MINNEAPOLIS – It all came down to the final bout for the No. 17 Wisconsin wrestling team against No. 14 Minnesota with the dual tied up at 15-15. But it was the Golden Gophers who came out top with a deciding victory at 174 pounds and clinched the 18-15 victory.

The Badgers (3-3 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) battled back tough against the Gophers (4-1, 3-0) in the lower half of the weight classes, grabbing four decisions at 157 pounds, 165 pounds, 184 pounds and heavyweight plus one major decision at 149 pounds.

"We wrestled a lot better than we did at Nebraska," head coach Barry Davis said. "Our guys came out with way more fire in our bellies but we still missed some opportunities to score. Overall, it was a better performance and had some really good things like T.J. Ruschell's win.

"We have a little bit of a break and we will do some individual work to get ready for Penn State."

The two most exciting bouts of the dual came back-to-back at 149 pounds and 157 pounds.

Andrew Crone did it again, making another one of his famous comebacks. He rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period, tying the match up at 3-3 with a late takedown. And then the ball just kept rolling as Crone kept control and knocked down Minnesota's Carson Brolsma for four nearfall points, giving him the 7-3 advantage. He wasn't done yet, exploding in the final minute and grabbing another four nearfall points to give him the final 13-3 major decision with the riding time point. Crone tallied 10 points in the final period to clinch the Badgers' only bonus-point win of the day.

It's hard to follow a match like that, but the 157-pound bout did not disappoint.

Senior T.J. Ruschell had a tough test in UM's No. 9 Jake Short, who was upset by Crone last season at 149 pounds.

Short struck quickly in the first period, taking down Ruschell for a 2-0 lead. Ruschell started on bottom in the second period but used a powerful reversal in to tie it up. Short took Ruschell down again in the third but he immediately escaped. With the riding time in Ruschell's advantage, it came down to the crucial last seconds with Ruschell down 4-3.

In a turn of events, Ruschell was awarded with a penalty point due to Short's stalling and upset Short 5-3.

Wisconsin was deducted a team point due to unsportsmanlike conduct on the bench during the 157-pound match.

Senior Isaac Jordan followed suit to the previous two wins, defeating No. 14 Nicholas Wanzek at 165 pounds. The third-ranked Badger started strong with a 4-2 lead after the first period.

Wanzek escaped early in the second period but Jordan quickly took the Gopher down again. Jordan started on bottom in the third and slipped out of Wanzek's grasp to grab the final point of the match and eventually win, 7-4.

Jordan's win tied the dual up at 15-15 ahead of the 174-pound matchup. Ryan Christensen hit a big takedown just seconds into the match and continued to show control early on with some big returns over Chris Pfarr. However, Pfarr bounced back with a takedown of his own late in the second period, tying it up 3-3. Pfarr tacked on another takedown early in the third but
Christensen escaped with 30 seconds remaining to come within one point, but Christensen fell 5-4 in the final match of the Border Battle.

Wisconsin started the dual with a big win from freshman Hunter Ritter. In his first dual back since picking up some injuries at Midlands, the 184-pounder pulled the 7-2 decision over Jordan Rothers.

Heavyweight and second-ranked Connor Medbery met up with conference foe No. 8 Michael Kroells for the third time this season and came away with a close 3-2 decision, marking his fifth win over a ranked opponent this campaign.

No. 13 Ricky Robertson dropped an 11-5 decision to No. 2 Brett Pfarr at 197 pounds. No. 20 Johnny Jimenez also lost a tough 2-0 decision to No. 6 Ethan Lizak, while Cole Martin suffered an 8-3 loss to No. 13 Tommy Thorn. Eli Stickley was pinned by No. 16 Mitch McKee in 1:21. All of Wisconsin's losses were to ranked wrestlers.

Both teams grabbed four decisions and had one bonus-point win apiece. Wisconsin was the
only team to notch nearfall points in the dual.

The Badgers will enjoy a nice break before returning to action against Penn State at home on Jan. 27 at the UW Field House.

184: Hunter Ritter (WIS) over Jordan Rothers (MINN) (Dec 7-2)
197: Brett Pfarr (MINN) over Ricky Robertson (WIS) (Dec 11-5)
285: Connor Medbery (WIS) over Michael Kroells (MINN) (Dec 3-2)
125: Ethan Lizak (MINN) over Johnny Jimenez (WIS) (Dec 2-0)
133: Mitch McKee (MINN) over Eli Stickley (WIS) (Fall 1:21)
141: Thomas Thorn (MINN) over Cole Martin (WIS) (Dec 8-3)
149: Andrew Crone (WIS) over Carson Brolsma (MINN) (MD 13-3)
157: Timothy Ruschell (WIS) over Jake Short (MINN) (Dec 5-4)
165: Isaac Jordan (WIS) over Nicholas Wanzek (MINN) (Dec 7-4)
174: Christopher Pfarr (MINN) over Ryan Christensen (WIS) (Dec 7-4)
WIS team point -1.00