MADISON, Wis. – The 19th-ranked Wisconsin wrestling team dominated Maryland, taking the dual 32-6 Thursday night at the UW Field House.
 
Wisconsin (3-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) notched 19 takedowns and six four-point nearfalls while holding Maryland (3-2, 0-1) to five takedowns and two nearfalls.
 
Eli Stickley had a huge night, upsetting No. 12 Ryan Diehl at 141 pounds. The Urbana, Ohio native had two nearfalls en route to a 14-1 victory.
 
After the intermission, the Badgers won three-straight major decisions. Andrew Crone started the streak, besting UM's Justin Alexander, 10-2. No. 7 Evan Wick kept things going, besting Brendan Burnham 13-3. Ryan Christensen kept things going with a 13-2 major decision against Josh Ugalde. Christensen had eight points from two nearfalls in the first period.
 
Redshirt sophomore Hunter Ritter earned Wisconsin's fifth major decision of the night, blanking Niko Capello 10-0. Ritter had a strong first period, scoring on a takedown and a nearfall.
 

Straight from the mat

"The two main focuses our team has had all year is we want to give great effort and we want guys to create scoring opportunities. We knew coming out here that at quite a few weights we could create a lot of scoring opportunities so that's what we were emphasizing to our guys. I feel like the guys did a really great job collecting riding time and getting the turns and that's something we'll want to carry through for the rest of the year."
 
-Associate Head Coach Trevor Brandvold
 
"I just tried to stay smart, be on my feet. I knew he was going to try something big so I just went out there and wrestled my match and not his. I proved that I could get my shot and get my turns."
 
-Redshirt sophomore Eli Stickley
 

Notables

• 125-pounder Ethan Rotondo took down Maryland's Brandon Cray, 7-4, via a nearfall late in the third period.
• Jens Lantz took the 133-pound match, 7-2, with two takedowns of UM's Jhared Simmons.
• Redshirt freshman Patrick Spray won an 8-6 decision against Peter Tedesco. Spray took an escape right into a takedown to end the first period and ended the match with a scramble to avoid the takedown.
• At 184 pounds, Ricky Robertson won a 6-0 decision over Spencer Woods.
• Maryland took the last match of the night as No. 10 Youssif Hemida pinned UW's Ben Stone in one minute, 11 seconds.

 

Up Next

The Badgers are back in action Saturday in a dual at UW-Whitewater. Competition begins at 1 p.m. and will be streamed live on Portal Stretch Internet.