AMES, Iowa - It was a successful day in Ames for Wisconsin wrestling (1-0-0) at the Cyclone Open, as Wisconsin had three first-place and four third-place finishes in the Open Division, and three first-place and three second-place finishes in the Freshman/Sophomore division.

Sophomore Evan Wick had no trouble reaching the first-place match at 165 pounds, but once he got there he ran into No. 7 ranked Bryce Steiert of Northern Iowa, his first ranked matchup of the year. Steiert took an early 2-0 lead, but Wick fought back for a 3-2 victory and the first-place finish.

Junior Tristan Moran wants to break the pin record at Wisconsin, and that plan was put into action today, securing falls in two of his three wins, including in the first-place match against No. 8 ranked Josh Alber of Northern Iowa, to secure his first tournament championship as a Badger.

After a tough win over a ranked opponent at Thursday's Buffalo dual, freshman Trent Hillger stayed perfect on the season, marching through his first two matches with major decisions and then winning the first-place match, 5-0.

The Badgers also recorded four third-place finishes, as junior Michael Cullen, junior Cole Martin, senior Ryan Christensen and junior Mason Reinhardt finished third at 133, 149, 174 and 184 pounds, respectively.

The Freshman/Sophomore division was also an exciting look into the future of Wisconsin wrestling, as the Badgers had four first-place finishes and three second-place finishes. All three of the first-place finishers were true freshman, as Drew Scharenbrock at 149, Tyler Dow at 165, and Jared Krattiger at 184 pounds all swept their way through the Cyclone Open. Sophomore Ethan Rotondo, freshman Dominic Dentino, and redshirt freshman Anders Lantz all narrowly missed out on championships after falling in their respective first place matches. Freshman Jeremy Schoenherr took third place at 141 pounds, and Andrew Salemme took fifth place at 197 pounds.

After a successful first weekend of wrestling, the Badgers will next travel to Kent, Ohio for duals against Kent State and CSU-Bakersfield on Nov. 9.

Straight From The Mat
Bono on the Cyclone Open: "I'm very happy and fired up with what happened today and after the first weekend of the season. Three individual champions in the senior division, Trent Hillger wrestled awesome, Tristan Moran pinned a high ranked guy from UNI in [Josh] Alber, and Evan Wick beat the seventh-ranked guy in the country in Bryce Steiert. Overall our guys beat a lot of high ranked wrestlers, our freshman and sophomores did an unbelievable job finishing with a bunch of firsts, and a bunch of seconds. I'm very happy with where we are this season, overall a great performance, our guys' hustle was unbelievable, and we look good right now. Now our focus switches over to next week and we have to get ready for Kent State and Bakersfield."