Wrestling

Two winters ago, Northwestern travelled north to Madison for its final regular season dual and was dominated by Wisconsin, 38-3.

What a difference two years makes.

The No. 25 Wildcats (7-1, 2-1 Big Ten) flipped the script and upset the visiting No. 16 Badgers (4-1, 1-1) 18-14 on Friday at Patten Gym.

“It was a total team effort,” junior Johnny Sebastian said. “We knew that it was going to be coming down to every single individual from top to bottom. I think it showed where this program is going.”

The victory comes in NU’s first dual after its heartbreaking, last-match loss to then-No. 14 Illinois on Jan. 7.

After the close loss to the Fighting Illini, the Cats came out strong and energetic against Wisconsin. Coach Matt Storniolo said that the team came in extra motivated.

“We were pretty disappointed after last weekend,” Storniolo said. “We walked away with a bad taste in our mouth. It is a testament to this team’s character that we came out tonight and wrestled the way we did and came away with the win.”

NU started off the dual on the right note with junior Conan Jennings picking up a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin’s Ben Stone at heavyweight.

After hitting a two-point takedown in the first period, Jennings added a point from an escape in the second. The victory proved to be an important win as it gave the Cats the early lead and momentum.

“He set the tone early on,” Sebastian said. “He had a nice little takedown in the beginning that shocked us a little bit. Never seen him hit that before.”

The most dominant performance of the night came from redshirt freshman Sebastian Rivera at 125 pounds.

The New Jersey native picked up a massive 16-0 technical fall victory over Johnny Jimenez. Rivera was in control from the start and managed to hit three four-point near-falls before the match was called.

After Rivera secured the victory, he and Jimenez continued to push and shove each other, resulting in both teams earning unsportsmanlike penalties and one-point deductions.

“I did some things I probably should not have done, cost the team a point,” Rivera said. “I will fix that next time.”

In the closest match of the night, Sebastian and the Badgers’ Ryan Christiansen wrestled down to the wire at 174 pounds. It was the third meeting of the season between the two wrestlers, with Sebastian winning the two previous matchups.

Heading into the decisive third period, Sebastian trailed 1-0. But after tying it up with an escape early in the period, Sebastian picked up another point with only seconds remaining to secure the win.

With Sebastian’s decision, the Cats went up 18-8, essentially putting the Badgers away with two matchups to go. The victory marked the first time the Cats have defeated a ranked opponent since taking down then-No. 23 Indiana in January 2014.

When NU lost to Wisconsin in 2016, it was the culmination of a 2-13 regular season, the worst in school history.

Now, the Cats are out to their best start in conference play since the 2010-11 season. Storniolo says that there have been many changes over the last few years that have led to this revival.

“A lot has changed,” Storniolo said. “Coaching staff has changed, the attitudes changed, the expectations have changed. We are a dangerous team, and people are starting to realize that.”

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