Las Vegas -- Connor Medbery took home the heavyweight title and seven of 10 Badgers competing made it to the podium to lead the Wisconsin wrestling team to a second-place finish at the Cliff Keen Open.
In a rematch of the 2016 NWCA All-Stars Classic, No. 2 Medbery faced No. 3 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech in the finals. Medbery recorded the first takedown and entered the second period with a 2-1 lead, but an ensuing takedown by Walz set Medbery back 4-3. Three seconds into the third period, Medbery recorded an escape to tie it back up, but three periods wouldn't be enough to determine a winner. With 46 seconds left in the first overtime period, Medbery got the takedown and sealed his tournament title.
Looking to reclaim his title, Isaac Jordan picked up two pins and two tech falls to advance to the finals. In a close match against Michigan's Logan Massa, Jordan notched the first takedown but Massa responded with one of his own to bring the score to 3-3 heading into the second period. A late escape put Massa up 7-6 after the second. With the title on the line, Jordan recorded an escape with 14 seconds remaining to tie the match, but riding time gave Massa the 8-7 victory
Cole Martin pulled off an 8-7 decision over CSU Bakersfield's Russell Rohlfing to earn third place in thrilling fashion. Martin got an early takedown, but Rohlfing was later able to escape as the two went on to trade the lead back and forth. With 1:02 remaining, Martin recorded a takedown but Rohlfing's escape tied it at 7-7 before riding time gave Martin the hard-fought victory. To advance to the third-place bout, Martin earned a 4-3 decision over Army's fourth-seeded Logan Everett.
184-pounder Hunter Ritter started the day off strong by pinning Edinboro's Dakota Geer in 4:52 before earning a 6-5 decision over Army's Samson Imonode. In the consolation semifinals, Ritter lost to second-seeded Myles Martin from Ohio State with a 16-4 major decision. Against fourth-seeded Jordan Ellingwood of Central Michigan in the fifth-place match, Ritter recorded one escape in the third period but dropped a 4-1 decision.
Ricky Robertson pulled off a tight 2-0 decision over Cornell's Ben Honis to start the day and reached the consolation semifinals by earning a 9-7 victory over Tanner Orndoff of Utah Valley. Up against third-seeded Jacob Smith of West Virginia, Robertson managed to get one escape but ultimately lost by an 8-1 decision. In the bout for fifth place, Robertson was pinned by Oregon State's Corey Griego in 1:57.
After dropping a close 5-3 decision to Oregon State's Joey Delgado, 149-pounder Andrew Crone secured seventh place by earning an 11-3 major decision victory over Chase Straw of Iowa State.
In the 133-pound bracket, Eli Stickley earned a 6-4 decision over Wyoming's Drew Templeman but then dropped two decisions, 10-6 and 10-4, to claim eighth place.
Eighth-seeded Ryan Christensen lost by a 7-0 decision to seventh-seeded Michael Amine of Michigan. The 174-pounder finished 3-2 on the tournament.
125-pounder Jens Lantz and 157-pounder Jared Scharenbrock also competed but did not place.
With 113.5 points, the Badgers finished five points off team champion Ohio State. Virginia Tech (103), Minnesota (100) and Cornell (93.5) rounded out the top five.
Next up, the Badgers take on Indiana for a Big Ten Conference dual on Dec. 9 in Bloomington, Indiana.
