Late Pins Help Blugolds Defeat Titans

UW-Eau Claire won the last three matches, including two by a pin, to pull away and defeat the UW-Oshkosh wrestling team, 30-11, on Tuesday (Jan. 19) in Eau Claire.

UW-Oshkosh (3-9, 0-5 WIAC) cut its deficit to 15-11 when Julius Smith edged Matthew Laugen, 5-3, in their 174-pound contest.

The Blugolds (5-6, 1-1 WIAC) then began to distance themselves from the Titans with Jeremy Amundson's pin of Parker Knueppel in 56 seconds at 184 pounds.

Following Cecil Philson's 9-3 victory over the Titans' John DePersia at 197 pounds, UW-Eau Claire's Justin Karkula closed the match with a pin of Elijah Burdick in 38 seconds at 285 pounds.

UW-Eau Claire's remaining pin of the match opened the contest as Zackary Sirny stuck Jonathan Flores to the surface in 2:16 at 125 pounds.

The Titans got most of those team points (five of six) back in the next bout as Dellas Vandenberg trounced Scott Worlund by a 21-6 score at 133 pounds.

The teams then swapped three points as UW-Eau Claire's Nathaniel Behnke defeated Levi Smith, 6-1, at 141 pounds and UW-Oshkosh's Mark Choinski ousted Roy Munroe, 7-1, at 149.

UW-Eau Claire then extended its lead over UW-Oshkosh to 15-8 with wins by Carter Focht at 157 pounds and Ryan Behnke at 165. Focht marked an 8-4 victory over Joe Pelkey while Behnke shut out Nick Monty, 7-0.

With both chancellors in attendance, UW-Eau Claire became the first winner of the Chancellor's Cup competition between the schools.

UW-Oshkosh wrestles against St. Olaf College (Minn.) and NCAA Division II Minnesota State University on Saturday (Jan. 23) in Mankato, Minn.

Photo courtesy of Bill Hoepner, UW-Eau Claire