March 5, 2011

• Brackets   |  Team Standings 

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Wisconsin wrestling team sits in fourth place with 85.5 points after the first two sessions of the 2011 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.  Redshirt sophomore Tyler Graff (133 lbs.), junior Andrew Howe (165 lbs.) and redshirt senior Trevor Brandvold (197 lbs.) are still vying for a trip to the top of the podium in their respective weight classes. 

Joining the trio of Badgers in the championships, five others are still wrestling in the consolation bracket including redshirt sophomores Tom Kelliher (125 lbs.) and Ben Jordan (174 lbs.), junior Travis Rutt (184 lbs.) and redshirt senior Eric Bugenhagen (Hwt.), who are still in the running for third place. 

In UW's first semifinal bout of the night, Graff took on Iowa's Tony Ramos at 133 lbs. at the Welsh-Ryan Arena. The wrestlers entered overtime tied 1-1, but Graff scored a sudden victory takedown in the second overtime to earn a 3-1 decision. Graff takes on Penn State's Andrew Long in a rematch from earlier this season for the title.

Howe clinched his third win of the day with a 3-2 tiebreaker decision against Iowa's Aaron Janssen. Howe wrestles Ohio State's Colt Sponseller for the 165 lbs. Big Ten title and looks to capture his third league trophy. 

Brandvold advances to the championships at 197 lbs. with a 3-2 decision over Minnesota's Sonny Yohn. The redshirt senior will face Iowa's Luke Lofthouse for the chance to obtain his second-straight Big Ten title. 

After a bye in the first round of wrestlebacks, Kelliher wrestled Penn State's Brad Pataky at 125 lbs. With a late takedown in the third period, Kelliher upset Pataky, winning by a 3-2 decision. Kelliher will face Minnesota's Zach Sanders in the next consolation round and still has the opportunity to walk away with the third-place hardware.  

In another match that went into extra time, Jordan lost to Ohio State's Nick Heflin by a 2-1 decision after being unable to escape in the tiebreaker round at 174 lbs. Jordan will take on Purdue's Luke Manuel in the consolation bracket and still has a chance at third place.

In his first wrestleback bout at 184 lbs., Rutt defeated Northwestern's Aaron Jones by a 9-0 major decision. Joining Kelliher and Jordan, Rutt is also in contention for third place after defeating Michigan State's Ian Hinton, 1-0. In the next round, Rutt matches up against Iowa's Grant Grambrall. 

Bugenhagen also won his first consolation match over Purdue's Roger Vukobratovich at heavyweight. The 3-2 decision advanced him to the second round of wrestlebacks where he took on Ricardo Alcala. Bugenhagen won the bout by a 4-3 decision that came down to a difference in seconds of riding time in the second tiebreakers. Bugenhagen will wrestle Penn State's Cameron Wade with a chance to take third place.

At 149 lbs., redshirt sophomore Cole Schmitt won his first wrestleback match against Iowa's Mark Ballweg by a 7-3 decision, advancing him to the second round of consolation. Schmitt then wrestled Minnesota's Daniel Zilverberg, falling by a 10-7 decision that came down to the final second of the bout. Schmitt will wrestle Michigan State's Dan Osterman in the seventh place match.

Sophomore Shane McQuade was eliminated from Big Ten competition after losing to Purdue's Jake Fleckenstein by a 13-9 decision at 141 lbs. McQuade finished with a 0-2 record in his first appearance at the Big Tens. McQuade finishes the 2010-11 season with an 0-5 record in matches at 141 lbs.

Redshirt freshman Shawn Perry was also eliminated in his first run at the Big Ten Championships after falling to Michigan State's Sean McMurray by 6-0 decision at 157 lbs. Perry ends the 2010-11 season with a 12-14 record at four different weight classes.

Session three begins at 1 p.m. (CT) Sunday with wrestlebacks and the first, third and fifth-place matches take place at 3 p.m. (CT). Session four will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.