12/8/00
Madison, WI - The No. 18 Wisconsin wrestling squad managed to squeak out a win against No. 21 Northern Iowa Friday night at the Kohl Center. A crucial win by freshman Ryan Lewis helped the Badgers defeat the Panthers, 20-19. Wisconsin improves to 5-0 overall.
The Badgers took an early lead in the match, 11-3, before Northern Iowa launched a comeback. Wisconsinís heavyweight, No. 17 Justin Staebler, won the first bout of the evening, overtaking UNIís No. 10 Paul Hynek, 3-2. The Badgers went up 7-0 after sophomore No. 16 Tony Black (125 lbs.) earned a major decision against Eric Dunmire. At 141 pounds, No. 11 Grant Hoerr, also contributed a major decision against Mark Rial. The Panthers took the lead, 12-11, after the 141-pound match however, earning a major decision and a tech fall over Badger wrestlers at the 149- and 157-pound positions. Senior and defending NCAA national champion at 165 pounds, No. 2 Donny Pritzlaff, was able to bring the Badgers back into the lead with a pin (3:21) over UNIís Bob Koening.
Lewis, at 174 pounds, won a hard fought match against Ricky Crone by a narrow 6-5 margin. After a scoreless first period, the match was tied 2-2 at the end of the second period. Lewis earned an escape and a subsequent takedown in the third period only to have Crone copycat with his own escape and takedown. With the score tied at 5, Lewis managed to escape once again for the win. Lewisí win proved to be the clincher for the Badgers as UNIís Kyle Hansen (184 lbs.) and Jason Payne (197 lbs.) won the last two matches of the evening. Payneís attempted last-second
pin of Wisconsinís Joe Terrill would have given UNI the overall win with six team points, however Terrill was able to struggle free, giving the Panthers only a 4-point major decision, and one point shy of a tie.