Wisconsin Badgers
Ohio State
This Week in Wrestling: Feb. 12-14
February 11, 2016 | Wrestling
Badgers set to matchup with No. 10 Ohio State and Maryland
HIT THE ROAD JACK
• Wisconsin (2-6, 1-5 Big Ten) hits the road for duals at Ohio State (9-3, 6-2) on Friday at 6 p.m. and Maryland (4-11, 1-7) on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The matchup with the Terrapins was originally scheduled for January 24 but was cancelled due to inclement weather.
• UW leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes by a 10-match margin (29-19-1), as the Badgers have won two of the last three meetings. The longest winning streak in the series came between 1972-73 and 1986-87 when Wisconsin won 13-straight matches.
• The all-time series with Maryland is knotted at 1-1-1. UW tied the Terrapins, 21-21, in the teams' first meeting in 1993-94. Last year the Badgers handedly defeated Maryland by a score of 28-12.
| Wisconsin at #10 Ohio State | |
| Date | Friday, February 12 | 6 p.m. |
| Location | Columbus, Ohio | St. John Arena |
| Watch | BTN Plus |
| Follow | Live Stats | @BadgerWrestling |
| Notes | Wisconsin | Ohio State |
| Wisconsin at Maryland | |
| Date | Sunday, February 14 | 10:30 a.m. |
| Location | College Park, Md. | XFINITY Center |
| Watch | BTN Plus |
| Follow | Live Stats | @BadgerWrestling |
| Notes | Wisconsin | Maryland |
NOTES TO KNOW
1 RUTGERS UPSET: Wisconsin earned its first win over a ranked opponent on February 5 at No. 12 Rutgers. the Badgers edged RU, 18-15. With the dual beginning at 133 pounds, No. 7 Ryan Taylor set the tone with a pin at the 6:54 mark--just six seconds before the final buzzer. Instead of going up 3-0, the fall gave Wisconsin a 6-0 lead which proved to be the difference, as it won by three points. Andrew Crone narrowly beat Tyson Dippery at 149 pounds. The Scarlet Knights' competitor tied the score at four apiece with an escape at the 14 second mark but Crone had already ammassed enough riding time (1:49) to grab the win, 5-4. Isaac Jordan earned his 17th win of the year with a 4-0 shutout of eighth-ranked 165-pounder Anthony Perrotti. Johhny Jimenez's victory over No. 20 Sean McCabe sealed the win for the Badgers. The result marked the sophomore's first win against a ranked opponent this year. The dual was tied, 15-15, entering the final match. Jimenez got out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and did not surrender his advantage for the remaining two rounds to win, 7-4. Ricky Robertson (174) also picked up a victory, beating Phillip Bakuckas in a 4-3 decision.
2 BORDER BATTLE: UW faced off with No. 21 Minnesota in the Border Battle on February 7. The Badgers lost, 17-16, which was the team's narrowest dual result of 2015-16. Andrew Crone recovered from a four-point deficit through two periods to earn his second victory over a ranked opponent this season. He was one point up on No. 16 Jake Short when time expired but surrendered a riding time point, which shifted the match to sudden victory. Crone needed just 11 extra seconds to win, as he recorded a takedown at the 49-second mark of the first sudden victory period. No. 3 Isaac Jordan's triumph over Brad Dolezal extended his winning streak to 19 matches, dating back to last year. Like Crone, Ryan Christensen used a sudden victory period to defeat his opponent: Chris Pfarr. Despite surrendering a takedown with five seconds left which tied the match at four apiece, Christensen registered a takedown at the 34-second mark of the first sudden victory period to snap a five-match losing streak. Jimenez and Taylor also earned wins against the Golden Gophers.
3 SCOUTING REPORT: The 10th-ranked Buckeyes feature seven ranked wrestlers. Two OSU competitors are undefeated this season, including No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (125) at 16-0 and No. 2 Bo Jordan (165) at 13-0. Bo Jordan leads the team with 52 dual points (five F, one TF, two MD). In its 365 matches to date, Ohio State wrestlers have scored first nearly 66 percent of the time. The team is averaging 6.7 points per match. Geoffrey Alexander is the lone member of Maryland to appear in the InterMat rankings, as he is No. 16 among 133-pounders. He is currently 9-1 and has picked up two major decisions, a technical fall and a pin.
4 BADGERS-BUCKEYES CONNECTIONS: Last season, Isaac Jordan upset his No.1-seeded Buckeye cousin, Bo Jordan, in the Big Ten Championships to claim his first Big Ten crown at 165 pounds. Last time the two teams faced, No. 23 Wisconsin upset No. 9 Ohio State at the Field House, 22-15. Trailing 4-0 after the first match, Wisconsin (9-3 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) needed something big from junior Timmy McCall at 197 pounds, and that is exactly what the Badgers got. McCall took the mat against OSU's (5-2, 0-2) No. 4 Nick Heflin and finished with a 3-1 sudden victory decision. Wisconsin rattled off three more victories after McCall's win to jump out to a 16-4 lead heading into intermission. No. 10 Connor Medbery defeated Nick Tavanello, 8-2, No. 11 Ryan Taylor pinned No. 17 Nick Roberts and No. 6 Tyler Graff took down Kyle Visconti, 26-11. No. 7 Isaac Jordan won by decision, 5-2, over Randy Languis at 157 lbs. and then Frank Cousins sealed the Badgers' team win with a 3-2 decision over Joe Grandominico at 165 pounds.
5 JUST JORDAN: Third-ranked 165-pounder Jordan has started the season with an unscathed 18-0 record to extend a 19-match winning streak, which dates back to last season. The junior's victory at RU--a 4-0 shutout over No. 8 Anthony Perrotti--gave him the longest winning streak by a UW wrestler since Andrew Howe (165) went 30-0 to begin the 2009-10 season. Jordan's 18th-straight victory trumped heavyweight Connor Medbery's 17-0 start to the 2014-15 campaign.
Players Mentioned
