BARABOO, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's rowing team showed promise against No. 6 Northeastern, but the Huskies edged the Badgers Sunday at Devil's Lake State Park to keep the rights to the Congram Cup for another season. 
 
The varsity eight contested the Huskies' top boat for a majority of the race, but a combination of headwind and fatigue in the final 500 allowed Northeastern to pull away. The Huskies crossed the 2000-meter finish line in 6:11.79, while the Badgers reached the finish line with a time of 6:20.37. 
 
The second varsity eight battled in a close race, but ultimately came up short against the Huskies' second boat, clocking in less than a second behind Northeastern with a time of 6:13.92
 
A four-way race between Northeastern's third varsity and Wisconsin's third varsity eight, freshmen eight and fourth varsity eight went in the Huskies' favor, with the Badgers' third varsity eight finishing second to Northeastern with a time of 6:17.42. 
 
Up Next: The Badgers take next weekend off before traveling to Worcester, Massachusetts, for the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Championships, better known as the Eastern Sprints.
 
Straight from the lake
Head Coach Chris Clark
On the varsity eight's performance:
"We had an excellent last 500 yesterday against BU, and not enough to beat them but very close. I think guys felt like all they needed to do was a good first 1000 and we'd be in this thing. We had a good first 1000 against Northeastern, but watching them and the amount of effort they were putting into it, the yield was negligible. The margin was eight plus seconds and I think probably five or six of that was in the last 500. We just ran out of steam. They were a little disappointed by that. 
 
"Even in our best years, the lineups are fluid all the time. You're developing not only the entire time you're here, but even during the season. Each race gives us more information and allows guys to step up in our perspective, or fall back, depending on how they perform."
 
On the second varsity eight:
"The 2V was excellent. They had what we sometimes jokingly call easy speed. In other words, it didn't look very hard for them to go fast. Northeastern is undefeated in the 2V and we were ahead for quite a ways. They ended up beating us by just a few seats. That was really the best race of the day for us. Big leap ahead for the young guys in that boat. They really improved from yesterday's race that they were leading as well and should have won. That was an excellent performance against somebody who either will win the Sprints or be a medalist in our conference championship."
 
On the third varsity eight/freshmen eight:
"Our 3V was better. We're still well back. Traditionally, we're strong in that, but we've got some injuries. One of our guys, Erik Kernozek, came back and we plopped him in there and immediately our 3V was better. It still is not really in Northeastern's class. The freshmen were right with them, and that's really good going forward. We're about the only ones that are rowing a separate freshmen boat now with a bunch of novices."
 
On preparing for IRAs: 
"We're kind of where we were the last few years. We've won some races, lost some races. We're still not exactly positive who's going to end up where. For us, we're still in the beginning of the season. We've had one non-race week where we could train and prepare, and that was a couple of weeks ago. Now we've got a whole week and then Sprints Week coming up. We should make some pretty significant gains. Then we have another two-and-a-half weeks, almost three weeks after that. If it's going to go, it starts to go now. We've got the feedback from the dual and three-way races, and now it's time to get to work."
 
No. 11 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Northeastern 
Baraboo, Wis.
April 28, 2018
2,000 meters
 
Varsity Eight: 
1. Northeastern, 6:11.79; 2. Wisconsin, 6:20.37
Wisconsin Lineup: Theodore Van Beek (cox), Tristan Amberger, Nickolas Montalvo, Andrew Griffin, Thomas Walker, Kyle McCarthy, James Bernard, Jacob Wenner, Jonah Van der Weide
 
Second Varsity Eight: 
1. Northeastern, 6:12.55; 2. Wisconsin, 6:13.92. 
Wisconsin Lineup: Cameron Pak (cox), John Hollow, Alexander Butler, Kurt Mueller, Dylan Adams, William Alt, Nathan Petersen, Andrew Flannery, Tyler Stevens
 
Third Varsity Eight: 
1. Northeastern, 6:08.87; 2. Wisconsin 3V, 6:17.42; 3. Wisconsin 1F, 6:17.53; 4. Wisconsin 4V, 6:22.69
Wisconsin 3V Lineup: Ian Tunney (cox), Evan Miller, Jacob Buboltz, Theodore Boesen, Jacob Hurlbutt, Erik Kernozek, Taylor Steeno, Philipp Bogdanov, Christoph Bub
Wisconsin 1F Lineup: James Catalano (cox), Paul Sagraves, Adam Wehking, Caleb Sorenson, Tyler Berstein, Luke VandenHeuvel, Samuel Williams, John Young, Matthew Palmer
Wisconsin 4V Lineup: Arthur Condor (cox), Spencer Waldron, Parker Brooks, Benjamin Waller, Henry Roberts, Samuel Wheeler, Chase Covey, Timothy Glennon, Will Klauke