
Another weekend, another ranked win for Chris Bono’s squad.
Coming off a monster weekend at the Field House, where the Badgers beat No. 12 Northwestern and No. 16 Rutgers, Wisconsin (7-0 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) knew there was no time to celebrate because they had to travel across the border to take on archrival Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers (3-3 overall, 2-2 Big Ten), who entered Sunday’s dual ranked No. 14 in the nation and coming off a big win on Friday night over the No. 15 Nebraska Cornhuskers, couldn’t hang with the Badgers, and Wisconsin won the dual 21-15. As noted in the below tweet, the Badgers hadn’t beaten the Gophers in a decade!
What a TEAM WIN for the Badgers!
FINAL SCORE: Wisconsin 21, Minnesota 15
Wisconsin defeats Minnesota for the first time since 2010-2011 season! #BorderBattle pic.twitter.com/rr7ESPQPWL
— Wisconsin Wrestling (@BadgerWrestling) January 16, 2022
UW came out of the gates hot, scoring wins at 125 and 133 with Eric Barnett upsetting No. 8 Patrick McKee in the first match. No. 33 Garrett Model at 157 notched the biggest upset of the afternoon, taking it to No. 4 Brayton Lee and winning a decision, 10-5. Heading into intermission, the Badgers were up 12-3 and cruising right along.
Fabulous freshman Dean Hamiti came out and pinned Cael Carlson after the break to give Wisconsin an 18-3 lead. Hamiti is now 14-0 this season and has six wins in dual matches. Fellow freshman Braxton Amos clinched the win for the team with a decision over Michial Foy at 197. Minnesota heavyweight Gable Steveson, Olympic gold medalist and reigning NCAA champion, dominated No. 8 Trent Hillger to make the final score 21-15, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Wisconsin will host No. 15 Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House (streamed live on BTN+) and then travels to No. 12 Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 3 p.m. CT. The Badgers’ match at the Boilermakers will air on Big Ten Network, giving many of us our first chance to see the team compete live.
RESULTS
No. 10 Wisconsin 21, No. 14 Minnesota 15 – Minneapolis, Minn.
125: No. 13 Eric Barnett (WIS) def. No. 8 Patrick McKee, Dec. 8-5; 3-0
133: No. 27 Kyle Burwick (WIS) def. No. 24 Jake Gliva, Dec. 6-4; 6-0
141: No. 17 Jake Bergeland def. No. 33 Joseph Zargo (WIS), Dec. 6-3; 6-3
149: No. 10 Austin Gomez (WIS) def. No. 24 Michael Blockhus, Dec. 10-6; 9-3
157: No. 33 Garrett Model (WIS) def. No. 4 Brayton Lee, Dec. 10-5; 12-3
165: No. 8 Dean Hamiti (WIS) def. Cael Carlson, Fall 1:11; 18-3
174: No. 23 Bailee O’Reilly def. No. 17 Andrew McNally (WIS), Major Dec. 11-2; 18-7
184: No. 28 Isaiah Salazar def. No. 33 Chris Weiler (WIS), Major Dec. 13-5; 18-11
197: No. 24 Braxton Amos (WIS) def. No. 30 Michial Foy, Dec. 6-4; 21-11
285: No. 1 Gable Steveson def. No. 8 Trent Hillger (WIS), Major Dec. 23-9; 21-15
Team rankings are NWCA Jan. 10, 2022; Individual rankings are Intermat Jan. 10, 2022