Wisconsin’s Bonus-Bout Barrage Decides Mackey Dual, 30-12
Tech-falls and a late pin powered the Badgers past Purdue in West Lafayette, with a pair of ranked winners bookending the dual.
Wisconsin closed its road stretch with a 30-12 win at Purdue on Feb. 1, a dual that hinged on a string of bonus-point performances rather than a run of close decisions. The Badgers piled up multiple tech falls and a pin that produced the margin of victory.
No. 18 Nicolar Rivera opened the dual with a 15-0 technical fall at 125, using a second-period takedown and back-to-back nearfalls to break the match open and deliver early bonus points for Wisconsin.
Purdue answered with heavy scoring in the middle weights, including No. 4 Joey Blaze’s 18-3 technical fall at 165. Blaze added a late nearfall in the third period to seal the tech and pushed his season record forward in front of a large Mackey Arena crowd.
Greyson Clark kept Purdue competitive with a 14-2 major decision at 141, while James Rowley’s 5-1 decision at 184 provided another decision win for the Boilermakers.
Wisconsin’s bonus spree resumed later in the card. Luke Condon recorded a pin at 174 for six team points, and Braxton Amos closed the dual with an 18-2 technical fall at heavyweight, both results cementing the Badgers’ advantage.
The dual also featured a couple of notable upsets. No. 30 Luke Mechler knocked off No. 21 Stoney Buell, 10-3 at 157, and Wyatt Ingham produced a tech-fall upset at 197 over Purdue’s ranked entrant to swing another bonus result in Wisconsin’s favor.
Purdue drew 2,568 fans for the Mackey event, and the atmosphere highlighted contrasting strengths: the Boilermakers’ ability to score bonus points in select matches, and Wisconsin’s depth for collecting the decisive techs and the pin. In the end, Wisconsin’s cluster of bonus victories — more than the narrow decisions on either side — decided the dual and left the Badgers with a comfortable road win.