The No. 19 Wisconsin men's wrestling team came up just short in several key matches in Friday night's dual meet against No. 6 Iowa at the Wisconsin Field House. The Badgers took only 2 of 11 matches, losing by a final score of 24-7. With the loss, the Badgers fell to 6-3 overall and 1-1 Big Ten) while the Hawkeyes improved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
In the Badgers' case, the final score does not tell the whole story as five of those losses were close decisions decided by four points or less. The highly anticipated match up between No. 5 Badger junior captain Tyler Turner and No. 1 Hawkeye senior Ty Eustice at 149 lbs. was the tightest of all, with Turner coming up just short in the waning seconds of the third period in a 3-2 loss. Turner's match with Eustice was symbolic of the meet as a whole for the Badgers and the frustration many Badger wrestlers felt afterwards.
'[Ty Eustice] is a very good wrestler, but I'm right there with him,' Turner said. 'We have so many guys that are near the top in the nation. As a team, we're a great team. We just didn't get the job done.'
Highlights for the Badgers included No. 9 Badger sophomore Craig Henning upsetting No. 5 senior Joe Johnston, 7-2, at 157 lbs. and fifth-ranked senior captain Tom Clum scoring the only major decision of the night, 12-4, against Iowa freshman Daniel Dennis at 133 lbs.
Despite the very good performance, Clum was vocal after the meet about his frustration with the team's showing against the Hawkeyes.
'I'm not disappointed in my team mates,' Clum said. 'But I am pretty damn disappointed because there were so many close matches and we're so close, and it sucks.'
Despite the obvious frustration, Wisconsin head coach Barry Davis knows that his squad is resilient and determined to finally turn the corner.
'We're there; we just got to get over the top. The way you do that is just do the little extras after practice away from the mat,' Davis said. 'They understand, they know they have to pay the price; it's all I can ask.'
The Badgers are eager to put the loss behind them and to begin training again for the rest of the young Big Ten season and tournament time in March.
'Right now [this loss] is not what really matters,' Davis said. 'The Big Ten season and Big Ten Tournament time is what really matters. [This loss] is a great starting point.'
