MADISON, Wis. – In their final dual of the season, the No. 4 Wisconsin wrestling team was edged by No. 14 Northern Iowa, 20-18, in the UW Field House on Thursday night. Despite the Badgers scoring a technical fall and a major decision, the Panthers picked up a fall and two major decisions for the win.
 
No. 1 Seth Gross exited the UW Field House in a way that only he could. At 133 pounds, the redshirt senior recorded a technical fall over No. 17 Jack Skudlarczyk, with a final score of 16-0. This was Gross's ninth technical fall of the season.
 
At 149 pounds, No. 15 Cole Martin once again kept Badger fans on their toes. Martin, a redshirt senior out of Lancaster, Wisconsin, faced off against UNI's Tristan Lara. Martin won the match by deci 10-8.
 
Drew Scharenbrock had a big win tonight at 157 pounds. Scharenbrock got the start in the Badgers last dual of the season and beat UNI's Derek Holschlag by decision, 7-2.
 
At 165 pounds, No. 4 Evan Wick put on a show for Badger fans again tonight. Wick got started early and took a 10-2 lead into the second period. The All-American won against UNI's Austin Yant by major decision, 16-4.
 
No. 5 Trent Hillger finished the night strong at heavyweight. Hillger faced No. 13 Carter Isley and picked up another win over a ranked opponent with a 3-0 decision.
 
Straight from the mat
"I told these guys this tonight, there are seven of them (seniors )and I haven't been with any of them for all five years, even (Seth) Gross was only four years. What I told them was I was proud that they all took me in, I'm the outsider. They took me and (Associate Head Coach Jon) Reader and (Assistant Coach Matt) McDonough in and basically accepted us. I'm proud of them for putting their trust in us- Johnny (Sebastian), Taylor (Watkins), Gross- had one year left and transferred in and trusted us. Cole Martin didn't know if he wanted to finish his fifth year, (but he) trusted us to come back. Mikey Cullen, they all trusted us and I told them I don't love you guys for the wins and the losses and the national championships, I love you because all of you are graduating, I love you because of the leaders that you are, I love you for the way you've taken this team and I love you for the trust that you've given us. So it was a little bit of an emotional moment, but again, you're not going to meet seven better guys. They took us in, they trusted us with their careers and laid it on the line for us and worked hard for us and they've done everything they could for a bunch of guys that they've only known a couple of years, not all five. So for that I thanked them and told them we love them and let's go take this thing as far as we can."
    -    Head coach Chris Bono. 
 
"I felt really good going into this match. It's kind of hard wrestling after that 12-minute intermission, it settles down a little bit and you have to pick it up right after that. Even though I scored a lot of points, I wrestled really calm and relaxed, and I think that really benefited me throughout that match. But I felt good, really implementing what the coaches have been telling me, what I've been learning this whole week. I think that was the key, just utilizing that stuff. Sometimes I feel like I get too excited and I don't have a focus during my match but I felt I had a good focus during that match."
    -    Redshirt junior Evan Wick
 
"I came out with a win and that's all you can really ask for at this point. I'm going to be one of those guys that the team is relying on getting bonus points at the Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament. He's a great opponent but that's someone I need to get bonus points on to help the team bring home a trophy. I'm really happy I came out with a win … but he's someone I need to get my offense going. I have a great offense, I just need to keep it going and get to my attacks and score bonus (points)."
    -    Redshirt sophomore Trent Hillger
 
 

Notables

• The Badgers honored seven seniors on the night. Michael Cullen, Seth Gross, Cole Martin, Tristan Moran, Johnny Sebastian, the late Eli Stickley and Taylor Watkins all celebrated their careers as Badgers.
• No. 1 Seth Gross finished his senior year undefeated at home. Gross is also riding an 18-match winning streak

 

Results

Wisconsin 18, UNI 20
125 – No. 10 Jay Schwarm (UNI) over Eric Barnett (UW) by fall 2:19
133 – No. 1 Seth Gross (UW) over No. 17 Jack Skudlarczyk (UNI) tech. fall by 16-0
141 – No. 11 Michael Blockhus (UNI) over No. 4 Tristan Moran (UW) by dec. 8-4
149 – No. 15 Cole Martin (UW) over Tristan Lara (UNI) by dec. 10-8
157 – Drew Scharenbrock (UW) over Derek Holschlag (UNI) by dec. 7-2
165 – No. 4 Evan Wick (UW) over Austin Yant (UNI) by maj. dec. 16-4
174 – No. 5 Bryce Steiert (UNI) over Jared Krattiger (UW) by maj. dec. 9-1 
184 – No. 4 Taylor Lujan (UNI) over Tyler Dow (UW) by maj. dec. 12-2 
197 – Isaiah Patton (UNI) over Taylor Watkins (UW) by 6OT 3-2
285 – No. 5 Trent Hillger (UW) over No. 13 Carter Isley (UNI) by dec. 3-0

 
Up next

The Badgers look ahead to the 2020 Big Ten Conference Championships. Rutgers is host of the championship taking place March 7-8 in Piscataway, New Jersey.