MADISON, Wis. – The 99^th edition of the Border Battle did not go Wisconsin's way tonight. The No. 14 Badgers (6-5, 1-5 B1G) dropped a 27-13 match to the No. 7 Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-2, 4-1 B1G).

Wisconsin won three of 10 matches as they continue to battle injuries at three weight classes, but picked up bonus points in two of its wins.

The atmosphere in the Field House was palpable during the 141-pound match. No. 13 junior Tristan Moran of UW took on No. 8 Mitch McKee and the pair put on a show for the fans. McKee looked in control after the first two periods, taking a 5-1 lead into the third, but Moran came out blazing in the third with a reversal into a four-point nearfall. The match went to overtime and Moran got McKee on his back and earned the sudden victory win via fall, sending the fans in the Field House into a ruckus.

No. 3 sophomore Evan Wick was steady as ever for the Badgers, cruising into an 8-0 major decision over NCAA-qualifier Carson Brolsma at 165 pounds. And UW junior Mason Reinhardt kept his hot streak going at 184 pounds, defeating Brandon Krone by decision 5-0 to earn the final Badger win of the night.

At 133 pounds, senior Jens Lantz of UW lost a tough battle with No. 8 Ethan Lizak 5-4. Competing in his first dual for Wisconsin, freshman Garrett Model also fought hard in a 6-2 loss to No. 7 Steven Bleise at 157 pounds.

Junior Cole Martin dropped a 5-2 decision to Tommy Thorn of Minnesota at 149 pounds. At 174 pounds, UW sophomore Patrick Spray was defeated by technical fall by No. 11 Devin Skatzka.

The final two matches of the night went against the Badgers, as Beau Breske lost to Dylan Anderson 3-0 at 197 pounds, and No. 11 freshman Trent Hillger fell to No. 1 Gable Steveson of Minnesota 11-2 at heavyweight.

Next up, the Badgers are back on the road for a dual against Maryland (0-6, 0-3 B1G) on Feb. 2 at 12 p.m.

Straight from the mat
Head Coach Chris Bono

On the dual:
"That was a better dual than last week so that was an improvement. There were a couple of situations, where at the end they were 50/50. We've got to find a way to pull those out. Happy for Tristan Moran to get a pin. The crowd was amazing. I think we doubled our size from last year. We are building. We are hitting a couple of road blocks. These guys are working hard, they're fighting. We are improving every day. We will be at our best in March and that is what we're looking for."

On Tristan Moran:
"Tristan Moran is a gamer. He knows how to wrestle and he wrestles his style. You can't train for Tristan Moran because it's a different feel. I don't think there is anyone in the country that wrestles like Tristan or gives you a feel like Tristan. He is doing a great job, like I said last week, this guy lives for wrestling. He trains and is doing everything right all the way down to nutrition, which is on point and I'm really proud of how far that guy has come since we got him in late July."

On Garrett Model:
"I've got nothing but praise for Garrett Model. He is our second-string 149-pounder and we asked him to go up and fight for us at 157. He jumped up there and took advantage of his opportunity. I am very proud of the fight and the effort. That is what we are looking for in our guys. If you watch Garrett Model wrestle, that is what we are going to bring to this program in the future. All ten guys are going to be out there hustling like that. That guy is going to win some matches for Wisconsin because of his hustle and his fight."

On what the fans can look forward to:
"We have a couple big home duals here that we want our fans to come out to. We are back in here against Illinois in two Sundays, Military Appreciation night, we've got a big treat in store. Then we have a big match against Iowa and then another big match after the state tournament against SIUE. We have three more opportunities to get our fans out here. Again, I can't thank the fans enough for showing up tonight. What a great atmosphere. It was loud in there when we did some things and we urge them to keep coming back and really build this program."

Junior Tristan Moran

On the ups and downs of the match:
"I've known he was a good wrestler for a long time. He actually wrestled one of my old training partners for a long time. I've known how good he is of a wrestler and I know he is a scrambler. I'm a scrambler too. I wrestle really good against scramblers. I figured out a way to gut out the win.

On his growth at Wisconsin:
"At Oklahoma State I didn't really do all of the little things right and that is why I have big matches and I fall way back. I have grown up a lot here. I've grown in my faith, my nutrition. I've really grown up a lot. I don't have my family here to baby me anymore. A lot of growing up, a lot of cold weather. Getting tough."


Results
Wisconsin 13, Minnesota 27
125: Steve Polatowski (MN) wins by forfeit
133: Ethan Lizak (MN) over Jens Lantz (UW) (D 5-4)
141: Tristan Moran (UW) over Mitch McKee (MN) (FALL 7:00)
149: Tommy Thorn (MN) over Cole Martin (UW) (D 5-2)
157: Steve Bleise (MN) over Garrett Model (UW) (D 6-2)
165: Evan Wick (UW) over Carson Brolsma (MN) (MD 8-0)
174: Devin Skatzka (MN) over Pat Spray (UW) (TF 18-0 2:52)
184: Mason Reinhardt (UW) over Brandon Krone (MN) (D 5-0)
197: Dylan Anderson (MN) over Beau Breske (UW) (D 3-0)
HWT: Gable Steveson (MN) over Trent Hillger (UW) (MD 11-2)