The wrestling team said their "hearts are heavy" after hearing about the loss of teammate Eli Stickley.
"Our hearts are heavy today. The entire Badger wrestling family extends its most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Eli Stickley, our brother and teammate, who passed away last night," the team said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Eli's family and friends."
Stickley, of Urbana, Ohio, was an Academic All-American wrestler and an NCAA qualifier.
The Wisconsin State Journal confirms:
From Urbana, Ohio, Stickley was an Ohio Division II state champion at 120 pounds in 2014 with a 50-3 record.The vehicle Stickley was driving left the roadway, traveled into the right-hand ditch, over-corrected and rolled across both westbound lanes of traffic, according to the report. It came to rest on its passenger's side.
Stickley's family has a long history with Badgers wrestling. His uncle, Jim Jordan, won NCAA championships in 1985 and 1986 and was a three-time All-American. He now represents Ohio's 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Another uncle, Jeff Jordan, wrestled for UW from 1983 to 1986.
Stickley's cousin, Isaac Jordan, competed for UW from 2012 to 2017.
Jordan is embroiled in a NCAA-related wrestling controversy now over alleged sexual misconduct by the Ohio State team personnel decades ago.
Comment: Condolences to the Stickley family on their tragic loss.
Still, it is a strange, unsettling coincidence given both the high-profile role his uncle Congressman Jim Jordan is playing on the House Intel Committee hearings and the potential sex-abuse scandal brewing at Jordan's old employer Ohio State University.