Pointers Defeat Titans In WIAC Opener

UW-Stevens Point owned the winner in six straight bouts as it posted a 24-10 victory over the UW-Oshkosh wrestling team on Wednesday (Dec. 2) in Kolf Sports Center.

The match featured two of the top teams in the country, with UW-Stevens Point (2-0/1-0 WIAC) ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and UW-Oshkosh (1-1/0-1 WIAC) 23rd.

UW-Oshkosh took a 4-0 lead in its WIAC opener on Zachary Mueller's (So. • Jackson) 18-7 win over Jordan Poirier at 125 pounds. Following Kyle Kleuskens' (Jr. • Freedom) 5-2 loss to Lucas McGann at 133 pounds, the Titans jumped to a 7-3 advantage on Alex Mueller's (Jr. • Jackson) 2-1 victory over Mark Puckhaber at 141.

UW-Stevens Point then used wins from Kris Magruder at 149 pounds and Andrew Dilworth at 157 to pull ahead of UW-Oshkosh, 9-7. Magruder tallied a 12-5 victory over Jose Quintana (So. • Burnsville, Minn.), while Dilworth marked a 7-6 triumph over Dan Schiferl (Fr. • Stoughton).

The Pointers kept the momentum going on wins by Dennis Reckelberg at 165 pounds, Chris Karl at 174, Ben Engelland at 184 and Brandon Jochem at 197. Reckelberg defeated James Dederich (Jr. • Menomonee Falls), 11-0, while Karl edged Sam Engelland (So. • Neenah), 3-1. Ben Engelland tallied a 15-1 victory over Aaron Erickson (So. • Merrill) and Jochem a 13-0 triumph over Ryan Heath (So. • Merrill) to increase UW-Stevens Point's lead to 24-7.

UW-Oshkosh closed the match on Jason LaPlante's (So. • New Berlin) 4-2 win over Bret Oswald at 285 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh participates at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invitational on Saturday (Dec. 5).