Titans Competitive In Loss To Nationally Ranked Eagles

Beau Yineman accounted for all of UW-Oshkosh's points with his pin of the nation's top-ranked 197-pound wrestler during the Titans' 34-6 loss to four-time defending WIAC champion UW-La Crosse on Tuesday (Feb. 9) in Kolf Sports Center.

Yineman, who sat out the 2020 season after finishing second in the 197-pound weight class at the 2019 WIAC Championship, gave UW-Oshkosh an early 6-0 lead by sticking UW-La Crosse's Isaac Lahr to the mat at the 6:09 mark of the contest's opening bout. Lahr, the defending conference champion at 197 pounds, entered the bout ranked number one in the NCAA Division III by D3wrestle.com.

UW-La Crosse (2-0, 2-0 WIAC), which won all 10 bouts during Thursday's (Feb. 3) 36-0 win over UW-Eau Claire, captured the next nine bouts against UW-Oshkosh (1-1, 1-1) to improve its winning streak over the Titans to 31 consecutive matches.

Despite the 28-point setback, UW-Oshkosh was extremely competitive against the Eagles as it lost five of its nine bouts by three points or less to the nation's fifth-ranked program (National Wrestling Coaches Association).

UW-Oshkosh's Jordan Lemcke lost a slim 2-1 decision to Konrad Ernst at 285 pounds while Josh Te Stroete lost a narrow 10-8 sudden victory result to Connor Williams at 184 and Wesam Alabed a close 7-6 verdict to Sam Wenzel at 149. Ernst won 285-pound titles at the WIAC Championship in 2018 and 2019.

Other highly contested defeats went to the Titans' Preston Morgan at 165 pounds and Luc Valdez at 133. Morgan lost a 7-5 score to Grant Zamin while Valdez suffered a 4-1 loss to Sawyer Sarbacker. Zamin is the two-time defending WIAC champion at 165 pounds.

UW-La Crosse recorded one pin in the match as Josh Stenger ended his 125-pound bout with Denis Murphy in 1:34.

The Eagles also had Tyler Shackle register an 18-2 (technical fall, 4:46) victory over Cade Schmitz at 141 pounds. 

UW-La Crosse wrapped up its list of winners with Reed Williams and Nolan Hertel. Williams defeated Devin Keast, 11-0, at 174 pounds while Hertel ousted Nate Stokhaug, 10-2, at 157.

UW-Oshkosh also won four of 13 contests outside of the dual meet, including pins by Colby McHugh over Dhruv Patel in 1:09 at 133 pounds, AJ Schoenfuss over Brandon Murphy in 2:30 at 133 and Matt Hanke over Luke Zaiser in 3:17 at 285. The Titans additionally acquired a 2-1 sudden victory from Guyon Cyprian over Pedro Castillo at 285 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh wrestles both UW-Eau Claire (0-2, 0-2 WIAC) and UW-Stevens Point (1-1, 1-1) on Friday (Feb. 12) in Stevens Point.

Postmatch Interview (Billy Piotrowski) With UW-Oshkosh Head Wrestling Coach Efrain Ayala

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics