“We didn’t wrestle our best, but we won. It’s a win in the win column, but there are still things to work on. We need to get better and make some adjustments and get ready for Sunday,” Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Davis said. “Sunday there will probably be a few changes to the lineup. That’s what you have to do though, you have to keep guys on their toes.”
The action started with No. 9 senior Timmy McCall at 197 lbs. McCall notched two takedowns and riding time during the match, but Rutgers’ Hayden Hrymack made a takedown with two seconds left in the third period to make a 6-5 decision.
No. 3 Connor Medbery faced No. 14 Billy Smith in a low scoring match. Medbery made a takedown for the only points of the first period before Smith made an escape for his sole point in the second period. A Medbery escape halfway through third as well as riding time left Wisconsin tied at 3-3.
Back down at 125 lbs., freshman Johnny Jimenez and Sean McCabe both earned one point for escapes. McCabe took the decision with 1:27 riding time.
Wisconsin’s 133 lbs. wrestler, No. 9 Ryan Taylor met No. 18 Scott DelVecchio in a high intensity match. Taylor rallied eight points by the end of the first period with three takedowns and a near fall. With two more takedowns and near falls in the remainder of the match, Taylor marked a 17-3 major decision and brought the Badgers to a 7-6 lead over Rutgers.
Jesse Thielke was defeated in an 11-2 major decision by Rutgers’ No. 9 Anthony Ashnault. The result of Rylan Lubeck and No. 17 Ken Theobold’s match was an 8-0 major decision in Theobold’s favor. Jarod Donar also fell in a 12-4 match delivered by Anthony Perotti, leaving Wisconsin with an 18-7 deficit.
With only three matches left in the dual, it was time for No. 3 All-American Isaac Jordan. Jordan made two takedowns and two near falls in the first two periods for a 9-1 lead over Nick Visicaro. With an escape and an impeccable four takedowns, the last being with three seconds left, in the third period and seven minutes riding time, Jordan got Wisconsin’s only technical fall of the night and brought the Badgers within six points of Rutgers.
“I give Isaac Jordan a lot of credit. He took Visicaro down in three seconds and that’s pretty much the dual right there.” Davis said.
Senior Frank Cousins was up next at 174 lbs. There was no scoring in the first period and only an escape by Phil Bakuckas in the second period. With a tied match six points away, Cousins had to make a move. He marked an escape as well as a takedown to win by decision and move the Badgers within three points of the Scarlet Knights.
“Frank Cousins, a senior, had a big match and came through and got the job done. Then Ricky finished it off,” Davis continued.
Last but not least was redshirt freshman Ricky Robertson who ended the first two periods up 2-0. Robertson worked quickly to make two escapes and two takedowns in the third period to lead 8-3. With one point for riding time added, Robertson finished with a 9-3 decision and left the dual tied at 18-18.
“First of all, I knew that we had to get the win and then I was looking to try and get bonus points or at least a major where I knew we’d seal it no matter what. I didn’t really want it to come down to criteria. It was a good thing that Isaac (Jordan) ended up getting that tech at the end of his match, which obviously helped him. Then Frank (Cousins) at 174 getting that win, so I had a chance to win a dual for us. I was just grateful for the way those two wrestled and allowed me to have a chance to win this dual,” Robertson said. '“Some guys wrestled well, others lost close ones. The main goal is March, so just getting better from here on out and just going back and assessing some things we need to work on and we’ll move on from there. The good thing is that we got the W.”
Wisconsin travels to Illinois on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The dual is being live streamed on BTN2Go.
Results:
197: Hayden Hrymack (RU) dec. over No. 9/10/10/10 Timmy McCall (UW), 6-5; Rutgers leads, 3-0
285: No. 3/2/2/4 Connor Medbery (UW) dec. over No. 14/18/20/11 Billy Smith (RU), 4-1; Match tied, 3-3
125: Sean McCabe (RU) dec. over Johnny Jimenez (UW), 2-1; Rutgers leads, 6-3
133: No. 9/7/7/13 Ryan Taylor (UW) major dec. over No. 18/16/NR/17 Scott DelVecchio (RU), 17-3; Wisconsin leads, 7-6
141: No. 9/7/12/9 Anthony Ashnault (RU) major dec. over Jesse Thielke (UW), 11-2; Rutgers leads, 10-7
149: No. 17/16/17/20 Ken Theobold (RU) major dec. over Rylan Lubeck (UW), 8-0; Rutgers leads, 14-7
157: No. 16/16/14/18 Anthony Perrotti (RU) major dec. over Jarod Donor (UW), 12-4; Rutgers leads, 18-7
165: No. 3/3/3/4 Isaac Jordan (UW) tech fall over Nick Visicaro (RU), 19-4; Rutgers leads, 18-12
174: No. NR/NR/NR/20 Frank Cousins (UW) dec. over No. NR/16/NR/NR Phil Bakuckas (RU), 3-2; Rutgers leads, 18-15
184: No. NR/19/14/19 Ricky Robertson (UW) dec. over Anthony Pafumi (RU), 9-3; Match tied, 18-18
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now