Yineman Finishes First, Titans 11th At Spartan Mat Classic

Freshman Beau Yineman won the 197-pound weight class as UW-Oshkosh finished 11th among 22 wrestling teams at the Manchester University Spartan Mat Classic held Saturday (Jan. 12) in North Manchester, Ind.

Yineman went undefeated in four contests, including a forfeit win over Antonio McCloud of Mount St. Joseph University (Ohio) in the title bout that raised his season record to 21-1 (4 pins).

Yineman, ranked sixth in the NCAA Division III by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, began his trek to the final with pins in 1:59 of Wabash College's (Ind.) Chris Wilson and 13 seconds of Alma College's (Mich.) Austin Popp. Yineman then tallied a 15-0 victory over Wheaton College's (Ill.) Max Gierke in the semifinals.

Yineman's pin of Popp was the fastest by a UW-Oshkosh wrestler since Nazar Kulchytskyy stuck Pacific University's (Ore.) Carson French to the mat in 13 seconds on March 1, 2014.

UW-Oshkosh had two other place winners in the tournament as Husam Alabed finished fourth and Patrick Reilly fifth at 174 pounds.

Alabed compiled a 2-2 record, including pins in 1:50 of Wheaton College's Jacob Murrie and 2:27 of Trine University's (Ind.) Jacob Andrina in his first two bouts. Alabed then lost a 12-5 decision to Andrew Sams of Bellarmine University (Ky.) and a 16-11 result to Anthony Welsh of Waynesburg University (Pa.) in the third-place match.

Reilly tallied a 4-1 record, including four straight wins following a 15-6 setback to Welsh. Reilly began his string of victories with an 8-3 decision over DJ Bell of Manchester University and a pin in 4:33 over Jacob Legge of Defiance College (Ohio). He then edged Carlos Lopez of Wabash College, 2-1, and pinned Stephen Watson of Wheaton College in 2:58 to share fifth place with Conner Homan of University of Mount Union (Ohio).

UW-Oshkosh, the lone WIAC school competing at the tournament, accumulated 68 team points to finish four behind the 72 compiled by ninth-place Marian University (Ind.).

Wabash College, ranked fourth in the country, captured the team title with 164.5 points. Wheaton College finished second to the Little Giants with 118.5 points while Bellarmine University placed third with 111, Indiana Tech fourth with 103.5 and Waynesburg University fifth with 98.5.

UW-Oshkosh was represented by 15 other wrestlers at the Spartan Mat Classic, including two-time All-American Mark Choinski who won his first two matches (1 pin) at 165 pounds before retiring due to an injury.

The Titans also had Jaylin Johnson go 0-2 at 125 pounds; Kobe Allen 2-2, Max Andrade 1-2 (1 pin) and Darron Sims 1-2 at 141; Shane Dziadosz 2-2 (2 pins) and Eli Mondrella 2-2 ( 1 pin) at 149; Devin Keast 1-2 (1 pin) and Muzi Sitshela 3-2 at 157; Tony Kontney 2-2 (2 pins) and AJ Stengel 1-2 at 165; Greg Ische 0-2 at 174; Matt Hanke 0-2 at 184; and Jordan Lemcke 2-2 (1 pin) at 285. Andrew Henschel had to withdraw from the tournament after being injured during the first round of his opening bout at 197 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh will wrestle at Milwaukee School of Engineering on Thursday (Jan. 17).