Titans Split With Oles, Division II Mavericks

Mark Choinski won both of his bouts as UW-Oshkosh split a pair of wrestling matches on Saturday (Jan. 23) in Mankato, Minn.

UW-Oshkosh defeated St. Olaf College (Minn.), 39-12, before falling by a 41-12 score to host Minnesota State University, the 14th-ranked program in the NCAA Division II by D2Wrestle.com.

Against St. Olaf College (0-9), UW-Oshkosh (4-10) registered two pins and received four forfeits on the way to snapping a five-match losing streak.

St. Olaf College's Guillermo Gorrin won by forfeit in the 125-pound division to open the meet, but UW-Oshkosh responded with five consecutive victories to take a commanding 30-6 lead.

Choinski pinned Bryant Ridgway in 2:59 at the 149-pound weight class, and UW-Oshkosh's Joe Pelkey followed with a pin of Jesse Leamon at the 2:11 mark of their 157-pound matchup. The pin was Choinski's team-leading fifth of the season.

UW-Oshkosh's John DePersia picked up an 8-4 decision over Hugh Ellerman at 184 pounds, while the Titans received forfeit wins by Dellas Vandenberg at 133 pounds, Craig Mason at 141, Michael Berg at 165 and Chris Yaros at 197.

The Oles' Garrett Beaman eked past Julius Smith by a 1-0 count in the 174-pound match before Zachary Gibson pulled out a 2-0 decision over Titan Elijah Burdick at 285 pounds.

Against Minnesota State University (7-2), UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a 12-6 advantage before the Mavericks claimed the last six bouts.

Trevor Schultz won by forfeit at 125 pounds to give Minnesota State University a 6-0 lead before Vandenberg won by injury default over Tyler Funk in the 133-pound weight class to knot the score.

UW-Oshkosh reclaimed a 12-6 advantage with a pair of victories by Mason and Choinski, but the Mavericks closed out the Titans with one decision and five consecutive pins in the final six matches.

Mason outdueled Tanner Mills, 3-1, at 141 pounds, while Choinski improved his season record to 17-4 with an 8-4 victory over Daniel Close in the 149-pound class.

Minnesota State University's Matt Mincey scored an 18-1 win over Pelkey at 157 pounds to draw the Mavericks within one point of the Titans at 12-11.

Corey Abernathy gave Minnesota State University the lead for good with his pin of Patrick Reilly in 49 seconds at 165 pounds.

The Mavericks secured the victory with pins by Max Bullock over Smith in 6:20 at 174 pounds, Scott VanDeLoo over Parker Knueppel in 1:23 at 184 pounds, Darick Vancura over DePersia in 37 seconds at 197 pounds and Malcolm Allen over Burdick in 2:08 at 285 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh is off until it hosts Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 4 in Kolf Sports Center.