"Honestly, we didn't wrestle like we can today," Wisconsin assistant coach Trevor Brandvold said. "It is always good to get a Big Ten Conference win but we let a lot of matches go. We had a lot of little mistakes that we are going to correct over the next two weeks."
The Badgers took a slow start in the dual after Jesse Thielke dropped a 7-5 decision to Purdue's Nick Lawrence giving the Boilermakers an early 3-0 advantage. Rylan Lubeck set the Badgers back on the right track after defeating Brandon Nelsen with a 10-8 decision.
Lubeck logged three total takedowns and two nearfall points.
Freshman Seth Liegel made his return to the mat against Doug Welch at 157 lbs. After going scoreless in the first period, Welch took the upper hand by getting a reversal to go up 2-0 with 20 seconds left in the second period. Welch struck early with a takedown at the start of the third period and finished winning 4-0.
No. 3 Isaac Jordan met up with PU's Pat Robinson at 165 lbs. Jordan wasted no time getting started and easily took down Robinson in the first 15 seconds of the match. In the first period, he collected three more nearfall points and 2:44 riding time to lead 5-0.
Jordan chose to start on bottom in the second period and swiftly escaped to give him a 6-0 advantage. He quickly followed by earning another takedown and three more nearfall points to end the second period ahead 11-0. One more takedown and three more back points sealed the deal for the All-American who walked away with a 16-0 triumph.
No. 18 Frank Cousins was upset by Chad Welch in a 3-2 decision that gave Purdue the lead over Wisconsin once again, 9-8.
At 184 lbs., freshman Ricky Robertson defeated Patrick Kissel with a close 6-5 decision. Robertson took down Kissel right at the start of the first period but Kissel immediately escaped. Robertson knocked up 32 seconds of riding time to end the first period with him as the front-runner, 2-1.
Robertson clinched another takedown at the start of the second period but Kissel answered with a reversal. Robertson retaliated with a reversal of his own and Kissel escaped with nine seconds left in the second period. Kissel trailed Robertson 6-4 headed into the third period.
At the 1:50 mark, Kissel managed another escape but it wasn't enough as Robertson walked away with the 6-5 victory.
No. 10 Timmy McCall tallied a 7-1 decision over No. 8 Braden Atwood, while No. 5 Connor Medbery posted a 17-5 major decision over Purdue's Tyler Kral.
In his first dual match of the season, Matthew Cavallaris lost by tech fall to 125-pounder Luke Welch, 18-13.
No. 14 Ryan Taylor finished the day for Wisconsin in dramatic fashion with an 18-6 major decision against Danny Sabatello.
"I felt like I was a little slow today," Taylor added. "I was a little sluggish. He was a different style wrestler. Some things I need to work on are my shots."
Taylor came out aggressive in the third period after ending the second period with a 10-4 advantage. Taylor compiled two takedowns and three nearfall points to secure an 18-6 major decision and cap the 22-13 win for Wisconsin.
"Just keep the pace up," Taylor said. "That's how I like to wrestle all of my matches. When you keep the pace up, good things happen."
Wisconsin takes a short break and will be back in action in a weekend series against Michigan on Jan. 23 and Michigan State on Jan. 25.
"That's the great news. We have two weeks to train before our next competition," Brandvold said. "We will work on the little things but like I said, it is great to a win. The guys wrestled hard for the most part and we did enough to win the dual."
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