Choinski To Make Third Appearance At NCAA Wrestling Championship
UW-Oshkosh two-time All-American Mark Choinski begins his third straight trip to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship on Friday (March 8) in Roanoke, Va.
Choinski, unseeded in the 165-pound weight class despite a compiling a 32-3 record this season, faces six-seeded Anthony Arroyo (27-2) of Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) in the first round.
The winner between Choinski and Arroyo takes on unseeded Brad Kerkhoff (28-10) from Buena Vista University (Iowa) later on Friday.
Action at the two-day Division III Wrestling Championship commences at 10 a.m. (central) Friday in The Berglund Center. The national tournament continues Saturday (March 9) beginning at 9 a.m. (central).
The top eight finishers in each of the 10 weight classes earn All-America honors.
Choinski, a senior, is seeking to become the third UW-Oshkosh wrestler to achieve three All-America awards. Former Titan Rick Gruber was a four-time All-American from 1981-84, and Nazar Kulchytskyy won three straight national titles from 2012-14.
This season Choinski won individual titles at the season-opening Pointer Open on Nov. 3 and the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invitational on Dec. 1 before eventually finishing second in the 165-pound division at the WIAC Championship on Feb. 8.
Choinski qualified for the Division III Championship by virtue of his third-place performance at the Upper Midwest Regional on Feb. 23.
Choinski, the WIAC 157-pound champion in 2017 and 2018, went on to place sixth at the 2017 Division III Championship and fifth at the 2018 national meet.
Arroyo, Choinski's first round opponent, reached the semifinals of the 165-pound Division III bracket last season before taking third place as the third seed. Arroyo also advanced to the 165-pound semifinals in 2017 and placed fifth overall.
Lucas Jeske from Augsburg University (Minn.) enters the weekend seeded first in the 165-pound class with a 17-0 record on the year.
Wartburg College (Iowa) is the three-time defending team champion. The Knights head into the Division III Championship ranked first in the country by both d3wrestle.com and Intermat.