Madison, Wis. – The No. 10 Gophers won eight of 10 matches in beating Wisconsin 27-7 on Friday morning in Big Ten wrestling. Unbeaten Gable Steveson, the No. 1-ranked heavyweight by InterMat, capped the victory by pinning Pete Christensen in 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
Minnesota (6-2) has won four dual meets in a row, and nine straight against the Badgers.
Steveson, a junior, is 8-0 this season, earning bonus points in every victory. And he is undefeated in 25 consecutive matches dating to last season.
Wisconsin (1-5) won the opening match when Eric Barnett upset No. 10 Patrick McKee 17-4 for a major decision.
But the Gophers won the next five matches, all in close decisions, worth three points, to build a 15-4 lead. The winners were Boo Dryden at 133 pounds, Marcos Polanco at 141, Michael Blockhus at 149, No. 6 Brayton Lee at 157 and No. 17 Andrew Sparks at 165.
Wisconsin's Jared Kattiger stopped that run of Gophers wins by beating Jake Allar 5-3 at 174. But Minnesota won the last three matches. No. 12 Owen Webster at 184 and Garrett Joles at 197 got two more close decisions before Steveson's pin.
