BAKERSFIELD, Calif.- In its first dual action of the year, Wisconsin wrestling squared off half way across the country against Pittsburgh and CSU Bakersfield. The Badgers took both bouts, defeating Pitt 26-6 and CSUB 22-18.

 "I'm really happy with how the guys competed today," Associate Head Coach Trevor Brandvold said. "We asked for great effort and to create scoring opportunities. That's what the guys did. We wore guys out and were on the attack. It's fun to coach this group and we are looking forward to Sunday. We always have areas to improve, so we'll get back to work tomorrow and get after it."

Freshmen and California natives Zander Wick and Evan Wick each got their first two dual wins of their career Friday evening. Zander defeated Robert Lee of Pitt with three takedowns in a 6-3 victory, and Kalani Tonge of CSU Bakersfield via major decision, 10-1 in the 149-pound weight class. No. 20 Evan Wick defeated Nick Wentzel of Pitt 6-3 and 17th-ranked Lorenzo Da La Riva of CSUB 6-1 at 165 pounds.

Junior Ryan Christensen was dominant in his two matches, scoring 27 points en route to a win in both duals, which included a tech fall over Bryan Battisto of Bakersfield, 15-0.

Senior Ricky Robertson was the other Wisconsin Wrestler to grab two victories, winning 9-1 over Gregg Harvey of Pitt and sealing the team win for the Badgers over Bakersfield in his 7-2 victory over Dominic Ducharme.

Other notables
Senior Andrew Crone was looking for retaliation in his one match of the night, after falling off the national rankings. He did so by defeating 15th-ranked Taleb Rahmani of Pittsburgh 3-1 with a takedown with 20 seconds left.

Sophomore Eli Stickley was aggressive in his one bout, defeating No. 19 Russel Rohlfing in a landslide, 13-2.

Junior Jared Scharenbrock had arguably the most exciting match of the night against Coleman Hammond of Bakersfield. The match went down to the wire, and was one that included eight total reversals. Scharenbrock ended up getting two near-fall points and a riding time point in the end to win the match 11-8.

The action continues for Wisconsin Wrestling when they will compete in the Roadrunner Open in Bakersfield on Sunday at 12:00 P.M. CT. Coverage of this open will be available via video stream through Flowrestling, and live updates from the official Twitter page, @BadgerWrestling.