PALM COAST, Fla. -- The Wisconsin men's golf team never backed down at the 2018 Big Ten Match Play, and despite having one of the youngest lineups in the Big Ten, Wisconsin finished the weekend 4-0 and earned third place. On Friday, the Badgers knocked off 12th-ranked Illinois and No. 44 Northwestern in the first two rounds at Hammock Dunes in Palm Coast, Florida. 

The challenges weren't over, as Wisconsin began Saturday against Nebraska with heavy fog looming. The morning match against the Cornhuskers was shortened nine holes due to poor visibility from the heavy fog. Jordan Hahn, Griffin Barela, and Pete Kuhl  each won their matches, leaving it up to senior Eddie Wajda to deliver. Wajda halved his matchup allowing the Badgers to climb past Nebraska 3.5-2.5 and face No. 39 Penn State for third place.

Freshman Sam Anderson, the hero of Friday's rounds, answered the call for Wisconsin again, winning his match 4&3, lifting the Badgers over the Nittany Lions to clinch third place. Combined with wins from Kuhl (3&2), Barela (2-up) and sophomore Nick Robinson (2-up), the Badgers won 4-2.

"It was all hands on deck and everybody contributed, but it is hard to look past what our freshman did. Sam and Griffin (Barela) made huge contributions and pushed us through this weekend. We are glad they are wearing red," UW head coach Michael Burcin said. 

Each Badger earned at least 1.5 points on the weekend.

"Today was a big test because of well we did yesterday beating two ranked programs, so it was imperative that we backed that up with our performance today," Burcin said. "Yesterday was huge, and so important for the program, but we didn't want to leave this weekend 2-2, and the guys came out there and played great golf. I am super happy for them, it builds a lot of confidence moving forward."

Wisconsin topped three top-50 programs in a span of two days at the match, knocking down two historically powerful programs in 12th-ranked Illinois and No. 44 Northwestern. Followed by overcoming Nebraska in the fog delay and silencing No. 39 Penn State in the final round of the weekend. 

"We're in a good spot, we're going to get back to work on things we need to fix, but we have a ton of confidence moving forward and we are going to build off this."