Badger Wrestlers Fall To Fighting Illini, 29-7
February 09, 2003 | Wrestling
Wisconsin seniors Justin Staebler and Tony Black earned two wins Sunday afternoon for the No. 20 Badger wrestling team, but Wisconsin could not hold off No. 8 Illinois in a 29-7 loss at the UW Field House. The Badgers pushed the Illini into two overtime matches with four matches lost by two points or less.
'We lost four close matches,' Wisconsin head coach Barry Davis said, 'During this time of the year, we've got to win those matches. We 've got to put our guys in more situations where they are down by a point or up by a point and they've got to score to win. We had opportunities. We just didn 't close the door on them.'
The meet started with the 149-pound match pitting Wisconsin 's Ed Gutnik against Illinois' Tony Pedrosa. Gutnik rallied back from a five-point deficit in the third period with two takedowns against Pedrosa, however the Illinois wrestler rode time out in the period to earn a 10-8 decision over Gutnik for a 3-0 Illinois team lead.
Wisconsin lost the next four matches as Illinois built a 20-0 lead, before the Badgers jumped back on the offensive. One weight class up from his usual 184 pounds, Badger team co-captain Ralph DeNisco held a 3-2 advantage against Illinois ' Tyrone Byrd looking for a close-out in the final moments of the third period. However, Byrd posted a last-second takedown to earn the nailbiter 4-3 decision and the 23-0 Illini lead.
DeNisco's mat performance ignited the Badger bench entering the heavyweight match though and Staebler, a Perham, Minn., native dominated Illinois ' Chris Little to quash the Fighting Illini's hopes of a dual shutout. Staebler scored nine unanswered points against Little , including a three-point near fall, to earn a major decision and put Wisconsin on the scoreboard 23-4.
Black broke a 4-4 stalemate in the next match of 125 pounds after scoring one point off of an escape against Illinois' Twan Pham to bring Wisconsin 's team score to seven points. Redshirt freshman Tom Clum and sophomore Tyler Laudon each drove their respective matches into overtime, but Illinois cemented their dual victory with sudden-victory wins in the 133 and 141-pound matches.
Now 9-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten Conference, Wisconsin will finish its dual season with three more home meets. The Badgers take on Purdue next Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. and will wrestle Minnesota, Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. Wisconsin ends the regular season against Ohio State, Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. at the UW Field House. Wisconsin begins the Badgers' post-season by playing host to the 2003 Big Ten Championships, March 8-9.
