PITTSBURGH, Penn. – Two Wisconsin wrestlers earned All-American honors on Friday, with sophomore Evan Wick earning his second of his career and freshman Trent Hillger finding a spot on the podium in his NCAA Tournament debut.

With a spot on the podium at 165 pounds on the line, sophomore Evan Wick came up big. He was faced with a rematch from last year's third place match against No. 5 Chance Marsteller of Lock Haven, who Wick pinned in their match last year. Wick was still favored in this year's match, but few anticipated him locking a cradle in the first round and pinning Marsteller once again, earning him a spot in the semifinals and his second All-American honors in his first two years for Wisconsin.

Wick faced No. 8 Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech in the semifinals, who knocked off Alex Marinelli the round before. Lewis got a takedown off a counter on Wick in the first. Wick was able to escape, but so was Lewis in the third to go up 3-1. Lewis was hit with a stalling penalty late that made it 3-2, but Wick was caught in the open after giving it his all to get a takedown, and Lewis finished the match with a takedown of his own to send Wick to the consolations.

Freshman Trent Hillger started off his NCAA Tournament debut at heavyweight by going 2-0 on the first day, but took his first loss against No. 2 Anthony Cassar of Penn State in the quarterfinals. Cassar recorded a takedown late in the first to take the lead. He followed that up by getting an escape in the second, and then riding Hillger for the entire third period to take a 4-0 win and sending the Badger freshman to the consolation bracket.

Hillger came back from the loss with a match against No. 20 Zach Elam of Missouri, one win away from clinching All-American honors. The two wrestled neutral for the entire first two periods with neither finding a breakthrough. Then in the third, Hillger escaped to make it 1-0 and held onto that lead, making him the 67th All-American in Wisconsin Wrestling history.

The next match, Hillger lost to No. 6 Amar Deshi of Oregon State, setting him up for the seventh place match tomorrow.

At 141 pounds, junior Tristan Moran bounced back in a big way from his first round loss. After winning his next two matches on day one, Moran faced his highest seeded competition of the tournament so far in No. 12 Cameron Kelly of Ohio. That didn't matter too much to Moran, as he pinned Kelly within the first minute to move on.

In his second match of Session III, Moran found himself in a huge hole early, as he trailed No. 14 Jamel Morris of North Carolina State 10-0 late in the first. From there, the Badger went on a 16-0 run through the rest of the match to take the win.

Moran was one win away from the podium, but just couldn't close it out. Facing No. 7 Mitch McKee of Minnesota, McKee got started early with takedowns in the first and second, but Moran once again came rampaging back and tied it at six at the end of the third. However, McKee had 1:45 of riding time, which gave him the extra point and the win.

The three other Wisconsin qualifiers saw their tournaments come to a close in the morning session on Friday.

Junior Cole Martin faced No. 13 Anthony Artalona of Penn in his first match of the day at 149 pounds. The pair were tied heading into the third, but Artalona broke free with a takedown and four point near fall to eliminate Martin.

At 174 pounds, senior Ryan Christensen's long and successful career as a Badger came to an end against No. 33 Devin Kane of North Carolina, who beat Christensen by a 7-4 decision.

And junior Mason Reinhardt couldn't pull off the upset of No. 12 Cash Wilcke of Iowa, losing 8-0 to end his NCAA Tournament with a 1-2 record.

Straight from the mat
Head Coach Chris Bono

On Trent Hillger:
"Trent is unbelievable. You don't see many freshmen All-Americans. He'll continue to get better, he's a great kid and has a great work ethic. Sky's the limit for Trent. I'm proud he's on my team."

On Ryan Christensen:
"We are going to miss RC. We are going to try to keep him around the program. I wish we had five years with the kid, he's an unbelievable young man. He's accomplished a lot, he is going to graduate, he's getting engaged, and he gave us everything he had."

Freshman Trent Hillger

On being an All-American:
"It's huge, that was one of my goals coming in. I wanted to be a four-time champ but I'll take what's next best. I've got more to come and I'm going to keep going."

On being a part of Wisconsin Wrestling history:
"It's an honor. That's what I came here for, to leave a legacy. Hopefully, that's what I'm going to do and keep doing, and I'm super happy to be a part of this."

Results

141 pounds
No. 11 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) over No. 12 Cameron Kelly (Ohio) by fall 0:46
No. 11 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) over No. 14 Jamel Morris (NC State) by dec. 16-10
No. 7 Mitch McKee (Minnesota) over No. 11 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) by dec. 7-6

149 pounds
No. 13 Anthony Artalona (Penn) over No. 19 Cole Martin (Wisconsin) by dec. 7-2

165 pounds
No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) over No. 5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) by fall 1:25
No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) over No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) by dec. 5-2

174 pounds
No. 33 Devin Kane (UNC) over No. 15 Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) by dec. 7-4

184 pounds
No. 12 Cash Wilcke (Iowa) over No. 22 Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin) by maj. dec. 8-0

285 pounds
No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) over No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) by dec. 4-0
No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) over No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) by dec. 1-0
No. 6 Amar Deshi (Oregon State) over No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) by fall 2:06