Badgers drop Big Ten opener at No. 4 Iowa

Friday, January 9

Iowa City, IA

7:00 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Iowa

Photo by: Suvir Grover

Badgers drop Big Ten opener at No. 4 Iowa

January 09, 2026 | Wrestling

Wisconsin falls 23–12 in Iowa City

By: Aliza Manekia

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Wisconsin wrestling opened Big Ten conference play on the road Friday night, falling 23–12 to No. 4 Iowa inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The loss marked the Badgers' first of the season after an undefeated nonconference stretch.

Wisconsin struck first at 197 pounds, where Wyatt Ingham battled through a back-and-forth match. The redshirt freshman sealed the win with a takedown at the edge of the mat late in the third period to put the Badgers on the board.

Nicolar Rivera followed with a 4-0 decision to give the Badgers a brief lead, holding off a late challenge from Iowa to keep Wisconsin in front early in the dual.

At 133 pounds, Zan Fugitt picked up a key win for the Badgers, earning an 8-4 decision over No. 4 Drake Ayala to push Wisconsin ahead 9-3 after four matches.

Joseph Zargo added another key win for Wisconsin, stunning the crowd with a sudden-victory takedown against No. 7 Ryder Block to extend the Badgers' lead to 12-6 midway through the dual.

Iowa responded down the stretch with a decision and three technical falls to swing the dual back in its favor and close out the win.

Wisconsin Results
Wisconsin 12, Iowa 23

No. 28 Wyatt Ingham over Harvey Luddington, 10-8 Dec
No. 5 Ben Kueter over No. 9 Braxton Amos, 4-1 SV-1
No. 11 Nicolar Rivera over Keyan Hernandez, 11-4 Dec.
No.14 Zan Fugitt over No. 4 Drake Ayala, 6-5 Dec.
Kale Petersen over Carson Exferd, 8-2 Dec.
No. 17 Joseph Zargo over No. 7 Ryder Block, 9-6 SV-1
No. 12 Jordan Williams over No. 25 Luke Mechler, 4-2 Dec.
No. 3 Michael Caliendo over No. 26 Cody Goebel, 21-6 TF
No. 3 Patrick Kennedy over Luke Condon, 14-3 MD
No. 1 Angelo Ferrari over David Malin, 19-4 TF

Looking Ahead
Wisconsin returns to the UW Field House on Sunday to host Maryland in a Whiteout matchup. Light-up batons will be available for the first 250 fans, with a post-match autograph session to follow the dual. Match starts at noon, and airs on BTN.