Wildcats Fall to No. 11 Wisconsin, 19-18
Kimberlin upsets 13th-ranked Turner at 157 lbs.
EVANSTON, Ill. – 18th-ranked Northwestern fell to 11th-ranked Wisconsin by the slimmest of margins in the Wildcats’ final dual match of the season Sunday, 19-18. The `Cats carried a 18-16 advantage into the final match at 197 lbs., but fell there in a tough overtime period, 6-4, pushing the Badgers ahead for the overall victory.
Senior Mike Kimberlin was one of five `Cats to record wins on the day. Competing at Welsh-Ryan Arena for the final time in his career, Kimberlin went out on top with a huge upset over 13th-ranked Tyler Turner at 157 lbs.
Freshmen Dustin Fox, Jake Herbert and Ryan Lang and junior John Velez also recorded victories for Northwestern (9-6, 2-6 Big Ten).
Fox started things off at heavyweight and got on the board first with an early takedown of Kraemer in the first round. He also recorded an escape to take a 3-0 lead into the second round.
Another takedown stretched his lead to 5-0, but Kraemer scored a reversal to close the gap to 5-2. Fox closed the match out in the third round with three more points for an 8-2 win, improving his record to 13-8 overall, 5-2 in the Big Ten.
Fresh off upsetting the nation’s second-ranked Kyle Ott at 125 lbs., junior John Velez did not ease up at all against the Badgers’ Colin Cudd. Velez landed a takedown in the opening round to take a 2-0 lead. He then scored a reversal in second round and another takedown in the final round. With a bonus point for riding time (2:06), Velez earned a 7-2 decision to improve to 14-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten.
Wisconsin’s seventh-ranked Tom Clum then earned a major decision at 133 lbs. and Northwestern’s lead was cut to 6-4.
Freshman Ryan Lang got the `Cats back on track at 141 lbs. Lang took a 1-0 lead into the third round, where Gutnik quickly tied things up with an escape. With less than 45 seconds to go, Lang scored a takedown for the 3-2 decision.
Wisconsin’s Greg Henning knotted the score at 9-9 by earning a technical fall at 149 lbs.
Kimberlin then put NU ahead 12-9 with his 5-3 win over Turner.
A major decision by Wisconsin at 165 lbs. swung the lead back into the Badgers’ favor, but Herbert had something to say about that.
After suffering his only loss of the year last Thursday at Illinois, Herbert got back on track in a big way for the `Cats. He pinned 17th-ranked Kelly Flaherty at 1:14 to boost Northwestern ahead, 18-13.
Ninth-ranked Brady Reinke then edged freshman Mike Tamillow 7-3 to set the decisive stage at 197 lbs, where 13th-ranked Delguyd faced 19th-ranked Ryan Flaherty.
Flaherty jumped ahead with a takedown in first, but Delguyd — the team’s team-leader in wins with 25 — tied the score at two after an escape late in the first round and another early in the second round.
Delguyd then scored his first takedown of the match, but Flaherty followed with his own pair of escapes to knot it back at 4-4. The two remained tied as time ran out in the third round ran out. In the overtime period, Flaherty scored a takedown of Delguyd to push the Badgers ahead.
Northwestern is next in action March 5-6 at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Iowa.
Wisconsin 19, Northwestern 18
Hwt. – #13 Dustin Fox (NU) dec. over Lee Kraemer (WIS), 8-2
125 – #11 John Velez (NU) dec. over Colin Cudd (WIS), 7-2
133 – #7 Tom Clum (WIS) major dec. over Daniel Quintela (NU), 17-6
141 – #10 Ryan Lang (NU) def. Ed Gutnik (WIS), 3-2
149 – Greg Henning (WIS) technical fall over Jimmy Kim (NU), 16-0
157 – Mike Kimberlin (NU) dec. over #13 Tyler Turner (WIS), 5-3
165 – Jake Donar (WIS) major dec. over Nick Hayes (NU), 10-2
174 – #3 Jake Herbert (NU) pinned #17 Kelly Flaherty (WIS), 1:14
184 – #9 Brady Reinke (WIS) dec. over #18 Mike Tamillow (NU), 7-3
197 – #19 Ryan Flaherty (WIS) dec. over #13 Matt Delguyd (NU), 6-4 (OT)
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