Pioneers Button Up Titans

Andy Casper, Jesse Milks and Brad Zellner each pinned their opponent in the opening period as the UW-Platteville wrestling team defeated UW-Oshkosh, 37-10, on Friday (Feb. 12) in Platteville.

UW-Platteville (9-5/2-3 WIAC) won seven of the contest’s 10 bouts, including four by a pin, one by a forfeit and one by a major decision.

The 141-pound Casper gave the Pioneers a 13-0 lead when he pinned Justin Schienebeck (Fr. • Butternut) in 2:34. Milks extended UW-Platteville’s advantage to 19-4 when he stuck Dan Schiferl (Fr. • Stoughton) to the mat in 2:35 at 157 pounds. The Pioneers went ahead 31-10 on Zellner’s pin in 1:43 of Ryan Heath (So. • Merrill) at 197 pounds.

UW-Platteville’s fourth pin belonged to Vinny Alber at 165 pounds. Alber increased the Pioneers’ lead to 25-4 by pinning James Dederich (Jr. • Menomonee Falls) in 3:53.

UW-Oshkosh (6-7/1-4 WIAC) collected wins from Jose Quintana (So. • Burnsville, Minn.) at 149 pounds, Sam Engelland (So. • Neenah) at 174 and Aaron Erickson (So. • Merrill) at 184. Quintana defeated Spencer Peterson, 16-4, while Engelland edged Cory Zuberbier, 6-1. Erickson posted an 8-2 victory over Abe Graziano.

Two of UW-Platteville’s remaining three wins came on the mat as Alan Fish topped Zachary Mueller (So. • Jackson), 11-2, at 125 pounds and Ross George tripped Carl DeLuca (So. • Wisconsin Rapids), 10-6, at 133.

The Pioneers’ Tyler Manning won on a forfeit at 285 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh competes at the WIAC Championship on Feb. 21 in Stevens Point.