17th-Ranked Titans Take Down Pioneers

UW-Oshkosh earned victories in six consecutive bouts as it recorded a 36-17 win over the UW-Platteville wrestling team on Thursday (Feb. 2) in Platteville.

The Titans (8-3/2-2 WIAC), who entered the contest ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, took a 6-0 lead on Parker Peterson's (So. • Eden) forfeit victory at 125 pounds.

UW-Platteville (7-10/1-3 WIAC) owned the winner in the next two bouts to take an 11-6 advantage. The Pioneers tallied their points on T.J. Wunnicke's 15-0 triumph over David Rosenau (Jr. • Van Dyne) at 133 pounds and Tyler Henken's pin of Alex Mueller (Sr. • Jackson) in 5:23 at 141. Wunnicke is the second-ranked wrestler in the country.

UW-Oshkosh regained the lead on pins by Scot McCullough (So. • Milwaukee) at 149 pounds and third-ranked Nazar Kulchytskyy (So. • Sosnivka, Ukraine) at 157. McCullough stuck Zach Fisher to the mat in 4:26 while Kulchytskyy glued Rob Maertz to the surface in 4:44.

Following Aaron Geiger's (Sr. • Mishicot) 11-6 win over Zach Wallace at 165 pounds, UW-Oshkosh went in front 33-11 on pins by Dan Schiferl (So. • Stoughton) at 174 pounds and Sam Engelland (Sr. • Neenah) at 184. Schiferl stapled Austin Holland to the mat in 4:35 while Engelland attached Abe Graziano to the rug in 5:54.

UW-Oshkosh scored its final team points on Ryan Heath's (Jr. • Merrill) 8-3 victory over Mike Harman at 197 pounds. UW-Platteville then closed the dual meet with Bryant Etherton's pin of Keith McLeod (Fr. • Racine) in 6:16 at 285 pounds.

UW-Oshkosh journeys to UW-Eau Claire for a dual match on Friday (Feb. 3).