Choinski Finishes Fifth At NCAA Championships

UW-Oshkosh junior Mark Choinski earned All-America honors for the second consecutive season after finishing fifth in the 157-pound weight class at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships held Friday and Saturday (March 9-10) in Cleveland, Ohio.

Choinski, who finished sixth in the same weight division at last year's national meet in La Crosse, compiled a 4-2 record at this year's event, including a pin of Messiah College's (Pa.) Kevin Edwards in 2:51 during their fifth-place match.

The fourth-seeded Choinski began his participation at this year's championships with victories of 10-0 over Tyler Gazaway of Roger Williams College (R.I.) and 10-3 over Dominick Reyes of Johns Hopkins University (Md.).

Choinski was then sent to the consolation bracket with an 8-6 loss to fifth-seeded and eventual third-place finisher Cole Erickson of Coe College (Iowa). 

Choinski rebounded from his loss to Erickson with wins of 8-6 over University of Mount Union's (Ohio) Michael McIntire and 7-2 over Wabash College's (Ind.) Kyle Hatch.

Choinski was unable to continue his string of victories as third-seeded and eventual fourth-place finisher Zach Wilhelm of Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.) pinned him in a time of 2:42.

Top-seeded Ryan Epps of Augsburg University (Minn.) won the 157-pound weight class with a 3-1 overtime win over second-seeded Logan Thomsen of Wartburg College (Iowa) in the title match.

Wartburg College scored 136.5 points to win its third straight NCAA title and 14th overall. Augsburg University, the 2015 national champion, finished second with 82 points, Ithaca College (N.Y.) third with 79, Stevens Institute of Technology fourth with 55 and Wabash College fifth with 44. UW-Oshkosh tallied 13 points to finish 29th among the 51 teams that scored.

Choinski, who concluded the 2018 season with a 23-3 record (4 pins), is one of 11 UW-Oshkosh wrestlers to receive an All-America award at the NCAA Division III Championships and 20 overall. The Titans had nine wrestlers collect All-America recognition at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championships from 1964-79.

Last year the unseeded Choinski compiled a 2-3 record in his national meet debut, including a 15-5 loss to unseeded Jimmy Davis of Loras College (Iowa) in their fifth-place match of the 157-pound category.

Choinski has compiled a 61-13 record (17 pins) during his three years with the Titans. He repeated as WIAC champion this season and qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships with a second-place finish at the Upper Midwest Regional held Feb. 23-24 in Minneapolis, Minn.

Photo courtesy of D3photography.com

NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships • Host Website

NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships • NCAA.com Website