Titans Close Regular Season With Loss To Pioneers

UW-Oshkosh fell behind by double digits early and suffered a 22-16 loss to UW-Platteville in a nationally ranked Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wrestling matchup held Friday (Feb. 4) in Platteville.

UW-Platteville, ranked 25th in the NCAA Division III by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, jumped to a 16-0 lead over the 15th-ranked Titans on victories by Isaac Wiegel at 125 pounds, 15th-ranked Zach Thompson at 133, Zach Licht at 141 and Brock Parker at 149.

Wiegel led the Pioneers' string of victories off by defeating Luc Valdez, 7-4. Thompson and Licht followed with 16-4 wins over Denis Murphy and AJ Schoenfuss, respectively, before Parker ousted Bryce Jankowski by an 18-3 result.

UW-Oshkosh (12-2, 3-2 WIAC) sliced its deficit to 16-9 on wins by Nate Stokhaug at 157 pounds and Preston Morgan at 165.

Stokhaug improved his season record to 17-9 with a 9-5 triumph over Ryan Hannah while Morgan upped his season mark to 13-6 with his pin of Peter Driscoll in four minutes. The pin was Morgan's sixth of the year.

UW-Platteville (3-5, 1-4 WIAC) answered UW-Oshkosh's charge with wins by Nick Dado at 174 pounds and Tyler Hannah at 184. Dado edged Muzi Sitshela, 6-3, while Hannah trimmed Patrick Curran, 4-2, for a 22-9 Pioneer lead.

UW-Oshkosh created the contest's final score with wins by Beau Yineman and Jordan Lemcke.

Yineman, the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds, improved his season record to 25-2 (12 pins) and career mark to 64-8 (21 pins) with his 12-3 triumph over Max Schmitz.

Lemcke, ranked fourth nationally at 285 pounds, raised his season record to 19-1 (9 pins) and career resume to 75-40 (26 pins) with his 5-0 victory over Brett Schoenherr.

UW-Oshkosh returns to action next Saturday (Feb. 12) when it hosts the WIAC Championship in Kolf Sports Center. The Titans are hosting the league event for the first time since 2015.

Photo by Andy McNeill, UW-Platteville Campus Photographer