Jordan vs. Jordan at NCAA wrestling tourney

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NEW YORK – Wisconsin junior Isaac Jordan of Graham High School clinched his first berth to the NCAA wrestling championships semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Nebraska’s Austin Wilson at 165 pounds on Friday.

With the victory, Jordan joins his father, Jim Jordan, as a three-time All-American and makes him the 13th Badger to earn the distinction three times.

UW has sent at least one wrestler to the NCAA semifinals in each of the last four seasons.

Jordan struck first against Wilson with a takedown at the 1:14 mark and rode out the rest of the first period. Wilson escaped 30 seconds into the second, but it would be the last points he put on the board. Jordan added an escape in the third period to seal the 3-1 victory.

In the semifinals later Friday night, Jordan faced his cousin, Graham graduate Bo Jordan of Ohio State, for a spot in the 165-pound final. The two Big Ten foes have met three times over the last two seasons, with Isaac Jordan winning all three bouts by decision.

“I wouldn’t say it’s super bad blood, but it’s tough,” Bo Jordan said. “If you try to picture it, you have two people in the family wrestling each other, we’ve trained together since we were 5, 6 years old and we’re trying to beat each other and steal each other’s dream. I love him. He’s a great wrestler but when we’re on the mat, I think you can tell from both of us that we really, really want to win.”

UW junior Ryan Taylor of Graham High School opened the day on a thrilling note, defeating Arizona State’s Dalton Brady, 4-3, in tiebreaker-1 to move through the 133-pound consolation bracket. Taylor kept alive his chances for a second All-America honor when he defeated Oregon State’s Joey Palmer, 5-4, to advance in the consolation brackets.

After a scoreless first period, Taylor let Brady slip out of his grasp at the start of the second and was taken down immediately. Taylor escaped after nearly four seconds but Brady held a 3-1 lead headed into the final period. Taylor escaped to open the third and cut Brady’s lead to one, and he tied it up as he received a penalty point with just 19 seconds left.

The wrestlers battled through three overtime periods tied at 3-3 until Taylor escaped in the tiebreaker-1 period and clinched the 4-3 victory.

Taylor kept it just as close in his second match of the day. He and Palmer were scoreless through one period, but Palmer jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second. A Taylor reversal trimmed the gap to 3-2 before Palmer added another escape at the end of the period to take a 4-2 lead into the third.

Taylor acted fast, using a reversal nine seconds into the period to tie the bout again at 4-4. He racked up 1:11 in riding time that proved the difference in the 5-4 triumph and allowed him to move on in the wrestlebacks.

Taylor faced No. 7 seed Eric Montoya of Nebraska in the fourth session. He holds a 2-0 record over Montoya after defeating him with a major decision and in sudden victory in the 2014-15 season.

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