MADISON, Wis. — All the hard work in the wrestling room and fall competition is paying off for the Badgers. No. 12 Wisconsin swept its opening weekend of Big Ten dual competition with a 19-14 victory over visiting No. 16 Rutgers on Sunday at the UW Field House.

The Badgers opened the Big Ten season on Friday with a 19-15 victory over No. 12 (tied) Northwestern and improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference standings. This also marks the first losses for both Rutgers (11-1, 1-1 B1G) and Northwestern this season.

Bouncing back from a tough loss on Friday, Eric Barnett opened up scoring for Wisconsin at 125 pounds against Rutgers' Dylan Shawver. Barnett earned a gritty 8-4 decision to fire up the crowd and put points on the board first for the Badgers, 3-0.

Down 8-3 after two losses at 133 and 141, Austin Gomez continues to impress at 149 for Wisconsin and re-started the Badgers rally with a 11-1 major decision over Mike VanBrill. Gomez scored a late takedown and four nearfall points in the third period to lock up the victory and improve to 9-1 overall this season.

At 157, Garrett Model showed the crowd why he's considered one of Wisconsin's grittiest wrestlers. Model earned a 13-8 decision over Rutgers' Robert Kanniard after a back-and-forth bout that saw both wrestlers pick up near fall points against each other in the second period. Model's victory gave the Badgers their first team lead of the afternoon, 10-8, with five matches left.

Wisconsin notched wins at 165 and 174 from Dean Hamiti (10-4 decision) and Andrew McNally (6-1 decision) to extend its team lead to 16-8. Rutgers rallied back with two wins at 184 and 197 though, including a very narrow 8-7 decision by Greg Bulsak against Braxton Amos in the closing seconds of the bout after a challenge by Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono was denied by the officials questioning a last-second takedown.

Leading 16-14 with only the heavyweights left, Wisconsin's Trent Hillger (285) scored a quick takedown over Rutgers' Boone McDermott then kept a tight grip on his lead, later sealing the victory with an escape, takedown and riding time in the third period to win a 6-3 decision and ensure the team victory.

Full results are below. Next up, Wisconsin travels to Border Battle rival Minnesota on Sunday, January 16. The Badgers will wrestle the Golden Gophers at 1 p.m. at Muturi Pavilion and fans can watch the match on BTN+.

RESULTS

All rankings are Intermat for Jan. 5, 2022. Wisconsin and Northwestern were tied at No. 12 in tournament rankings.