The No. 12 Wisconsin men's wrestling team entered their dual meet with the No. 18 Michigan State Spartans with a 0-3 record in conference matches while holding a 7-3-1 overall record. Despite the conference numbers, the team has had plenty of success this season. Wisconsin benefits from the fact that the Big Ten holds a large constituency of top-20 national rankings-in fact, Big Ten teams account for nine of the top-20 spots in the country.
Wisconsin missed an opportunity to move up in those national rankings, however, when the dual meet versus Michigan State ended in a 16-16 tie in the UW Field House. The tie changes the Badgers' record to 0-3-1, 7-3-2 while Michigan State moves to 3-0-1, 6-2-1.
\I give credit to Michigan State because they came out to wrestle,"" head coach Barry Davis said. ""Will I take a tie, yes, but we got to step up. Not all of our guys are stepping up at the same time and right now we need to do that.""
Winners for the Badgers were junior Tom Clum, senior Tyler Laudon, sophomore Tyler Turner, freshman Jake Donar and senior Brady Reinke.
Junior Tom Clum, wrestling at 133 lbs., crushed Michigan State's Ryan Froese 19-8. It was Clum's third major decision victory so far this season. Clum tallied seven takedowns, three nearfall points, one escape and 3:04 minutes of riding time in the match-all told, a very solid win.
Senior Tyler Laudon had a large task ahead of him, facing the No. 3 wrestler in the nation, Andy Simmons. Laudon was unable to defeat Simmons in quite the same fashion but still managed to nab a victory in an overtime match against the highly-skilled Simmons by a score of 5-4.
Sophomore Tyler Turner, wrestling at 157 lbs., defeated Matt McCarty in a 9-3 match and improved his solid overall record to 18-5. Turner earned two escapes, one takedown and three penalty points to seal the victory.
The Badgers' next meet will be Friday against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
-uwbadgers.com contributed to this report
