SKOKIE, Ill. — The No. 11 Wisconsin men's rowing team fell to No. 10 Syracuse Saturday morning in the season-opening race in Skokie, Illinois, at Dammrich Rowing Center. The Orange went three-for-three in the varsity eights.

Despite claiming the race over Syracuse last year, the Badgers' varsity eight dropped this season's opening heat by 10 seconds, crossing the finish line with a time of six minutes and 4.6 seconds.

The second varsity eight also finished 10 seconds behind in its race, checking in in 6:11.7.

The Badgers' third varsity eight finished with a time of 6:18.7, nine seconds behind Syracuse's third boat.

Up Next: The Badgers send their top crews to Redwood City, California, next week for the Stanford Invitational, while also playing host to MSOE and Minnesota for racing on Lake Mendota.

Straight from the Lake
Head Coach Chris Clark
On the races overall:
"As in any race, there's good news and bad news. No question, having gotten on the water for the first time in a while, you could see it in this race. All the Syracuse boats looked really good. This is our fifth year of racing this race, and each year they've gotten better and better. It was impressive. All their boats looked polished and I certainly hope they go on and do big things because that will confirm what I think. This is going to be a good year for them."

"They was nothing particularly wrong with us at all. We just didn't look polished, we didn't have the gears that we needed. In all three races, over half the margin came in the last 500 meters, which kind of makes sense because at that point you're fading."

On the varsity eight:
"The first boat really rowed 35, and in the last 500 they rowed 35.  We just didn't have any gears, and it really showed up in how sharp they looked.

On next week's racing:
"We have a short week coming up and then we leave for California where things get a lot tougher too. But even having any rowing in one race should dramatically help us come out more race ready next week. We definitely weren't today. Next week is a big challenge."

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse
Skokie, Ill.
April 6, 2019
2,000 meters

Varsity Eight
1. Syracuse, 5:54.4; 2. Wisconsin 6:04.60
Wisconsin Lineup: Coxswain James Catalano, Adam Wehking, Tyler Stevens, Dylan Adams, Jacob Wenner, Kyle McCarthy, Kurt Mueller, Alex Marett, William Alt

Second Varsity Eight
1. Syracuse, 6:01.4; 2. Wisconsin, 6:11.7
Wisconsin Lineup: Kaz Kishiue-Koval, Tim Zogleman, Evan Miller, Nathan Petersen, Benjamin Waller, Matthew Bernard, Henry Roberts, Philipp Bogdanov, Jacob Buboltz

Third Varsity Eight
1. Syracuse, 6:09; 2. Wisconsin, 6:18.7
Wisconsin Lineup: Coxswain Cameron Pak, Jackson Ulmer, John Young, Luke VandenHeuvel, James Sullivan, Aidan Olson, Matthew Palmer, Chase Covey, Owen Lilleleht