The Badgers got out to a strong start and won their first three matches to go up 9-0. The dual began at 125 lbs. and No. 18 senior Collin Cudd scored three takedowns and had a point of riding time to earn a 7-4 victory over Oklahoma's Joey Fio. UW junior Zach Tanelli, ranked No. 12, added to the lead with a 10-5 win over John Starzyk at 133 lbs.
Wisconsin's No. 8 sophomore Kyle Ruschell had a tough bout against Oklahoma's No. 11 Zack Bailey at 141 lbs. After a scoreless first period, Ruschell scored a takedown with 39 seconds remaining in the second while Bailey had an escape with 24 seconds left in the period. In the third, Ruschell secured the victory with an escape at 1:25 and hung on for the 3-1 win.
The Sooners then got on the board with a major decision victory at 149 lbs. Wisconsin freshman Kendall Vogel met No. 9 Will Rowe and fell, 19-6 to put the score at 9-4.
Wisconsin rebounded though with a win at 157 lbs. Senior Craig Henning, ranked No. 2, held Oklahoma's Chad Terry scoreless in a 4-0 win. Henning had a takedown in the first period, an escape in the third and one point of riding time for the victory that put the Badgers up 12-4.
At 165 lbs. senior Jake Donar met OU's Shane Vernon and wrestled a close match. Donar had a 5-4 lead heading into the third period but a two-point reversal for Vernon gave the OU grappler a 6-5 advantage with 1:36 left. Donar had a reversal of his own to re-gain the lead at 7-6 but Vernon would score a final reversal with just 16 seconds left to win the bout, 8-7 and put the team score at 12-7.
Oklahoma then pulled within one after a major decision win at 174 lbs and took the lead with another major decision win at 184 lbs. Badger junior Justin Peterson faced OU's Jeff James and fell, 10-1 in the 174 lbs. bout. At 184 lbs., No. 14 sophomore Trevor Brandvold scored the first two points of the match with a takedown in the first period, but Oklahoma's No. 7 Josh Weitzel came back for the 11-2 win and put the Sooners up, 15-12.
Down three, the Badgers had another tough bout at 197 lbs., which pinned Wisconsin's No. 6 Dallas Herbst against Oklahoma's undefeated No. 3 Joel Flaggert. In the first period, Flaggert took a 2-0 lead with a takedown. After a scoreless second period, Herbst then evened the score at two with a nearfall with 32 seconds remaining in the third. With neither wrestler securing riding time, the bout went into a sudden victory period. After a scoreless minute, the match then moved on to a tiebreaker. In the first tiebreaker, Herbst did not allow Flaggert to score and rode out the 30-second period. In the second overtime, Herbst scored a reversal to put the score at 4-2 and maintained his riding time to give Flaggert his first loss of the season and tie the score at 15.
With the match on the line, UW junior Kyle Massey met OU's Nathan Fernandez in the heavyweight bout. Fernandez struck first with an escape in the second period to put the score at 1-0. Massey then responded in the third with an escape of his own and a takedown to go up 3-1. Fernandez scored one more escape but it was not enough as Massey won the bout 4-2 with 1:13 riding time and secured the Badger victory.
The Badgers will now look to the Big Ten schedule as they travel to Bloomington, Ind. to face Indiana Friday. Match time is set for 4 p.m. (CT) and will broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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