Results

Despite several toughly battled matches, the Badgers have no wrestlers advancing to the third or fourth sessions of the 53rd annual Midlands Championships.

Sophomore 125-pounder Johnny Jimenez got off to a solid start at Midlands after defeating Grand View's Tristan Bundy with a 10-3 decision. Jimenez stepped out quickly with a takedown followed by an escape from Bundy to lead 2-1 with 1:30 remaining in the first period. After one period, Jimenez shot up to a 4-1 lead until a last-second takedown in the second period gave him a 6-2 advantage after two. An escape and reversal early in the third period clinched the decision for Jimenez as he finished the 10-3 win with 1:15 riding time.

Jimenez lost a 10-1 major decision to North Dakota State's 16th-ranked Joshua Rodriguez in the championship round two. Jimenez was eliminated after taking a tough loss to Buffalo's Kyle Akins. The sophomore kept it a close match the entire time, turning the tables around and knotting the score at 6-6 in the third period but fell to Akins in the end, 7-6.

After receiving a bye, sophomore Gabriel Grahek (141 pounds) won a 3-0 decision over Iowa's Paul Glynn before dropping a 10-5 decision to No. 3 Chris Mecate of Old Dominion. Arizona State's Robbie Mathers posted a 12-2 major decision over Grahek in consolation round four.
Freshman Luke Rowh (141 pounds) started the tournament with a loss by major decision (8-0) to Oregon State's Jack Hathaway but bounced back with a powerful pin over Jacob Macololooy (Columbia) by fall (1:38). He was eliminated after being pinned by Maryland's Billy Rappo (3:52).

Freshman Jared Scharenbrock suffered a loss by fall (3:25) to the seventh-ranked 157-pounder in the country, Thomas Gantt, in the championship round of two but he didn't let the loss keep him down for long. Scharenbrock rebounded with an explosive 19-2 win by technical fall over Oklahoma's Brock Wingbermuehle. Although it began as a tight match, with Scharenbrock just leading 4-2 after one period, the Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native dominated the rest of the bout going up 12-2 after two periods before elevating to a 19-2 final score.

Scharenbrock was routed with a 12-2 major decision in consolation round four by Nebraska's Tyler Berger.

Wisconsin's starter at 184 pounds, Ryan Christensen, started the day with a spark of excitement. Christensen won in sudden victory-1 over Kayne MacCallum (Eastern Michigan), 8-4. He fell, 3-1, in the next round to a worthy opponent in No. 3-ranked Jack Dechow (Old Dominion).

At 149 pounds, Andrew Crone faced Maryland's Shyheim Brown to start his tournament run. Crone held onto a tight 2-1 lead after two periods before escaping and finishing the match with a 6-1 win. Crone later suffered a loss by major decision to Nebraska's seventh-ranked Jake Sueflohn, 9-1, in the championships round three.

Crone recovered from the loss with a victory in the consolation round four. After going down 2-0, Crone notched a reversal to trail 3-2 with one minute left in the first period against North Carolina State's Sam Melikian. Crone snatched the lead, 4-3, at the end of the first period before Melikian knotted the score at 4-4 again with 30 seconds left in the second period. In the third period, Crone slipped out for an escape point and clinched the 7-4 win with a clutch takedown in the last seconds of the match.

Freshman Eli Stickley, who wrestled unattached, was also eliminated after losing back-to-back decisions to Northern Iowa's Jake Koethe (9-6) and Eastern Michigan's Kyle Springer (6-2).

Also at 141 pounds, freshman Cole Martin wrestled unattached and posted a 2-2 record on the day. He lost a major decision (10-2) to CSU Bakerfield's Ian Nickell to start the day but ricocheted back into the tournament with back-to-back wins. He notched a pin over Northwestern's Alexander McKenna (2:45) before taking a 3-2 decision from Northern Iowa's Jake Hodges. Martin's rally was brought short by Oklahoma's Trae Blackwell, who defeated him with an 11-7 decision.

In the 197-pound weight class, Eric Peissig won by major decision over Northern Iowa's Cody Krumweide (10-2) but suffered two losses to Ohio's No. 11-ranked Phil Wellington (Maj. 8-0) and Oklahoma's Brad Johnson (Dec. 6-2).

Wisconsin's heavyweight, Brock Horwath, posted a 1-2 record on the day after defeating Northern Iowa's JJ Everard with a 9-2 decision in his first match of the day but dropped two decisions to eighth-ranked Sam Stoll of Iowa and Duece Rachal of Illinois.

The Badgers return to the mat on Jan. 8, as they take on Nebraska at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House.