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Wrestling is a big deal in Iowa. They get more fans for a big wrestling dual at Carver-Hawkeye Arena than they do for basketball games, so it should come as no surprise that the team they support is also pretty danged good. On Saturday afternoon, the No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers wrestling team fell to the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes, 29-6.
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The Badgers jumped out to an early lead on the Hawkeyes, winning the opening bout at 125 pounds as Eric Barnett earned a 4-0 decision of Iowa’s Jesse Ybarra, scoring a takedown during the second period of their bout which ended up being the decider. Austin Gomez also scored a win, beating Vince Turk by decision, 3-2, at 149 pounds.
Undefeated 165 freshman Dean Hamiti suffered his first loss of the season, falling 8-5 against Alex Marinelli in an exciting matchup that will hopefully be repeated a couple of more times this season at Big Tens or NCAAs. For the uninitiated wrestling fan, like myself, watching these two face off was a real treat and showed how fast-paced, technical and physical wrestling can be.
165: #6 Dean Hamiti vs. #5 Alex Marinelli @Hawks_Wrestling pic.twitter.com/cpgp1NN1pl
— Wisconsin Wrestling (@BadgerWrestling) February 5, 2022
Chris Weiler and Braxton Amos both kept their matches close but couldn’t get over the hump and Iowa ended the day with another big team win. Wisconsin returns home to close out the Big Ten dual match season against Illinois on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House.
RESULTS
125: No. 7 Eric Barnett (WIS) over Jesse Ybarra (IOWA) (Dec 4-0) 3-0
133: No. 3 Austin DeSanto (IOWA) over Kyle Burwick (WIS) (TF 26-11 6:44) 3-5
141: No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (IOWA) over Joseph Zargo (WIS) (MD 13-5) 3-9
149: No. 7 Austin Gomez (WIS) over Vince Turk (IOWA) (Dec 3-2) 6-9
157: No. 12 Kaleb Young (IOWA) over No. 28 Garrett Model (WIS) (Dec 8-3) 6-12
165: No. 5 Alex Marinelli (IOWA) over No. 6 Dean Hamiti (WIS) (Dec 8-5) 6-15
174: No. 2 Michael Kemerer (IOWA) over No. 23 Andrew McNally (WIS) (MD 11-2) 6-19
184: No. 17 Abe Assad (IOWA) over No. 27 Christopher Weiler (WIS) (Dec 4-2) 6-22
197: No. 4 Jacob Warner (IOWA) over No. 22 Braxton Amos (WIS) (Dec 3-1) 6-25
285: No. 4 Tony Cassioppi (IOWA) over No. 11 Trent Hillger (WIS) (MD 9-0) 6-29
All rankings as of Jan. 31, 2022 - NWCA for team, Intermat for individuals.