Yineman's Victory Helps Titans Finish Third At WIAC Championship

Sophomore Beau Yineman won the 197-pound title as UW-Oshkosh totaled 12 top-six finishes at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wrestling Championship (presented by Culver's) held Sunday (Feb. 28) in Stevens Point.

Yineman, who as a freshman placed second in the 197-pound weight class at the 2019 WIAC Championship, captured this year's title with a 16-3 victory over UW-La Crosse's Kalyn Jahn in the final. The win gave UW-Oshkosh its first 197-pound champion since the league started the category in 1999.

Yineman advanced to Sunday's final with a pin of UW-Stevens Point's Brock Sanger in 2:49 and an 18-2 victory over UW-Platteville's Max Schmitz. Yineman owns a 39-6 career record after going unbeaten in all seven of his bouts this season. He entered the championship as the top-ranked NCAA Division III wrestler at 197 pounds by D3wrestle.com.

UW-Oshkosh had two other wrestlers advance to the championship final - senior Husam Alabed at 184 pounds and junior AJ Schoenfuss at 141.

Alabed, who previously finished sixth at 174 pounds in 2018, lost his title match on Sunday by a 13-6 result to UW-La Crosse's Connor Williams. Alabed qualified for the final by pinning UW-Stevens Point's Shamus McLain to the mat in 1:33 and defeating UW-La Crosse's Isaac Gust, 14-7.

Schoenfuss defeated UW-Eau Claire's Austin Mowery, 18-2, and UW-Platteville's Luke Pradel, 4-3, before being pinned by UW-La Crosse's Tyler Shackle in 1:52 of his title bout. Schoenfuss was a second-place finisher in the 125-pound weight class at the 2019 championship.

Wesam Alabed placed third at 149 pounds and Jordan Lemcke fourth at 285 to earn their third top-six finish at the WIAC Championship. Alabed previously finished third in 2018 and sixth in 2019 at 141 pounds while Lemcke placed third at 285 pounds in both 2019 and 2020.

Alabed compiled a 3-1 record on Sunday, including a pin of UW-Oshkosh teammate Brandon Lenczner in 3:29 of their third-place match. Alabed earlier in the tournament surrounded a 10-2 loss to UW-Eau Claire's Jake Drexler with wins of 12-3 over UW-La Crosse's Jake Mandt and 12-8 over UW-Eau Claire's Wyler Lubeck.

Lemcke marked a 2-2 record in this year's championship, including a loss via a pin in 58 seconds of his third-place contest with UW-Eau Claire's Austen Hakes. Lemcke opened with a 6-4 win over UW-Platteville's Cole Knier before losing a 9-3 decision to UW-Eau Claire's Mason Hawkins. Lemcke advanced to is third-place bout with a pin of UW-Oshkosh teammate Guyon Cyprian in 1:55.

UW-Oshkosh also received a third-place finish from Luc Valdez at 133 pounds. Valdez, who finished sixth at 125 pounds a year ago, won Sunday's third-place contest with a 4-1 victory over UW-Eau Claire's Javon Taschuk. Valdez started his activity with an 11-0 win over UW-La Crosse's Brandon Murphy and a 6-1 loss to UW-Platteville's Issac Wiegel. Valdez then pinned UW-Oshkosh teammate Colby McHugh in 42 seconds.

Earning fourth-place finishes for the Titans were Denis Murphy at 125 pounds, Lenczner at 149 and freshman Nate Stokhaug at 157. A year ago, Murphy finished third at 125 pounds and Lenczner fourth at 149.

Murphy posted a 2-2 record on Sunday and lost his third-place match by a 24-5 score to UW-Eau Claire's Jack Marley while Lenczner ended the championship with a 2-2 record following a defeat in his third-place match to UW-Oshkosh teammate Wesam Alabed. Stokhaug also split his four matches, including an 8-4 loss to UW-Eau Claire's Tristan Massie in their third-place bout.

The Titans also had Cyprian and Justin Mitchell finish fifth at 285 and 125 pounds, respectively, and McHugh sixth at 133. Cyprian, who placed sixth at 285 pounds in 2020, won by fall over UW-Stevens Point's Ben Gunderson in 4:42 and Mitchell by a 20-4 outcome over the Pointers' Griffin Chmiel in their fifth-place contests. McHugh lost his fifth-place bout on a pin delivered by UW-La Crosse's Murphy in 2:13.

UW-Oshkosh's other competitors at the championship were Cade Schmitz (0-2 record) at 141 pounds, Muzi Sitshela (1-2) at 157, Adib Korabi (0-2) and Preston Morgan (0-2) at 165, Mike Baumann (0-2) and Michael Volkmar (0-2) at 174, Josh Te Stroete (0-2) at 184 and Ryan Wahrman (0-2) at 197. Sitshela was a sixth-place finisher at 157 pounds during both the 2019 and 2020 conference championships.

UW-La Crosse scored 168 points to win its fifth straight WIAC title and league-record 20th champioinship overall. The Eagles were followed in the team standings by second-place UW-Eau Claire with 141.5 points, third-place UW-Oshkosh with 115.5, fourth-place UW-Stevens Point with 101 and fifth-place UW-Platteville with 77.5. UW-Oshkosh's finish at the WIAC Championship was its highest since 1997. UW-Whitewater did not compete at the championship due to COVID-19 protocols.

UW-La Crosse led all competing teams with seven individual champions while UW-Eau Claire, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point had one apiece.

UW-Stevens Point's Matt Berlin was chosen as the John Peterson Wrestler of the Meet, while UW-La Crosse's Konrad Ernst received the WIAC Max Sparger Wrestling Scholar-Athlete Award. UW-La Crosse was named the Mertz Mortorelli Coaching Staff of the Year.

Championship Match Results
125: Josh Stenger (UW-La Crosse) Defeated Tristan Jenny (UW-La Crosse), 6-0
133: Matt Berlin (UW-Stevens Point) Pinned Isaac Wiegel (UW-Platteville), 5:22
141: Tyler Shackle (UW-La Crosse) Pinned AJ Schoenfuss (UW-Oshkosh), 1:51
149: Jake Drexler (UW-Eau Claire) Pinned Sam Wenzel (UW-La Crosse), 1:32
157: Nolan Hertel (UW-La Crosse) Defeated Luke Smiley (UW-Stevens Point), 11-3
165: Grant Zamin (UW-La Crosse) Defeated Alexander Strueder (UW-Platteville), 5-0
174: Reed Williams (UW-La Crosse) Defeated Evan Lawrence (UW-Eau Claire), 14-2
184: Connor Williams (UW-La Crosse) Defeated Husam Alabed (UW-Oshkosh), 13-6
197: Beau Yineman (UW-Oshkosh) Defeated Kalyn Jahn (UW-La Crosse), 16-3
285: Konrad Ernst (UW-La Crosse) Defeated Mason Hawkins (UW-Eau Claire), 4-2

2021 WIAC Wrestling Championship Website • 2021 WIAC Wrestling Championship Program

Photo courtesy of Addison Young, UW-Stevens Point Athletics