MADISON, Wis. – In its debut of the 2019-20 Big Ten Conference season, the No. 7 Badger wrestling team fell at No. 1 Iowa, 32-3, on Sunday night
 
The lone victor for the Badgers was redshirt senior Johnny Sebastian, wrestling at 184 pounds. Sebastian came onto the mat, nearly exploding with energy, and beat Iowa's Cash Wilke. Sebastian took the match in the second sudden victory period, where he recorded a takedown to win, 7-5. 
 
At 165, No. 3 Evan Wick battled hard and scrappy against No. 2 Alex Marinelli. Wick had the match tied up at two until the last 30 seconds, when he surrendered a takedown to Marinelli to seal the Iowa victory.
 
In the 197 bout, Taylor Watkins held on strong to No. 3 Jacob Warner. Watkins battled and kept the match close but ultimately lost by a 5-2 decision.
 

From the mat

"We ran into a really good team tonight. In about six matches if you look at the score, we are about one takedown away from reversing the score here. I'm happy it happened now, we've got a couple of months to build on it. Our guys are fighters and they will respond."
    - Head coach, Chris Bono
 

Results

Iowa 32, Wisconsin 3
125 – No. 1 Spencer Lee (IU) over Michael Cullen (UW) by tech. fall 15-0
133 – No. 2 Austin DeSanto (IU) over No. 1 Seth Gross (UW) by dec. 6-2
141 – No. 9 Max Murin (IU) over No. 10 Tristan Moran (UW) by dec. 3-2
149 – No. 3 Pat Lugo (IU) over No. 15 Cole Martin (UW) by dec. 5-3
157 – No. 4 Kaleb Young (IU) over Garrett Model (UW) by dec. 12-6
165 – No. 2 Alex Marinelli (IU) over No. 3 Evan Wick (UW) by dec. 4-2
174 – No. 3 Michael Kemerer (IU) over Jared Krattiger (UW) by fall
184 – Johnny Sebastian (UW) over Cash Wilcke (IU) by dec. 7-5 SV-2
197 – No. 3 Jacob Warner (IU) over Taylor Watkins (UW) by dec. 5-2
285 – No. 12 Tony Cassioppi (IU) over No. 3 Trent Hillger (UW) by dec. 3-2
 

Up next

The Badgers will look to rebound in Edwardsville, Illinois, as they compete in the SIUE Invitational on Saturday.