Titans Finish Fourth At WIAC Wrestling Championship
UW-Oshkosh used second-place results from Mark Choinski, AJ Schoenfuss and Beau Yineman and third-place listings from Ben Kitslaar and Jordan Lemcke to finish fourth in the team standings at the 64th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Wrestling Championship (presented by Culver's) held Friday (Feb. 8) in Eau Claire.
The Titans totaled 103.5 team points for their highest finish at the WIAC Championship since 2014. UW-Oshkosh received 10 place-winning performances from its 19 wrestlers who competed in the meet.
UW-La Crosse scored 159 points to win its third straight title and conference-record 18th overall. The Eagles were followed in the team standings by second-place UW-Whitewater with 127 points, third-place UW-Stevens Point with 111, UW-Oshkosh, fifth-place UW-Eau Claire with 83.5 and sixth-place UW-Platteville with 75.
UW-La Crosse entered the championship ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, UW-Whitewater 14th, UW-Oshkosh 21st and UW-Stevens Point 22nd.
Choinski, who won the 157-pound title at the previous two WIAC Championships, was the runner-up in this year's 165-pound category. Choinski won his first three bouts before being pinned in 3:15 by UW-La Crosse's Jackson Schoen in the title contest. Choinski (28-2, 8 pins) advanced to the final with victories of 20-2 (5:27) over UW-Platteville's Garrett Passmore, 12-3 over UW-Whtiewater's Ryder Sigler and 11-0 over UW-Stevens Point's Jordan Weinzetl.
Schoenfuss (20-9, 13 pins) placed second in the 125-pound weight division. He posted wins of 13-10 over UW-Eau Claire's Jack Marley and 7-4 over UW-La Crosse's Sawyer Sarbacker before being pinned in 5:41 by UW-Whitewater's Mike Tortorice in the championship bout.
Yineman lost his championship contest in the 197-pound weight class by a 6-2 score to UW-Whitewater's Riley Kauzlaric. Yineman (29-4, 5 pins) qualified for the final with an 11-3 victory over UW-Eau Claire's Jacob Olson and a pin in 3:22 of UW-Stevens Point's Jerry Lipke.
Kitslaar gave UW-Oshkosh a second place winner at 197 pounds by pinning UW-Stevens Point's Lipke in 1:45 during his third-place match. Kitslaar (10-4, 7 pins) began his schedule with a pin in 3:30 of UW-Eau Claire's James Huntley, a loss on a pin in 3:36 to UW-Whitewater's Kauzlaric and an 11-3 victory over UW-La Crosse's Cullen Bauer-Trottier.
Lemcke won four of his five 285-pound contests, including a pin in 4:40 of UW-Eau Claire's Tyler Burt in the third-place bout. Lemcke (22-12, 10 pins) began his competition with a 1-0 victory over UW-Whitewater's Cadin Koeppel and a 5-1 triumph over UW-Stevens Point's Steve Anderson. Following a 5-3 sudden-victory loss to UW-La Crosse's Konrad Ernst, Lemcke posted a 6-0 win over UW-Whitewater's Nick Sundberg.
Corey Knudsen contributed a fourth-place finish for the Titans at 149 pounds. Knudsen (12-11, 2 pins) opened with wins of 16-0 (4:17) over UW-Stevens Point's Mason Wheeler and 7-1 over UW-Platteville's Alexander Strueder before losing on a pin in 4:53 to UW-La Crosse's Logan Schlough. He then defeated Wheeler, 9-1, before being pinned in 4:38 by UW-La Crosse's Sam Wenzel during their third-place match.
UW-Oshkosh also received a fifth-place finish from Zach McDowell at 133 pounds and sixth-place listings from Wesam Alabed at 141, Muzi Sitshela at 157 and Colten Cashmore at 184.
McDowell (5-11, 1 pin) compiled a 2-2 record and won his fifth-place match on a medical forfeit by UW-Platteville's Scott Arneson. McDowell's other victory was an 11-3 decision over UW-Platteville's Beau Harrier.
Alabed (17-10, 4 pins) posted a 1-3 record, with his lone victory being an 8-2 result over UW-Platteville's Chase Katzenmeyer. Katzenmeyer later defeated Alabed by an 11-6 score during their fifth-place contest.
Sitshela also tallied a 1-3 record. His only win was a 13-10 triumph over UW-Platteville's Tony Bivens. Sitshela (10-13, 1 pin) lost his fifth-place bout by a 6-4 score to UW-Eau Claire's Ryan Hannah.
Cashmore had a 1-3 record as well. He finished sixth after losing his fifth-place match by a 20-9 result to UW-Eau Claire's Jordan Blanchard. Cashmore (20-9, 5 pins) earned his lone victory with an 8-2 win over UW-La Crosse's Adam Gusky.
UW-Whitewater led all teams with five individual champions while UW-La Crosse had four and UW-Stevens Point one.
UW-Whitewater's Nate Mlodzik was selected the John Peterson Wrestler of the Meet, while UW-Stevens Point's Ben Vosters received the Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award. UW-La Crosse was named the Mertz Mortorelli Coaching Staff of the Year.
All six WIAC teams will return to Eau Claire to compete at the NCAA Division III Upper Midwest Regional on Feb. 22-23. The top three regional finishers in each weight class will advance to the NCAA Division III Championship on March 8-9 in Roanoke, Va.