Being down 10-0 through three matches might have seemed like an impossible situation to overcome, but the UW-Whitewater wrestling team pulled out a 17-16 win over UW-Parkside Thursday night in the Kachel Gym.

With the win, the Warhawks took home the ‘Sake Bottle trophy,’ a trophy that the two teams play for every year, a tradition started in 1975. Before the win, UW-Parkside won the previous six years.

The meet came down to the final match with the team’s hopes resting on the shoulders of 165-pound sophomore Cedric Gibson.

Gibson needed to not only win his match to bring the Warhawks to a tie, but to win the meet he had to win in a major decision. With only 14 seconds left, Gibson needed two takedowns to propel his team to a win.

“We got out of bounds and I was like man I’m dying,” Gibson said. “The next thing I know Corey slapped me on the butt and I thought, I’ve got to get up.”

This gave Gibson the boost of adrenaline he needed.

“I took the shot and he took the hand fall, which most guys wouldn’t do, they’d try to avoid the major decision,” Gibson said.

Coach Tim Fader said this was a “pride match” because of the Rangers’ dominance in this rivalry since 1998.

“We came out of the gate and we looked timid,” Fader said. “I thought Jake Frederickson did a good job of reestablishing our confidence.”                 Thursday’s match started randomly instead of starting with the 125-pound match and ending with the heavyweights. This made the end of the meet more stressful for 285-pound senior Corey Anderson, who usually finishes meets as the lastmatch.

“That was a nail-biter for me because he’s my roommate. I had to keep hiding my face and hiding behind my teammates,” Anderson said. “I’m usually the last match so I’m used to having to put the meet on my back.”

Anderson started the comeback by beating a guy he has wrestled and beaten a few times before, however he wasn’t able to wrestle his style because of a foot injury early on in the match.

“My shooting foot kind of popped on me and it threw me off for the rest of the match,” Anderson said. “I’m a high-pace wrestler, but with my injury I had to wrestle slowly like a normal heavyweight.”

Anderson said he was happy Gibson got to win the match. He also said Gibson used to come and ask for advice on his high-crotch move that sealed Gibson’s win.

Now when Anderson sees him in a situation to use it, he knows it’s coming.

“It’s smooth like butter, comes off like bread,” Anderson said.

The team’s win streak is now at 11. Gibson said it’s something special because there are seven ’Hawks ranked in the top 10 weight classes of Division-III.

The win took a lot of effort from the whole team, and some “scrappy” wrestling from 141-pound freshman, Elroy Perkin. Perkin won a pivotal match that put UW-Whitewater in the lead for the first time.

Fader said there is certainly a rivalry in this matchup due to the proximity of the two schools.

He added that the team has wrestled so well because their confidence and guys are starting to believe that they can compete at a high level.

“I’ve seen a lot of great dual meets and been involved in a lot of dual meets, but that one certainly ranks as one of the best,” Fader said.

The Warhawks will finish the regular season at home Thursday against UW-Platteville on Senior Night.