CLEVELAND – For the first time since the 2001 season, Wisconsin had a wrestler win a match at the National Wrestling Coaches' Association (NWCA) All-Star Classic as both
Isaac Jordan and
Connor Medbery found victories on the mat Saturday night.
The two returning All-Americans went two-for-two against some of the nation's elite competition at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center.
Jordan was a comeback kid at the classic, winning his match despite facing a 3-0 deficit midway through the second period. The UW senior rallied and made it a one-point match with a last-second takedown late in the second period against third-ranked Daniel Lewis of Missouri. Jordan, the No. 2-ranked 165-pounder in the country, answered back with another takedown at the start of the third period to extend a 4-3 lead. He secured the 5-3 decision with the riding time point and made his mark in UW history.
After taking an Olympic redshirt season, Medbery made his triumphant return back to college wrestling with an exciting top-talent matchup. The Badgers' third-ranked heavyweight wrestled No. 2 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech.
After a scoreless first period, Medbery turned up the heat, scoring all five of his points in the match in the second period. He started the second period with an escape six seconds in. Within the one-minute mark of the second period, Medbery used a powerful double leg to take down Walz and go up 3-0.
Walz escaped soon after but Medbery retaliated with another dominant takedown to jump out to a 5-1 lead by the end of the second period. Walz chose bottom to start the third and slipped out of Medbery's grasp at the start but Medbery held onto his 5-2 lead against the two-time All-American.
It was Jordan and Lewis' first-ever matchup and Medbery's second meeting with Walz, giving way to a Medbery a 2-0 lead in the all-time series.
Badger wrestlers are now 13-12-1 all-time in the All-Star Classic. As the 21st and 22nd UW selections in program history, both Jordan and Medbery are just the second Badgers to be selected from their weight classes.
Prior to this year, heavyweight Kyle Massey was the last Badger to participate in the NWCA All-Star Classic, wrestling in the 2008 edition of the classic. Pritzlaff, a two-time NCAA title holder, is the only other representative of the 165-pound class in UW history.
The Badgers open the season at the Journeymen Classic in New York on Nov. 13.
