Rutgers University
No. 18 Wisconsin
No. 21 WRES Edged By Criteria At No. 18 UW
Feb 06 | Wrestling
MADISON, Wis. - The No. 21 Rutgers wrestling team had momentum for much of the match, but three-straight Wisconsin wins to close the dual tied things at 18-18 and gave the No. 18 Badgers a 19-18 win by criterion 3.15.3 Friday night at the UW Field House.
With the team score tied, 18-18, at the conclusion of all 10 bouts, the officials went to criteria to determine a winner. The first criterion for greater number of victories (3.15.1) was void since the teams split bouts, 5-5. The second criterion for combined number of forfeits, falls defaults or disqualifications (3.15.2) was also passed over since no match was decided in that fashion.
That brought the tiebreaker to criterion 3.15.3, which awards a point to the team that records the greater number of match points scored only from decisions, major decisions and technical falls. That gave the tiebreaker point to Wisconsin based on the Badgers' 64-52 advantage in the category.
The loss drops RU to 11-7 overall and 1-7 in Big Ten action heading into the team's final league dual at No. 25 Northwestern Sunday in Evanston, Ill.
Junior 197-pounder Hayden Hrymack (Point Pleasant, N.J.) set the tone right out of the gates for Rutgers with his 6-5 upset of No. 9/10/10/10 Timmy McCall.
Adversity surfaced more than once for Hrymack (11-7, 5-5 Duals), who was taken down with a double leg 18 seconds into the match. An escape and takedown later in the period shook out the nerves and gave the junior a 3-2 lead after the first.
Trailing 4-2 late in the third with riding time in his favor, McCall got the takedown he needed to secure the match. But Hrymack had other plans, reversing the senior with three seconds on the clock to cement the 6-5 win.
The ranked win, also a top-10 upset, was the first of Hrymack's career.
The two teams traded bouts from heavyweight to 141 pounds leading into intermission, where Rutgers led, 10-7.
Wisconsin evened the dual score at 3-3 with a 4-1 decision from No. 3/2/2/4 heavyweight Connor Medbery over No. 14/18/20/11 Billy Smith (Wantage, N.J.). The loss snapped a three-match winning streak for Smith, who moves to 12-5 overall.
125-pounder Sean McCabe (Connetquot, N.Y.) picked up his first win since Jan. 25 with a 2-1 decision over UW's Johnny Jimenez. McCabe (14-7, 10-5 Duals) escaped from bottom in the second after a scoreless first period, riding Jimenez out for 1:48 of the final period to secure the riding time point and the win.
The Badgers responded with a 17-3 major decision from No. 9/7/713 Ryan Taylor at 133 pounds, snapping the two-match winning streak of No. 18/16/NR/17 Scott DelVecchio (South Plainfield, N.J.). DelVecchio moves to 16-7 on the year with the loss.
Redshirt freshman 141-pounder Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.) swung momentum RU's way entering intermission with his third consecutive bonus-point win. He topped UW's Jesse Thielke by an 11-2 major decision to improve to 20-4 on the year and a team-best 16-2 in duals on the season.
Out of the break, 149-pounder Ken Theobold (Toms River, N.J.) won his eighth-straight match against Rylan Lubeck. Theobold started the third on top with a 5-0 lead, getting a pair of near fall points as time expired to secure the 8-0 major decision.
Among dual starters, Theobold has the best overall record at 21-4 and is right behind Ashnault in duals at 15-2.
157-pounder Anthony Perrotti (Roseland, N.J.) extended his winning streak to three-straight with a 12-4 major decision against Jarod Donor. Perrotti (15-6, 10-5 Duals) registered three near falls in the match and appeared to have Donor pinned twice, but the two wrestled out of it prior to the official whistle.
If Perrotti was awarded the fall, RU would have topped Wisconsin by criterion 3.15.2 with the only pin of the match.
A tech fall at 165 pounds proved to be the difference in the match, as No. 3/3/3/4 Isaac Jordan got the tech-sealing takedown with five seconds left to win, 19-4, over Nick Visicaro (Long Branch, N.J.). That made the team score 18-12 entering the final two matches, both of which were won by decision by the Badgers to bring the final to a criteria conclusion.
174-pounder Phillip Bakuckas (Hammonton, N.J.) lost a 3-2 match against UW's Frank Cousins, who wrangled Bakuckas in with 0:36 seconds left to go ahead for good. At 184 pounds, Anthony Pafumi (Westfield, N.J.) was edged, 9-3, by No. NR/14/19 Ricky Robertson to close the dual, 18-18.
The criteria breakdown brought the tiebreaker to total match points scored in decisions, major decisions and technical falls (3.15.3), which Wisconsin secured, 64-52.
The Scarlet Knights close out their Big Ten schedule at No. 25 Northwestern on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed live via BTN Plus.
No. 18 Wisconsin 19, No. 21 Rutgers 18, Criterion 3.15.3
Dual started at 197 pounds
Location: UW Field House
Official: Terry Giardini and Keith Poolman
197: Hayden Hrymack (RU) dec. over No. 9/10/10/10 Timmy McCall (UW), 6-5; Rutgers leads, 3-0
285: No. 3/2/2/4 Connor Medbery (UW) dec. over No. 14/18/20/11 Billy Smith (RU), 4-1; Match tied, 3-3
125: Sean McCabe (RU) dec. over Johnny Jimenez (UW), 2-1; Rutgers leads, 6-3
133: No. 9/7/7/13 Ryan Taylor (UW) major dec. over No. 18/16/NR/17 Scott DelVecchio (RU), 17-3; Wisconsin leads, 7-6
141: No. 9/7/12/9 Anthony Ashnault (RU) major dec. over Jesse Thielke (UW), 11-2; Rutgers leads, 10-7
149: No. 17/16/17/20 Ken Theobold (RU) major dec. over Rylan Lubeck (UW), 8-0; Rutgers leads, 14-7
157: No. 16/16/14/18 Anthony Perrotti (RU) major dec. over Jarod Donor (UW), 12-4; Rutgers leads, 18-7
165: No. 3/3/3/4 Isaac Jordan (UW) tech fall over Nick Visicaro (RU), 19-4; Rutgers leads, 18-12
174: No. NR/NR/NR/20 Frank Cousins (UW) dec. over No. NR/16/NR/NR Phil Bakuckas (RU), 3-2; Rutgers leads, 18-15
184: No. NR/19/14/19 Ricky Robertson (UW) dec. over Anthony Pafumi (RU), 9-3; Match tied, 18-18
Tiebreaker: Wisconsin wins by criterion 3.15.3 (64-52), 19-18
Rankings (-/-/-): InterMat / The Open Mat / WIN Magazine/ Flo Wrestling (Feb. 3)
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