The Wisconsin Badgers (3-2 Big Ten, 6-2 overall) wrestling team hosted the Indiana (0-5, 6-6) Friday night, and found themselves in a dog fight early as they trailed 12-3 after three matches, which included two pins by the Hoosiers. The Badgers though, did not appear worried as they clawed back into the contest and eventually prevailed to win their second consecutive conference match, 24-19.
After an early deficit, UW remained calm and won its next three matches, including a phenomenal, and thrilling match by No. 5 redshirt freshman Evan Wick.
Although Wick never trailed in the match, his opponent managed to get eight points, all off of escapes, which added to the excitement. In the end, Wick won 23-8 on a technical fall to help the Badgers go up 17-12 before No. 19 Devin Skatzka of Indiana won by major decision to pull Indiana within one at 17-16.
Redshirt senior No. 9 Ricky Robertson did his part for Wisconsin, dominating from start to finish and never trailing, as he won by major decision, to put UW up 21-16 with two matches remaining in the contest.
The teams then split their final two matches, with the final tally coming in at 24-19 Badgers.
Wisconsin showed its toughness and resilience Friday night as from start to finish it looked focused on knocking off lowly Indiana. Even at the end of the contest, with a meaningless match taking place, the Badgers remained focused, encouraging and coaching their teammate redshirt sophomore Hunter Ritter to finish out the day.
Currently No. 21, the Badgers can use this win to give themselves some momentum heading towards the home stretch of their season, with all but one of their remaining four meets coming at home.
The Badgers had all three of their ranked wrestlers win — redshirt senior Andrew Crone, Wick and Robertson — and the team improved to 6-2 overall, and 3-2 in conference play.
The Badgers will now have a little bit of time off before they host Nebraska at home on the 9th of February.
