Lemcke, Two Other Titans Advance To NCAA Championship

UW-Oshkosh's Jordan Lemcke, Preston Morgan and Beau Yineman earned an opportunity to compete at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship following their performances at the Upper Midwest Regional held Friday and Saturday (Feb. 25-26) in Eau Claire.

Lemcke finished second in the 285-pound weight class at the regional while Morgan and Yineman placed third at 165 and 197 pounds, respectively. All three Titans will be making their first appearance at the Division III Championship that is scheduled this year for March 11-12 at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The last time UW-Oshkosh was represented by more than three wrestlers at the national meet was 2012 when four participated.

Thirty wrestlers, the top three finishers in each of the 10 weight classes from the Upper Midwest Regional advanced to the Division III Championship.

Lemcke, a senior, compiled a 3-1 regional record to improve his season ledger to 24-3 (9 pins) and career mark to 80-42 (26 pins). Lemcke registered wins of 6-2 over Cam'ron Harper of Aurora University (Ill.), 9-0 over David Ortiz of Elmhurst College (Ill.) and 6-0 over Mason Hawkins of UW-Eau Claire before losing his title bout by a 3-1 score to Tyler Kim of Augsburg University (Minn.).

Morgan tallied a 4-1 regional record and won his third-place match on a pin of Augsburg University's Matt Rogge in 3:28. The sophomore opened the regional with victories of 8-4 over Hayden LeMonds of Saint John's University (Minn.) and 10-3 over Bret Wilson of Concordia College (Minn.) before losing a 10-2 decision to Chase Schmidt of UW-Eau Claire. Morgan then pinned Jeff Nugent of Elmhurst College in 6:46 to advance to his third-place bout. Morgan owns a season record of 20-8 (8 pins) and a career mark of 22-12 (8 pins).

Yineman won four of his five matches at the regional, including a pin of Concordia College's Gabriel Zierden in 2:30 of their third-place contest. Yineman, a junior, started the regional with a pin of Carthage College's Shelldyn Earnest in just eight seconds. He then defeated Zierden, 13-5, before losing a 3-1 sudden victory to eventual champion Tyler Hannah of UW-Platteville. Yineman, who possesses a season record of 32-3 (16 pins) and a career resume of 71-9 (25 pins), moved to his third-place bout with a pin of University of Chicago's (Ill.) Danny Lingen in 1:36.

UW-Oshkosh had four other placewinners at this year's meet – fifth-place Luc Valdez (4-2 record, 1 pin) at 125 pounds, seventh-place Nate Stokhaug (3-2, 1 pin) at 157 pounds and eighth-place Bryce Jankowski (2-3, 2 pins) at 149 pounds and Patrick Curran (2-3) at 184. Valdez won his fifth-place bout with a pin of UW-Stevens Point's Luca Paladino in 4:06 while Stokhaug took his seventh-place contest with a 5-3 sudden victory over Concordia College's Tyler Bents.

UW-Oshkosh was also represented at the regional by Denis Murphy (0-2 record) at 133 pounds, AJ Schoenfuss (1-2, 1 pin) at 141 and Muzi Sitshela (1-2) at 174.

Two-time defending champion Augsburg University won this year's 18-team Upper Midwest Regional with 163.5 points. The Auggies were followed by second-place UW-Eau Claire with 143 points, third-place UW-La Crosse with 133.5, fourth-place UW-Platteville with 113, fifth-place University of Chicago with 100.5, sixth-place UW-Oshkosh with 92.5 and seventh-place UW-Whitewater with 85. The Titans were also a sixth-place finisher at the 2019 Upper Midwest Regional before the 2020 and 2021 gatherings were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

UW-Oshkosh and its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference colleagues will send 17 wrestlers to this year's Division III Championship, including regional champions Matt Berlin of UW-Stevens Point at 133 pounds, Jake Drexler of UW-Eau Claire at 149, Nolan Hertel at 157 and Seth Brossard at 165 of UW-La Crosse, Jaritt Shinhoster of UW-Whitewater at 184 and Hannah of UW-Platteville at 197.