The 19th-ranked Wisconsin wrestling team fell to No. 1 Minnesota Friday evening at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis. Despite come-back efforts from seniors Tom Clum (Arvada, Colo.) and Ed Gutnik (Iselin, N.J.), along with sophomore Craig Henning (Chippewa Falls, Wis.), the Badgers were unable to notch their third consecutive upset over Minnesota, falling 26-12. Wisconsin drops to 7-5-0 overall and 2-3 in conference action, while Minnesota remains unbeaten at 17-0, 5-0 in the Big Ten.
Minnesota came out of the gates strong, earning an 11-3 major decision victory in the opening match between Matt Maciag (Sussex, N.J.) and No. 10 Roger Kish at 184 lbs. From there the gophers would roll, taking the next three matches and a 16-0 lead.
However, in the 133 lbs. bout, Badger senior Tom Clum put Wisconsin on the board quickly. The tri-captain scored his second pin of the season as he took down Daniel Jackson of Minnesota at 1:45. Clum is now 7-3 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten.
Following suit was fellow senior Ed Gutnik, who faced No. 13 Manuel Rivera at 141 lbs. Gutnik improved his overall record to 6-5 and notched his second consecutive Big Ten victory as he upset the sophomore Gopher, 2-0.
With the two senior wins, Wisconsin trailed 16-9 heading into the 149 lbs. match. In that contest, No. 5 Tyler Turner (Spring Valley, Wis.) faced No. 1 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. The bout was Turners second time wrestling a top-ranked grappler, previously he fell to then-No. 1 Ty Eustice of Iowa. Unfortunately, the Badger was defeated again losing to Schlatter, 4-2.
The Badgers rebounded with No. 7 Craig Hennings 7-4 upset over No. 5 C.P. Schlatter, leaving Wisconsin down by seven. Henning, who leads the Badgers in wins with a 21-4 record, is unbeaten in the Big Ten at 5-0. Nevertheless, Minnesota took the final matches and the dual, defeating the Badgers, 26-12.
Wisconsin returns home on Sunday for its final home dual of the season against Ohio State at 1 p.m. at the UW Field House. Check uwbadgers.com for the latest updates and scores.
