'Cats Drop Road Dual to No. 18 Badgers, 28-12

Friday, January 16

Madison, Wis.

7 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Wisconsin

Photo by: Henry Frieman/Northwestern Athletics

'Cats Drop Road Dual to No. 18 Badgers, 28-12

1/16/2026 10:10:00 PM | Wrestling

MADISON, Wis. - Northwestern wrestling (3-2, 1-1 B1G) came up short in Madison on Friday evening, falling 28-12 to the No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers (10-1, 2-1 B1G). Despite the loss, four 'Cats came away with individual victories, including an upset win at 125 lbs for No. 26 Dedrick Navarro.

Taking on No. 11 Nicolar Rivera, Navarro got the 'Cats on the board with a 6-5 decision. Rivera was the first to score with a takedown in the first period, but a quick takedown from Navarro in the second period evened things up at 3-3. A pair of escapes for Rivera put him back on top midway through the third period, but Navarro got the last word with his second takedown of the evening. Up 6-5, Navarro secured the win with a ride-out for the remainder of the match, picking up his first top-15 victory of the season.

Second to score for Northwestern was No. 32 Billy Dekraker, who defeated Carson Exferd by 5-4 decision at 141 lbs. Following a scoreless first period, Dekraker earned his first point on a stalling penalty, then added on with an escape. His sole takedown of the match came in the third period, and it was enough to outlast Exferd, who scored his remaining points on a pair of escapes and a stalling penalty of his own.

Though Wisconsin had already clinched the team victory, Northwestern closed out the dual on a high note, taking the final two bouts. At 174 lbs, No. 32 Eddie Enright improved to 18-5 on the season with an 11-4 victory by decision over Luke Condon. Enright notched a takedown in each period en route to victory - his fourth straight in dual action.

To finish things off, J.D. Perez defeated Caleb Dennee at 184 lbs, winning by 7-6 decision. Perez and Dennee traded early takedowns to start things off, and with an escape from Dennee, Perez entered the second period trailing by one. An early escape in the second by Perez briefly knotted things up, but he wasted no time on his next attack, notching his second takedown of the evening just 12 seconds into the second period. Despite a pair of escapes from Dennee, Perez held on for the victory to bring his dual record to 4-1.

The 'Cats will be back in action in just two days, when Northwestern is set to host the defending National Champions, No. 1 Penn State, on Sunday in Evanston. First whistle from Welsh-Ryan Arena is set for 2 p.m. CT.

#18 Wisconsin 28, Northwestern 12
197: #28 Wyatt Ingham (WIS) over Alex Smith (NU) (Fall 1:56)
285: #9 Braxton Amos (WIS) over Gabe Christenson (NU) (MD 16-3)
125: #26 Dedrick Navarro (NU) over #11 Nicolar Rivera (WIS) (Dec 6-5)
133: #13 Zan Fugitt (WIS) over #24 Sean Spidle (NU) (Fall 3:32)
141: #32 Billy Dekraker (NU) over Carson Exferd (WIS) (Dec 5-4)
149: #16 Joseph Zargo (WIS) over August Hibler (NU) (Dec 11-6)
157: #26 Luke Mechler (WIS) over Gunnar Myers (NU) (MD 12-3)
165: #26 Cody Goebel (WIS) over Jacob Bostelman (NU) (TF 20-4 6:57)
174: #32 Eddie Enright (NU) over Luke Condon (WIS) (Dec 11-4)
184: J.D. Perez (NU) over Caleb Dennee (WIS) (Dec 7-6)

* All individual rankings courtesy of InterMat (January 13)