Choinski Earns NCAA Championship Berth
UW-Oshkosh's Mark Choinski earned his second straight NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship appearance by finishing second in the 157-pound weight class at the Upper Midwest Regional held Friday and Saturday (Feb. 23-24) in Minneapolis, Minn.
Choinski, a junior, compiled a 3-1 regional record after losing his first-place match by a 6-3 score to Ryan Epps of Augsburg University (Minn.). Epps entered the regional ranked first and Choinski third nationally by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in the 157-pound category.
Choinski advanced to the final with a medical forfeit victory over Lakeland University's Matthew Gonzalez, a 19-2 result over UW-Platteville's Carter Barkema and a 5-0 decision over University of Chicago's (Ill.) Jason Crary.
Choinski, who collected All-America honors with his sixth-place finish at last year's NCAA Championship, enters this season's national event, scheduled for March 9-10 in Cleveland, Ohio, with a record of 19-1 (3 pins). His three-year record as a Titan is 61-13 (17 pins).
UW-Oshkosh also received sixth-place regional finishes from Anthony Senthavisouk at 133 pounds, Corey Knudsen at 149 and Colten Cashmore at 184.
Senthavisouk tallied a 2-3 regional record, including a loss on a pin in 6:08 to UW-Whitewater's Hazen Rice in their fifth-place match. Senthavisouk also lost a 5-2 decision to Rice in the opening round. Following his first loss to Rice, Senthavisiouk (12-17, 2 pins) posted a 7-6 win over UW-Platteville's Scott Arneson and pinned Concordia College's (Minn.) Aaron Dick in 1:28 before suffering a 16-2 defeat to UW-Eau Claire's Tyler Demo.
Knudsen split his six matches at the regional, including a setback on a pin in 1:07 to UW-Stevens Point's Luke Smiley in their fifth-place contest. Smiley also pinned Knudsen (15-19) in 1:31 during their first-round matchup. After his opening-round loss, Knudsen rattled of victories of 13-5 over Milwaukee School of Engineering's Sam Rathburn, 9-1 over University of Chicago's Mason Williams and 10-1 over UW-Platteville's Trevor Harsh before losing on a pin in 6:18 to Concordia College's Ty Johnson.
Cashmore posted a regional record of 2-3, including a 12-3 loss to Wheaton College's (Ill.) Isaac Odell in their fifth-place bout. Cashmore (26-8, 3 pins) opened with a 10-1 victory over Concordia College's Nick Gravdahl and a 3-1 triumph over UW-La Crosse's Sean O'Neil before suffering defeats of 2-0 to UW-Platteville's Grant Wedepohl and 2-1 to Augsburg University's Sebastian Larson.
UW-Oshkosh also had Wesam Alabed register a 2-2 regional record at 141 pounds. Titans Husam Alabed at 174 pounds, John DePersia at 197 and Ben Kitslaar at 285 all went 1-2 while Jaylin Johnson and Nate Arquinego lost both of their contests at 125 and 165 pounds, respectively.
Augsburg University won the 17-team regional with 147 points. The 12-time national champion Auggies were followed by second-place UW-La Crosse with 128 points, third-place UW-Whitewater with 93, fourth-place UW-Stevens Point with 79 and fifth-place Elmhurst College (Ill.) with 78.5. UW-Oshkosh finished ninth with 53.5 points.
UW-Oshkosh and its WIAC colleagues will send 17 wrestlers to this year's NCAA Championship, including regional champions Ramsey Bloy of UW-Eau Claire at 197 pounds, Jon Goetz of UW-Platteville at 174 and Jordan Newman of UW-Whitewater at 184. The top three finishers in each weight class earned spots in the national championship.
NCAA Division III Upper Midwest Wrestling Regional • Host Website