Wisconsin seniors Justin Staebler and Tony Black earned two wins Sunday afternoon for the No. 20 ranked Badger wrestling team, but Wisconsin could not hold off No. 8 Illinois in a 29-7 loss at the UW Field House. The Badgers pushed the Illini into two overtime matches with four matches lost by two points or less.
\We lost four close matches,"" UW Head Coach Barry Davis said.
""During this time of the year, we've got to win those matches. We've got to put our guys in more situations where they are down by a point or up by a point and they've got to score to win. We had opportunities. We just didn't close the door on them.""
The meet started with the 149-pound match pitting Wisconsin's sophomore Ed Gutnik against Illinois' Tony Pedrosa. Gutnik rallied back from a five-point deficit in the third period with two takedowns against Pedrosa. However, the Illinois wrestler rode time out in the period to earn a 10-8 decision over Gutnik for a 3-0 Illinois team lead.
Wisconsin lost the next four matches as Illinois built a 20-0 lead before the Badgers jumped back on the offensive. One weight class up from his usual 184 pounds, Badger team co-captain and senior Ralph DeNisco held a 3-2 advantage against Illinois' Tyrone Byrd looking for a close out in the final moments of the third period. However, Byrd posted a last-second takedown to earn the nail-biter 4-3 decision and the 23-0 Illini lead.
Now 9-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten Conference, Wisconsin will finish its dual season with three more home meets. The Badgers take on Purdue next Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
Wisconsin had its lowest offensive output of the season and lost to No. 25 Ohio State 63-40 in Columbus, Ohio Sunday afternoon. The Badgers drop (4-7 Big Ten, 6-16 overall) and Ohio State improves to 17-5 and remains in third place in the Big Ten with an 8-3 record.
Wisconsin started off with good defense and strong inside play, however, taking an 11-6 lead after four minutes of action. OSU responded emphatically with a 20-2 run over the next eight minutes to take control of the game 26-13 with 8:10 showing on the clock. The Buckeyes, capitalizing on seven Badger miscues, scored 16 unanswered points during the surge.
Freshman forward Jordan Wilson broke a six-minute scoring lull for the Badgers with an offensive rebound and put-back at the 7:15 mark, but that was one of only two field goals the Badgers tallied over the final 13 minutes of the opening stanza. Ohio State took a comfortable 32-17 lead into the locker room.
OSU extended its lead to 20 points, 40-20, early in the second half, but the scrappy Badgers responded with an 11-0 run to claw back to within nine points, 40-31 with 13:22 left to play. UW's zone defense bothered the Buckeyes, who managed only two baskets over that first seven minutes of the final frame.
Junior center Emily Ashbaugh was the only Badger in double figures with 11 points to go along with six rebounds, while senior forward Kristi Seeger contributed nine points and six rebounds. Wilson came off of the bench to grab a career-high six rebounds.
Led by a 1-2-3 sweep in the 600 meters, the Wisconsin men's track and field team won three events at the Illini Classic.
Freshman Joe Detmer ran a personal best of 1:19.80 in the 600 to edge teammates Dan Murray, who finished second in 1:19.99, and Ryan Ridge, who finished third in 1:20.52. Dustin Rabine finished sixth in 1:21.42 while Scott Hogseth was seventh in 1:21.71.
Sophomore Jvontai Hanserd won the 200 meters in 21.88 and took second in the 400 meters in a season-best 48.39. UW faces Iowa State next.
