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Muzi Sitshela evened Friday's score at 14 with his 5-1 victory over UW-La Crosse's Luke Clark.
Muzi Sitshela evened Friday's score at 14 with his 5-1 victory over UW-La Crosse's Luke Clark.

Titans' Strong Finish Leads To Win Over Perennial Conference Power

Video Results

UW-Oshkosh won the last four bouts to defeat five-time defending Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wrestling champion UW-La Crosse, 29-14, and end a 30-match losing streak to the Eagles on Friday (Jan. 28) in La Crosse.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, improved its season record to 12-1 (3-1 WIAC) with Friday's result while third-ranked UW-La Crosse fell to 6-3 (0-2 WIAC).

UW-Oshkosh, which hadn't defeated UW-La Crosse since a 27-21 triumph on Jan. 31, 1990, closed Friday's match with 18 straight points to overcome a 14-11 deficit.

The Titans tied the score at 14 with Muzi Sitshela's 5-1 victory over Luke Clark at 174 pounds and went ahead for good on Patrick Curran's pin of 10th-ranked Kalyn Jahn in 3:52 at 184 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh extended its lead to 26-11 on top-ranked Beau Yineman's pin of fifth-ranked Isaac Lahr in 3:28 at 197 pounds. Fourth-ranked Jordan Lemcke then created the contest's final score by edging sixth-ranked Ben Kawczynski, 2-0, at 285 pounds.

The Titans opened the match with wins from Luc Valdez at 125 pounds and Denis Murphy at 133. Valdez nipped Brandon Murphy, 1-0, before Denis Murphy trimmed 11th-ranked Sawyer Sarbacker, 3-2.

UW-La Crosse evened the score at 6 in the next bout as Tyler Shackle pinned the Titans' AJ Schoenfuss in 4:24 at 141 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh responded with a victory by fall of their own as 149-pounder Bryce Jankowski stuck Jake Mandt to the mat in 2:15. Jankowski was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty following the bout and the one-point reduction made the score 11-6 in favor of the Titans. 

UW-La Crosse's Nolan Hertel and Seth Brossard recorded back-to-back major decisions in the next two bouts to give the Eagles a 14-11 lead. The fourth-ranked Hertel defeated Nate Stokhaug, 10-1, at 157 pounds while the fifth-ranked Brossard ousted Preston Morgan, 17-5, at 165.

UW-Oshkosh returns to the mat next Friday (Feb. 4) at UW-Platteville.

Photo by Dave Huggett