MADISON, Wis – With two vital lead changes, No. 13 Wisconsin lost a heartbreaker to Iowa 19-18 by tie-breaker criteria in an all-out battle until the final second in front of an electric crowd at the UW Field House. Tied up 18-18 following all 10 bouts and splitting the dual 5-5 across the weight classes, Iowa earned the winning team point after the tie-breaker criteria saw the Hawkeyes win 31-24 in match points against the Badgers without the bouts won by pin included.

Wisconsin also established a new single dual match attendance record with 5,256 on Sunday, beating the program's previous record of 4,168 also set against Iowa during head coach Chris Bono's first season in 2018-19. More than 40 youth teams from across Wisconsin and the Midwest attended Sunday's dual.

Of note, Wisconsin last tied Iowa during the 1973-74 season, 17-17, and last defeated the Hawkeyes 21-14 during the 2006-07 season.

The Badgers started down after their first three matches, trailing 12-0, until No. 2 Austin Gomez kicked off the scoring by defeating No. 7 Max Murin at 149 pounds with a 5-3 decision. Tied up 2-2 in the second period, Gomez scored an escape and the go-ahead takedown during the final period to seal the victory.

At 157, No. 18 Garrett Model lost an extremely close match by 3-2 decision to No. 21 Cole Siebrecht. Five matches in Iowa led Wisconsin 15-3 to enter the intermission.

Dean Hamiti and Josh Otto both went on to win nail-biter matches by decision, digging the Badgers out of the hole they were in. Hamiti defeated No. 10 Patrick Kennedy 4-3 at 165 pounds with a crowd-pleasing reversal and a takedown against Kennedy in the third period. Otto trailed Drake Rhodes 4-3 after two periods, but rallied in the final two minutes with an escape and takedown to earn his first Big Ten dual match of the season and his Badgers career.

With the team score now at 15-9 for Iowa, unranked Tyler Dow took the mat against No. 8 Abe Assad. Dow went on to pin Assad just 1:14 into the match, making the UW Field House absolutely explode. Dow took an early 2-0 lead with a powerful takedown in the first period, fending off Assad's attacks. Dow caught Assad just right and turned the Hawkeye for the fall in one of the Stoughton, Wisconsin native's most memorable Big Ten dual victories as a Badger.

Tied up 15-15 in team points on the scoreboard, Iowa and Wisconsin split their last two matches. Braxton Amos secured a 4-0 win at 197 pounds over Kolby Franklin with a escape, takedown and riding time. No. 3 Tony Cassioppi defeated No. 11 Trent Hillger at 285 pounds in a 4-1 decision. With it all tied up at 18 a piece, the Hawkeyes earned the final team point due to tiebreaker criteria based on the match points scored.

Looking ahead, the Badgers travel to Evanston, Illinois to take on Northwestern this Friday Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. CT and stay on the road against Nebraska on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. CT. Both duals will be streamed live on B1G+.

Jan. 22, 2023 - #13 Wisconsin 18, #2 Iowa 19 (Madison, Wis.) | WIS - IOWA
125: #1 Spencer Lee (IOWA) over #6 Eric Barnett (WIS) (Fall 4:38) | 0-6
133: Brody Teske (IOWA) over #28 Taylor Lamont (WIS) (Dec 4-0)  | 0-9
141: #2 Real Woods (IOWA) over #26 Joseph Zargo (WIS) (Dec 9-2) | 0-12
149: #2 Austin Gomez (WIS) over #7 Max Murin (IOWA) (Dec 5-3) | 3-12
157: #21 Cobe Siebrecht (IOWA) over #18 Garrett Model (WIS) (Dec 3-2) | 3-15
165: #6 Dean Hamiti (WIS) over #10 Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) (Dec 4-3) | 6-15
174: Josh Otto (WIS) over Drake Rhodes (IOWA) (Dec 6-5) | 9-15
184: Tyler Dow (WIS) over #8 Abe Assad (IOWA) (Fall 1:24) | 15-15
197: #13 Braxton Amos (WIS) over Kolby Franklin (IOWA) (Dec 4-0) | 18-15
285: #3 Tony Cassioppi (IOWA) over #11 Trent Hillger (WIS) (Dec 4-1) | 18-18
Iowa wins tie break criteria 1.0 | 18-19
All rankings are Intermat for Jan. 17, 2023
Attendance: 5,256 (new single dual match record for Wisconsin)