Titans Two Second-Place Finishers At Dan Gable Open

Second-place finishes by John DePersia at 184 pounds and Ben Kitslaar at 285 were among UW-Oshkosh's seven top-six results at the Dan Gable Open held Saturday (Nov. 9) in Kolf Sports Center. 

The non-scoring event was held for the 17th consecutive year and featured 101 wrestlers from seven collegiate programs, including National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics member University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) and UW-Oshkosh's NCAA Division III and WIAC rivals UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. The meet also included 31 wrestlers not affiliated with a collegiate wrestling program.

DePersia won three contests before losing a 5-2 decision to Milwaukee School of Engineering's Helton Vandenbush in the 184-pound title match. DePersia advanced to the final with pins in 1:41 over Zach Malone and 3:29 over Max Emerson of the University of the Cumberlands and a 17-7 victory over Harper College's (Ill.) Nick Mihajlovich.

Kitslaar pinned his first four opponents before losing a 7-3 result to the University of the Cumberlands' Aaron Johnson in the championship bout at 285 pounds. Kitslaar recorded pins in 28 seconds over Harper College's Ulises Apantenco, 54 seconds over UW-Stevens Point's Brandt Hausch, 31 seconds over the University of the Cumberlands' Grant Brace and 44 seconds over Harper College's Jose Ramos. Kitslaar owns a team-leading eight pins on the season, including five under 60 seconds.

Finishing third for the Titans were Luc Valdez at 125 pounds and AJ Stengel at 174.

Valdez compiled a 3-1 record, including a 10-9 victory over UW-Oshkosh teammate Justin Mitchell in the third-place match. Valdez sandwiched a 13-1 loss to the University of the Cumberlands' Chandlar Akins with wins of 11-3 over Christian Sharp and 5-1 over Joey Armijo of Harper College.

Stengel won his third-place contest with a 9-4 decision over UW-Stevens Point's Austin Schrei. He went 3-1 in the tournament, including a pin of Schrei in 5:29 during the opening round. Stengel followed a 9-6 loss to the University of Cumberlands' Brady Emerson with a 16-1 rout of unattached Turner Black.

Mitchell posted a 2-2 record at 125 pounds, including his loss to Valdez in the third-place match. Mitchell opened with a 16-9 win over Harper College's Armijo before suffering a 7-3 loss to unattached Koltin Grzybowski. Mitchell advanced to his third-place bout with a medical forfeit victory over Harper College's Alex Petro.

UW-Oshkosh's Colten Cashmore added a fifth-place finish at 197 pounds. He tallied a 2-2 record, including a 10-0 victory over the University of the Cumberlands' Harold Gilmore in their fifth-place bout. Cashmore opened the tournament with a 3-1 triumph over Gilmore before losing consecutive results of 2-1 to UW-Stevens Point's Jerry Lipke and 5-2 to unattached Beau Yineman.

The Titans' final place winner was Elijah Sanchez, who placed sixth at 133 pounds with a 2-3 record. He lost his fifth-place contest by an 11-6 score to unattached Gage Hudson. Sanchez suffered a 15-0 defeat to the University of the Cumberlands' Jacob Seto in his opening bout before pinning UW-Oshkosh teammate Matt McEnroe in 3:47. Sanchez then edged Harper College's Andice Martin, 3-2, before losing by an 8-1 score to Lakeland University's Mikael Kolosso. 

UW-Oshkosh travels to UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday (Nov. 13) for its second WIAC dual meet of the season.