The Wisconsin wrestling team had a busy weekend at the Field House, as they came away with a split in Big Ten dual action.
After winning six bouts in a 26-12 dual win over Michigan State Friday night, the Badgers welcomed top-ranked Iowa Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 2,534. Despite taking five bouts from the nation’s best team, Wisconsin fell short in a 22-20 dual loss.
?We?re right in there,? junior heavyweight Kyle Massey said. ?This is the No. 1 team in the country and we lose by two points, and we?ve got a couple of guys sitting out with injuries. We know we?re right there.?
Massey?s match Sunday was the featured event. After nine matches, the Badgers trailed 22-17 heading into the final bout at heavyweight. Massey, ranked 10th in this week’s USA Today/InterMat/WCA rankings, squared off with sixth-ranked Matt Fields of Iowa.
After taking an early 2-1 lead after the first period, Massey extended it to a 5-2 lead heading into the third and final period. Knowing that a pin would give the Badgers the dual victory, and the upset, Massey worked relentlessly, attempting to get Fields in a position where Massey would have the upper hand. Fields earned an escape and a take-down of his own to tie the match at 5-5. Massey would not quit, however, as he scored an escape with less than 20 seconds remaining and rode out the clock to give himself the 6-5 decision.
?At the point we were at I was thinking just to get the win,? Massey said. ?If I had an opportunity out there, I would have, of course, gone for [the pin]. But the opportunity never came so I just went out there and got the win.?
Wisconsin picked up wins at 141, 157, 165, 197 and heavyweight Sunday, but gave up key losses at 149 and 184 pounds, giving up key bonus points.
Those bonus points made the difference Sunday.
?We had out chances in the first two matches,? UW head coach Barry Davis said. ?I think our guys competed hard, they came ready to compete. But we just gave up too many bonus points.?
The Badgers entered Sunday?s match after defeating the Spartans Friday night at the Field House. Wisconsin picked up wins at 174 pounds with a Danny Clum pin, 197 with a Dallas Herbst decision, heavyweight with a Massey major decision, 125 with a Collin Cud decision, 141 with a Kyle Ruschell pin and 157 with a Craig Henning major decision.
After losing Friday night in a 3-1 decision at 165 pounds, fifth-year senior Jake Donar came out Sunday looking to rebound. Donar, opening up the second half of Sunday?s dual with Aaron Janssen, was given a bit of luck with his opponent. Iowa’s Mark Perry, currently the top-ranked wrestler in the 165-pound weight class, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last week and will miss the next 2-3 weeks.
Donar took full advantage of the situation, taking a quick 7-1 lead after the first period and never looking back in a 13-1 major decision. The victory brought UW within one point in the team score.
?The thing I told Jake is this ? he?s letting himself down, he?s letting his team down,? Davis said. ?I said ?Jake you?ve got to compete.? He wasn?t competing. He came out with a different mindset and competed. When he competes, he?s up there with anybody in that weight class. Today, he did a good job, he competed for his team, and it was good to see.?
After the weekend, the Badgers are sitting on an 11-3-1 overall record and 2-2-0 in the Big Ten to put them in fourth place in the conference. With four duals left, Davis knows that his team can use Sunday?s loss as a turning point for the rest of the year.
?I told them today, we had a chance to beat the No. 1 ranked team in the country,? Davis said. ?The program is that close. Continue to do the little things right, the right mindset, eat right, sleep right, keep working, we?re going to get some great results in March.?
