2018-19 UW-Oshkosh Athletics Year In Review
It was another banner year for UW-Oshkosh Athletics as 11 programs represented the Titans in national postseason competition during the 2018-19 academic year, including men’s basketball which won the NCAA Division III title for the school’s 47th national team championship.
The Titans also finished fourth nationally in both women’s gymnastics and men’s outdoor track & field, ninth in both women’s basketball and men’s indoor track & field, 16th in wrestling, 23rd in women’s indoor track & field, 27th in women’s outdoor track & field, and 41st in men’s swimming & diving.
UW-Oshkosh increased its total of WIAC team championships to 195 with the first-place finishes of both men’s and women’s basketball.
Individually, UW-Oshkosh’s Lauren Wrensch secured a national title when she won the long jump with a school-record leap at the NCAA Division III Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
UW-Oshkosh had three Google Cloud NCAA Division III Academic All-Americans from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in football player Turner Geisthardt, softball player Abby Menting and women’s golfer Kayla Priebe.
Geisthardt, Menting, Priebe and men’s basketball player Ben Boots were each named recipients of the UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.
Below is a short recap on how all 19 UW-Oshkosh programs performed.
Men’s Basketball
UW-Oshkosh celebrated its 47th national title when men’s basketball defeated Swarthmore College (Pa.), 96-82, in the NCAA Division III championship game. The national title was the first in the program’s 121-year history and the first for UW-Oshkosh since 2014 (women’s indoor track & field).
Jack Flynn was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four after scoring a career-high 33 points in the national title game. UW-Oshkosh’s Adam Fravert joined Flynn on the Final Four All-Tournament Team.
Interim head coach Matt Lewis was named NCAA Division III Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com, D3hoops.com, DIII News and the NABC after guiding the Titans to a 29-3 record and their first WIAC championship since 2002.
UW-Oshkosh had two selections on the D3hoops.com All-America Team as Ben Boots was named to the First Team and Flynn to the Fourth. Boots also collected All-America First Team honors from the NABC.
The NABC selected Boots as its Player of the Year and Lewis as its Coach of the Year for the NCAA Division III Central Region. Flynn was chosen to the All-Central Region Second Team.
Boots and Flynn were also All-Central Region selections by D3hoops.com. Boots was named to the First Team and Flynn to the Second Team.
UW-Oshkosh swept the two major WIAC awards as Boots was voted Player of the Year and Lewis Coach of the Year. The Titans, who compiled a 13-1 league record, had a program-record four players chosen to the All-WIAC First Team in Boots, Flynn, Fravert and Brett Wittchow.
Lewis was named UW-Oshkosh’s head men’s basketball coach on May 1.
Women’s Gymnastics
Emily Gilot earned a pair of All-America awards to lead UW-Oshkosh at the NCGA Championship held in Kolf Sports Center.
Gilot finished sixth in the floor exercise with a season-best score of 9.725 and eighth on the vault with a figure of 9.65.
The Titans had four other All-America performances at the championship – Jessica Bernardo (third place) in the all-around competition, Baylee Tkaczuk (fourth) and Kaira Hammond (fifth) on the uneven bars and Rahdea Jarvis (eighth) on the vault.
UW-Oshkosh, which was participating in the team competition at the NCGA Championship for the first time since 2014, placed fourth in the standings with 189.400 points.
UW-Oshkosh clinched a NCGA Championship berth with a second-place score of 188.950 points at the WIAC/NCGA West Regional.
UW-Oshkosh had seven All-WIAC performances at the league championship, including Hammond and Jarvis with their second-place scores of 9.725 on the balance beam and 9.55 on the uneven bars, respectively.
UW-Oshkosh head coach Lauren Karnitz was named the 2019 NCGA Coach of the Year.
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field
UW-Oshkosh used six All-America performances to finish fourth with 32 points at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship.
The Titans received All-America efforts at this year's meet from Jonathan Wilburn in the triple jump (second place), Ryan Powers in the 400-meter run (third place), Jack Flynn in the discus (fourth), Joe Vils in the pole vault (fourth), Jackson Sheckler in the shot put (sixth place) and their 400-meter relay team (fourth place) of Benjamin Jung, Christian Lopez, Aaron McCarroll-Richardson and Robert Ogbuli.
Wilburn finished second in the triple jump with a career-best measurement of 50-4 3/4. He moved into second place among the event's 20 competitors on the fifth of his six jumps.
Powers completed his fourth 400-meter race at the Division III Outdoor Championship with a third-place finish. His school-record run of 46.78 seconds broke the previous UW-Oshkosh record of 47.22 seconds that he set earlier in the season.
Three winning performances and six second-place efforts helped UW-Oshkosh finish second with 138 points at the WIAC Outdoor Championship.
Jung led UW-Oshkosh by winning the 100-meter dash (10.662), finishing second in the 200-meter dash (21.59) and running on a first-place 400-meter relay team (41.06) with Lopez, Ogbuli and Powers.
UW-Oshkosh also received an event title from Powers in the 400-meter run. His winning time of 47.22 seconds in the race set a school record.
Thirteen Titans received NCAA Division III All-Midwest Region accolades from the USTFCCCA, including Powers who earned his third straight award in the 400-meter run and Flynn who picked up his second consecutive citation in the discus.
Other Titans collecting All-Midwest Region decorations were Jung (400-meter relay), Lopez (400-meter relay), McCarroll-Richardson (400-meter relay), Ogbuli (400-meter relay), Sheckler (shot put), Vils (pole vault), Wilburn (triple jump), Roman Hill (long jump), Steven Potter (800-meter run), Justin Rivers (high jump) and Nick Tegtmeier (shot put).
Women’s Basketball
UW-Oshkosh won 20-plus games for the seventh straight year as it captured the outright WIAC championship and made a NCAA Division III postseason appearance for the fifth time in six seasons.
The Titans compiled a 26-4 overall record and won 12 of their 14 WIAC contests. The league championship was UW-Oshkosh’s second in three seasons and the 13th in program history.
UW-Oshkosh won the WIAC Tournament with victories of 61-58 over UW-Stout in the semifinals and 69-40 over UW-Whitewater in the final. The win over UW-Whitewater gave the Titans an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship.
UW-Oshkosh reached the third round of the NCAA Division III Championship for the third time in six seasons with wins of 72-46 over Pomona-Pitzer College’s (Calif.) and 54-52 over DePauw University (Ind.). The Titans had their season end with a 70-57 loss to Wartburg College (Iowa).
Isabella Samuels received All-WIAC First Team honors while Brad Fischer was named the league’s Coach of the Year. Chloe Pustina was the co-recipient of the WIAC Judy Kruckman Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete Award.
Samuels also collected NCAA Division III All-Central Region Third Team honors by D3hoops.com.
The WBCA chose Fischer as its NCAA Division III Central Region Coach of the Year.
Men’s Indoor Track & Field
Ryan Powers claimed two All-America awards while Robert Ogbuli and Jonathan Wilburn added All-America performances of their own as UW-Oshkosh finished ninth at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship.
Powers broke his own school record by placing third in the 400-meter run with a time of 47.80 seconds. The USTFCCCA’s 2019 NCAA Division III Midwest Region Track Athlete of the Year also finished sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.09 seconds to become the program's first All-American in the event.
Ogbuli and Wilburn became All-Americans with their fifth-place efforts in the 60-meter dash and triple jump, respectively.
The Titans scored 17 points en route to their ninth-place finish in the team standings.
At the WIAC Indoor Championship, Powers ran to two victories while Wilburn jumped to another win as UW-Oshkosh placed second with 104 points as a team.
Powers, the championship’s Track Performer of the Meet, won both the 200-meter dash and 400-meter run with times of 21.88 and 48.20 seconds, respectively. His performance in the 400-meter run established WIAC and UW-Oshkosh records.
Wilburn headed into the conference championship with a NCAA Division III-leading measurement of 48-8 3/4. He surpassed that distance by ousting 23 other league rivals with his winning skip of 49-3 1/2.
Joe Vils also scored major points for the Titans at the conference championship by leaping to a second-place height of 15-9 3/4.
Titans receiving NCAA Division III All-Midwest Region honors from the USTFCCCA were Powers (200-meter dash, 400-meter run & 1,600-meter relay), Wilburn (triple jump), Johnny Auer (long jump), Todd Beadle (1,600-meter relay), Jamyle Brantley (long jump), Nick Freitag (800-meter run), Roman Hill (high jump), Steven Potter (800-meter run & 1,600-meter relay), Justin Rivers (high jump), and Justin Skinkis (1,600-meter relay).
Wrestling
UW-Oshkosh’s Mark Choinski capped his decorated career with a third consecutive All-America performance at the NCAA Division III Championship.
Choinski reached the quarterfinal round in the 165-pound weight class with three victories. After suffering a loss in the quarterfinals, Choinski won three straight matches against seeded opponents to finish third, marking the best national result of his career.
Choinski (38-4 record) defeated fifth-seeded Eddie Smith from Loras College (Iowa), 6-3, in the third-place match.
Choinski's third-place national showing allowed UW-Oshkosh to finish 16th in the team standings with 18.5 points.
UW-Oshkosh had six place winners at the NCAA Division III Upper Midwest Regional, including third-place Choinski at 165 pounds and fourth-place Beau Yineman at 197. The Titans finished sixth in the team standings at the regional with 81 points.
Second-place results from Choinski (165 pounds), Yineman (197) and AJ Schoenfuss (125) and third-place listings from Ben Kitslaar (197) and Jordan Lemcke (285) helped UW-Oshkosh finish fourth in the team competition at the WIAC Championship.
UW-Oshkosh totaled 103.5 team points for its highest finish at the WIAC Championship since 2014.
Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Lauren Wrensch and Cheyenne Moore earned All-America honors to highlight UW-Oshkosh's performances at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship.
Wrensch finished third in the long jump with a distance of 18-11 3/4, while Moore placed sixth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:50.79. Wrensch also finished 10th in the 400-meter run and 16th in the 200-meter dash.
UW-Oshkosh, which owns a Division III-record nine national titles, finished 27th in the team standings with nine points.
At the WIAC Indoor Championship, Wrensch won both the long jump and 400-meter run while Moore captured first place in the 3,000-meter run. UW-Oshkosh finished fourth in the team standings with 77 points.
Wrensch entered the conference championship with a NCAA Division III-leading measurement of 19-4 3/4 in the long jump and followed through on her top national ranking by defeating 21 other conference competitors with a leap of 19-2 1/2.
Wrensch also won the 400-meter run with a time of 56.91 seconds and finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.53.
Moore, who won the 5,000-meter run at last year's championship, took first place in this year's 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:59.21. Moore also contributed a third-place finish of 5:06.36 in the mile run.
UW-Oshkosh's Amanda Van Den Plas finished second in the mile run with a time of 5:05.04.
Receiving NCAA Division III All-Midwest Region honors from the USTFCCCA were Moore (mile run, 3,000-meter run, 5,000-meter run & distance medley relay), Van Den Plas (mile run & distance medley relay), Wrensch (200-meter dash, 400-meter run, long jump & distance medley relay) and Hannah Lohrenz (distance medley relay).
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field
Lauren Wrensch became UW-Oshkosh's 50th national outdoor champion when she won the long jump with a school-record performance at the NCAA Division III Championship.
Wrensch marked her momentous measurement of 19-11 on the third of her six jumps. She defeated 21 other contestants in becoming UW-Oshkosh's second national outdoor champion in the long jump. Wrensch also finished 12th in the 400-meter run with a time of 56.77 seconds.
UW-Oshkosh, which owns a Division III-record nine outdoor team titles, finished 23rd at this year's national championship with 10 points.
At the WIAC Outdoor Championship, Wrensch won two events as UW-Oshkosh finished fifth in the team standings with 69 points.
Wrensch recorded winning performances of 56.19 seconds in the 400-meter run and 19-4 1/4 in the long jump to defeat 20 other competitors in both events.
UW-Oshkosh had one second-place listing at this year's conference outdoor championship as Isabella Samuels earned the runner-up finish in the shot put with a measurement of 45-9.
Samuels earned her fourth consecutive award in the shot put to lead UW-Oshkosh's five selections to the USTFCCCA’s 2019 NCAA Division III All-Midwest Region Team.
Joining Samuels on the all-region squad were Wrensch (400-meter run & long jump), Hannah Lohrenz (1,500-meter run) and Alexandria Steger (javelin).
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Matt Wilke dove to a pair of top-16 finishes as UW-Oshkosh’s lone competitor at the NCAA Division III Championship.
Wilke placed 13th in the 3- and 16th in the 1-meter diving categories with scores of 458.30 and 407.30, respectively.
Wilke, UW-Oshkosh's first participant at the NCAA Championship since 2012, helped the Titans score five points in the team competition.
Wilke earned an opportunity to dive at the NCAA Division III Championship following his two fifth-place finishes at the Region 1 Championship. He scored 440.55 points in the 1-meter category and 457.80 points in the 3-meter section.
At the WIAC Championship, Jarrett Lieder won one event, placed second in another and participated in seven of the Titans' eight school-record performances. UW-Oshkosh ranked fifth in the team scoring with 311 points.
Lieder defeated 18 other swimmers in the 1,650-yard freestyle with his school-record time of 16:24.21. His victory in the event was the first by a Titan during the 57 years of the conference championship.
Lieder also finished second in the 500-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 4:41.29 and sixth in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:43.76. He also set another school record with his preliminary time of 1:42.96 in the 200-yard freestyle.
Lieder created his remaining individual school record by swimming to a time of 9:56.95 during the first 1,000 yards of the 1,650-yard freestyle.
In the relays, Lieder helped freestyle groups set school records of 1:25.85 at 200, 3:12.48 at 400 and 7:10.81 at 800 yards.
Wilke contributed a pair of second-place finishes in the diving. He posted scores of 495.60 off the 1-meter board and 515.90 off the 3-meter plank.
UW-Oshkosh’s Christopher Culp was named the WIAC Coach of the Year.
Baseball
All-WIAC First Team pitcher Chris Atwood helped UW-Oshkosh finish the 2019 season with an 18-21 record. The Titans strung together nine straight victories in March, going unbeaten from the 17th of the month to the 31st.
UW-Oshkosh placed fifth in the WIAC standings with an 11-13 record. The Titans swept a four-game conference series against Finlandia University (Mich.) and won three of four contests against league rival UW-Stevens Point.
Atwood registered the 10th no-hitter in program history during the Titans' doubleheader sweep of Finlandia University on March 31 at Tiedemann Field. Atwood struck out a career-high 13 batters and threw only 88 pitches during an 8-0 victory. His no-hitter was UW-Oshkosh's first since Tom Petri held Lyon College (Ark.) hitless on March 12, 1995.
Titans receiving All-WIAC Honorable Mention recognition were Alex Koch, Zack Radde and Hunter Staniske.
Men’s Cross Country
UW-Oshkosh's Cody Chadwick placed 67th and Lucas Weber 143rd at the NCAA Division III Championship held at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.
The national meet was hosted by UW-Oshkosh, and Chadwick and Weber completed their home 8,000-meter course in times of 25:22.1 and 25:50.3, respectively.
Chadwick and Weber received at-large berths into the NCAA Division III Championship with their finishes at the Midwest Regional. Weber placed 21st (25:18) among the Midwest Regional's 253 runners and Chadwick 26th (25:23).
The Titans placed eighth in regional’s team standings with 231 points.
Weber and Chadwick ran to top-12 finishes to lead UW-Oshkosh at the WIAC Championship. Both Titans earned All-WIAC second team recognition as Weber finished eighth in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:15 and Chadwick 12th in 25:26.
UW-Oshkosh finished fifth in the team listings with 127 points.
Women’s Cross Country
UW-Oshkosh's Evlyn Noone earned 52nd place at the NCAA Division III Championship held at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.
Noone, a graduate student competing in her first collegiate season, finished the 6,000-meter race on her home course in a time of 22:09.8. She was the Titans' only representative in the national meet, which was hosted by UW-Oshkosh for the fourth time.
Noone received an at-large berth into the Division III Championship by finishing eighth with a 6,000-meter time of 22:06 at the Midwest Regional.
UW-Oshkosh compiled 306 points en route to its 10th-place finish at the regional.
In addition to Noone, UW-Oshkosh also received scoring values from the 44th-place finish of Amanda Van Den Plas and the 50th-place listing of Hannah Lohrenz.
Noone finished sixth, Lohrenz ninth and Van Den Plas 27th as UW-Oshkosh placed third in the team standings with 110 points at the WIAC Championship.
Noone earned all-league first team recognition by completing the 6,000-meter race with a time of 22:24. Lohrenz received All-WIAC second team accolades with her time of 22:48. The Titans also had Van Den Plas finish 27th with a time of 23:28.
Football
UW-Oshkosh won five of its first seven games in finishing the 2018 season with a 6-4 overall record. The Titans split a pair of contests against NCAA Division II opponents and won all three of their home games.
UW-Oshkosh, which has posted eight straight winning seasons, finished third in the WIAC standings with a 4-3 record. The Titans earned conference wins of 48-14 over UW-River Falls, 31-10 over UW-Platteville, 24-13 over UW-La Crosse and 27-13 over UW-Stout.
Derrick Jennings Jr., Alex Wendorf and Cole Yoder represented UW-Oshkosh on the D3football.com All-America Team. Jennings Jr. was named to the First Team and Wendorf to the Second Team. Yoder received Honorable Mention recognition.
Jennings Jr. and Wendorf highlighted UW-Oshkosh’s four selections to the D3football.com All-West Region Team. Jennings Jr. and Wendorf were picked to the First Team while AJ Plewa and Cole Yoder were chosen to the Second Team.
Jennings Jr., Plewa, Wendorf, Yoder, Matt Kahn, Scott Skornicka and Dom Todarello were all First Team selections on the All-WIAC squad. Rounding out the Titans' all-league players were honorable mention picks Turner Geisthardt and Riley Kallas.
Geisthardt was also the co-recipient of the WIAC Max Sparger Football Scholar-Athlete Award.
Women’s Golf
Hannah Braun recorded a final 18-hole round of 74 strokes to overcome a four-shot deficit and win the individual title at the WIAC Championship.
Braun, who ranked third after counting 77 strokes during each of the first two days of competition, marked the lowest score of the tournament on the third and final day to complete the 54-hole event with 228 overall shots (12-over-par). Braun achieved her winning score with the help of four birdies and a championship-best 36 pars.
UW-Oshkosh had two other golfers finish among the top seven as sisters Kayla and Erika Priebe placed sixth with 236 strokes and seventh with 238, respectively.
The Titans finished third in the team standings at the conference championship with 960 strokes.
UW-Oshkosh opened the season by setting a pair of event records in winning the Titan Classic at the Oshkosh Country Club. UW-Oshkosh established the event's 18-hole record with its 316 strokes on first day of competition. Following 318 strokes on the second day of action, the Titans set the tournament's 36-hole record with their count of 634 strokes.
Braun, Kayla Priebe and Erika Priebe each received All-WIAC recognition. Braun and Kayla Priebe were named to the First Team and Erika Priebe to the Second Team.
Kayla Priebe received NCAA Division III All-Central Region honors by the Women's Golf Coaches Association for the second time in three seasons. She was also chosen as the winner of the WIAC Judy Kruckman Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete Award.
Women’s Soccer
UW-Oshkosh had a trio of two-match winning streaks as it compiled a 7-11-1 overall record during the 2018 season.
The Titans tallied a 3-4 WIAC record to share fourth place in the league standings with UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater. UW-Oshkosh marked 2-0 conference wins over both UW-River Falls and UW-Whitewater and a 2-1 decision over UW-Stout.
UW-Oshkosh played in the WIAC postseason tournament for the 26th straight year and suffered a 3-0 loss to UW-Eau Claire in the opening round.
UW-Oshkosh’s Mallory Knight and Tory Schumann were named to the All-WIAC First Team.
Softball
UW-Oshkosh registered a 23-17 overall record as it won 20-plus games for a WIAC record-tying 16th consecutive season.
The Titans had two five-game winning streaks in 2019 while sweeping doubleheaders from Ripon College, University of Chicago (Ill.), UW-River Falls and UW-Stout.
UW-Oshkosh posted a 7-7 WIAC record to share fifth place in the league standings with UW-Stout.
The Titans opened the five-team WIAC Championship with wins of 13-4 over UW-La Crosse and 7-2 over regular-season champion UW-Whitewater. UW-Oshkosh was eliminated from the tournament after losing contests of 10-2 to UW-Eau Claire and 6-2 to UW-La Crosse.
First Team honorees Claire Petrus, Bailey Smaney and Acacia Tupa headlined UW-Oshkosh's six selections to the All-WIAC Softball Team.
Receiving All-WIAC Honorable Mention recognition from the Titans were Natalie Dudek, Amanda McIlhany and Abby Menting.
Menting and Tupa both collected NCAA Division III All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honors from the NFCA.
Women’s Swimming and Diving
UW-Oshkosh's Sydney Challoner was the runner-up in two events and a fifth-place finisher in another at the WIAC Championship.
Challoner, who was also involved in three school-record performances, finished second in both the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley with times of 2:10.58 and 2:13.71, respectively, and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly with a swim of 58.81 seconds.
Challoner set one UW-Oshkosh individual record with her time in the final of the 100-yard butterfly and another with her time of 2:09.75 in the preliminary of the 200-yard butterfly. She also joined Jennifer Lutz, Alexandra Schuster and Tessa Shorten for a school-record and fifth-place swim of 8:01.76 in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Lutz contributed three top 15-finishes by placing sixth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.98, 10th in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:15.66 and 15th in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:03.04.
Titans Rebecca Birriel and Alyssa Hassel both recorded ninth-place finishes with their times of 4:52.42 in the 400-yard individual medley and 1:09.72 in the 100-yard breaststroke, respectively.
Women’s Tennis
Michelle Spicer's third-place finish at No. 5 singles helped UW-Oshkosh rank fourth at the WIAC Championship.
The fifth-seeded Spicer defeated fourth-seeded Mariah Kent of UW-Stout, 6-3, 6-1, before losing a 6-3, 6-2 decision to top-seeded and eventual champion Madeline Slicker of UW-Whitewater. Spicer then won her third-place match with a 7-5, 6-4 result over third-seeded Emma Barnd of UW-Eau Claire.
Finishing fourth for the Titans were Alyssa Leffler at No. 1 and Samantha Koppa at No. 3 singles.
In doubles play, Koppa and Hannah Peters earned fourth place in the second flight.
UW-Oshkosh totaled 32 points at the WIAC Championship to finish fourth in the league's overall standings with 12 points. The overall league finish advanced the Titans to the WIAC Team Tournament, where it lost a 5-0 decision to league regular-season champion UW-Whitewater.
UW-Oshkosh compiled a 5-11 record, including a 9-0 win over Marian University. The Titans earned 8-1 victories over St. Norbert College, UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point.
Women’s Volleyball
UW-Oshkosh registered a .500 or better record for the 20th straight season by accumulating a 17-15 overall mark in 2018.
The Titans posted a season-best four-match winning streak while winning 3-0 decisions over 10 opponents.
UW-Oshkosh finished fifth in the WIAC standings with a 2-5 league record. The Titans picked up their conference wins over UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls.
The sixth-seeded Titans upset third-seeded UW-La Crosse, 3-1, in the opening round of the WIAC Championship. UW-Oshkosh then had its season end with a 3-1 setback to UW-Whitewater in the tournament’s semifinal round.
UW-Oshkosh’s Tina Elstner, Rachel Gardner, Samantha Jaeke and Carly Lemke each received All-WIAC Honorable Mention recognition.