Northwestern
Wisconsin
Top-Ranked Tsirtsis Improves to 22-0
1/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
EVANSTON, Ill. - The nation's top-ranked wrestler at 149 lbs. opened Friday night's match against No. 11 Wisconsin with his 22nd win of the season. Jason Tsirtsis remained unbeaten in 2014-15 with a 6-1 victory over Rylan Lubeck.
The win is Tsirtsis' 38th in a row.
The Badgers got the best of the Wildcats overall, leaving Evanston with a 30-16 dual meet victory.
The 18th-ranked Wildcats picked up four wins on the night, including a forfeit at 125 lbs. No. 12 Alex Polizzi knocked off a top-10 opponent in Timmy McCall with riding time making the difference in a 7-6 decision at 197 lbs. Garrison White received a win via forfeit at 125, and Jameson Oster finished the night on a high note for Northwestern with a 16-5 major decision at 141 over Jesse Thielke.
The match at 197 proved to be a thriller with the score going back and forth throughout. Polizzi struck first with a second-period escape after choosing to start on the bottom. McCall took down Polizzi, but the NU wrestler quickly escaped to tie things up at two. Polizzi then scored a takedown and led 4-2 going into the third period. After choosing to start on the bottom, McCall got a reversal and a two-point nearfall to grab a 6-4 advantage. Not to be outdone, Polizzi reversed back and rode out McCall, earning the riding time point in the process to take the match.
The 197-pounder improved to 19-4 with his win, while White picked up his tenth victory of the season. Oster earned win number 13 with his major decision.
The Wildcats are back on the mat next Friday when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. to take on the Purdue Boilermakers at 7 p.m. NU will finish up the road trip through Indiana with a Sunday afternoon tussle in Bloomington versus the Indiana Hoosiers.
Northwestern is back at home in Welsh-Ryan Arena on Jan. 25 hosting in-state rival Illinois.
Results
149: No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. Rylan Lubeck (Wis), 6-1
157: Jarod Donar (Wis) Fall Ben Sullivan (NU), 5:30
165: No. 3 Isaac Jordan (Wis) Fall No. 7 Pierce Harger (NU), 2:21
174: No. 18 Frank Cousins (Wis) Win by Forfeit
184: Ricky Robertson (Wis) dec. Mitch Sliga (NU), 4-0
197: No. 12 Alex Polizzi (NU) dec. No. 10 Timmy McCall (Wis), 7-6
285: No. 5 Connor Medbery (Wis) dec. No. 2 Mike McMullan (NU), 7-6
125: Garrison White (NU) Win by Forfeit
133: No. 14 Ryan Taylor (Wis) Fall No. 20 Dominick Malone (NU), 5:47
141: Jameson Oster (NU) maj. dec. Jesse Thielke (Wis), 16-5
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