Badgers rebound, take down No. 14 Illinois

[TomM]

Badgers rebound, take down No. 14 Illinois

Martin gets a fall, Christensen gets a major decision in 19-16 victory

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.-After falling to Nebraska at home just two days earlier, the No. 20 Wisconsin wrestling team rebounded, with a win against No. 14 Illinois on Sunday. The dual was tight throughout, with UW's lead never surpassing six points.

"Today we won the close matches," Head Coach Barry Davis said. "On Friday against Nebraska we weren't able to do that, but today we came out and battled with a chip on our shoulder and that helped us get the victory. It was overall a hard fought win. Now we have the upcoming week to prepare and make adjustments for Rutgers and Purdue, then it's tournament time."

Coming off of a win over eighth-ranked Tyler Berger of Nebraska, No. 19 Andrew Crone kept his hot streak going on Sunday against No. 20 Kyle Langenderfer. Crone defeated his opponent with a takedown and four near-fall points in sudden victory, 8-2 at 157 pounds. With that win, the Delafield, Wisconsin native improved to 22-7 on the season and is 8-0 in dual action.

The Badgers won two matches that involved bonus points, with the first coming at the 149-pound weight class when Cole Martin caught Eric Barone in the third period and got the pin, which was pivotal in the squad taking the team win.

The other bonus point victory came from junior Ryan Christensen, who recorded five takedowns and a four point near-fall in a 17-4 major decision over David Riojas at 174 pounds.

Hunter Ritter defeated Andre Lee at 197 pounds in a very tight battle, as Ritter scored a late takedown in the third and fended off Lee to take his 20th victory of the season. Ritter is now 7-0 in Big Ten dual action and 8-1 in overall dual competitions.

Johnny Jimenez got back on track with a big win, kicking off the dual against Illinois with a nail-biting 1-0 decision victory over No. 18 Travis Piotrowski.


125 Johnny Jimenez (Wisconsin) over Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) (Dec 1-0) 
133 Dylan Duncan (Illinois) over Jens Lantz (Wisconsin) (Dec 5-2)
141 Michael Carr (Illinois) over Eli Stickley (Wisconsin) (Dec 10-4)
149 Cole Martin (Wisconsin) over Eric Barone (Illinois) (Fall 5:16)
157 Andrew Crone (Wisconsin) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) (SV-1 8-2)
165 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Evan Wick (Wisconsin) (MD 14-6)
174 Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) over David Riojas (Illinois) (MD 17-4)
184 Emory Parker (Illinois) over Ricky Robertson (Wisconsin) (Dec 9-4)
197 Hunter Ritter (Wisconsin) over Andre Lee (Illinois) (Dec 3-2)
285 Deuce Rachal (Illinois) over Ben Stone (Wisconsin) (Dec 7-5)

Notes to know
No. 6 Evan Wick dropped another tough match at 165 pounds, suffering a 14-6 major decision against two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez, who ranks No. 2 in the country.
No. 9 Ricky Robertson was in a battle against No. 6 Emery Parker, but fell in the end in a 9-4 decision at 184 pounds.
Eli Stickley dropped his match against No. 12 Michael Carr by a 10-4 decision at the 141-pound weight class.
Jens Lantz was defeated at 133 pounds to Illinois' Dylan Duncan, 5-2.
Ben Stone fell to Deuce Rachal by a 7-5 decision.