Despite finishing eighth in the Big Ten this season, the Wisconsin wrestling team stepped it up in the 2011 Big Ten Championships, scoring 103.5 points and finishing fourth.
The Badgers had three wrestlers reach the finals and came back to Madison with two Big Ten Champions, including junior Andrew Howe (165 lbs.) and redshirt senior Trevor Brandvold (197 lbs.). Both performances were repeat champions.
Penn State won the overall title, scoring 139 points, edging out Big Ten regular season champion Iowa by just one point. Minnesota rounded out the top three, scoring 109.5 points.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Graff (133 lbs.) also made the finals but lost to Penn State's Andrew Long, 7-4, to finish second. Graff was ahead 3-2 with two seconds to go, but Long was awarded a point when Graff fled the mat before the match was over. Long then won the game in overtime with a takedown and two nearfall points.
Howe took on Ohio State's Colt Sponseller in the 165 lbs. final, which came down to overtime. Each wrestler earned an escape in regulation, but Howe notched a takedown with six seconds left in overtime to defeat his opponent 3-1. Howe is the first Badger to win three Big Ten titles since former wrestler and current Wisconsin associate head coach, Donny Pritzlaff, won three-straight titles from 1999-'01.
Brandvold defeated Iowa's Luke Lofthouse in the 197 lbs. final, 5-2. Brandvold is the only Badger 197 pounder to win the Big Ten title, of which he now has two. With Brandvold's run through the tournament, he remains undefeated in his injury-shortened season.
The Badgers automatically qualified seven different wrestlers for the NCAA Championships, including Graff, redshirt sophomore Cole Schmitt (149 lbs.), Howe, redshirt sophomore Ben Jordan (174 lbs.), junior Travis Rutt (184 lbs.), Brandvold and redshirt senior Eric Bugenhagen (Heavyweight).
Rutt placed third at Big Ten Tournament at 184 lbs. Rutt defeated Iowa's Grant Gambrall with a pin at 4:19 in the semifinals, then went on to shut out Ohio State's C.J. Magrum, 6-0.
Bugenhagen also took the third-place title at heavyweight. In the semifinals, Bugenhagen upset Penn State's Cameron Wade, 4-3, to advance to the third-place match. He then defeated Michigan State's Joe Rizqallah, 6-1.
Jordan lost his first match on Sunday to Purdue's Luke Manuel in a match that decided in the first tiebreaker. Manuel defeated Jordan, 4-3, which put Jordan in the fifth-place match. Jordan then lost to Minnesota's Scott Glasser, 6-1, earning him a sixth-place finish at 174 lbs.
The Badgers now turn their attention to the NCAA Division 1 Championships, which will be held March 17-19 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
