Clum will be one of the favorites to win the Big Ten championships with his only loss coming to Luke Eustice of Iowa in overtime — a match in which Clum was up 5-1 in the third period.

At 141 pounds, Tyler Laudon continued torching Big Ten competition, winning his fourth conference match in his last five dual meets. It wasn’t easy for Laudon, as he had to fight his way from behind to inch out a 10-8 victory.

Wisconsin dropped its second match of the night at 149 pounds. Tony Turner kept the match close for two periods before surrendering a takedown and giving up riding time in the third period.

As a whole, the match was a good sign for Barry Davis’ Badgers. Wisconsin arguably wrestled its best dual of the year and will look to use that momentum heading into the Big Ten Championships March 6 and 7.

“I think the guys did well and we did a good job,” Davis said. “I told the guys to be ready for the dual meet, knowing Northwestern was going to come out and fight hard. We almost swept, but we won eight out of 10 matches. I told the guys this was their last Big Ten dual meet and we’ve got a chance to get back to .500.”

Davis continued saying the win was critical in seeding matters for his team.

“We’re setting ourselves up for seeds now in the Big Ten Championships, and we should have at least eight guys seeded out of 10 in the Big Ten tournament, which has never happened before. This shows the work we’re doing, and things are paying off for us and it’s been a good year for us so far,” Davis said.