Titans Pull Away From Blugolds With Late Run Of Points

UW-Oshkosh won the last three contests to break a tied score and defeat the UW-Eau Claire wrestling team, 27-15, on Tuesday (Nov. 13) in Kolf Sports Center.

The match, held in front of 420 fans, was knotted at 15 before UW-Oshkosh's Colten Cashmore edged Grant Balconi, 5-2, at 184 pounds. The Titans then extended their lead over the Blugolds to 21-15 when freshman Beau Yineman won his 197-pound match by a 12-8 result over Jordan Blanchard.

UW-Oshkosh (1-0, 1-0 WIAC) entered the 10th and final bout of the match knowing that its worst outcome against UW-Eau Claire (0-2, 0-2 WIAC) would be a 21-21 tie. But, Titan Jordan Lemcke erased those thoughts when he earned six more UW-Oshkosh points by sticking Austen Hakes to the mat in 3:22 of their 285-pound contest.

UW-Oshkosh opened the match with a quick 6-0 lead as freshman AJ Schoenfuss pinned Erik Gerovac to the surface in 73 seconds.

Following freshman Joey Giurini's 18-3 loss to UW-Eau Claire's Tanner Deist at 133 pounds, UW-Oshkosh won three straight bouts to take a 15-5 lead.

The Titans opened their string of victories with freshman Zak Nelson's high-scoring 17-13 win over Hunter Pierce at 141 pounds. UW-Oshkosh then acquired wins of 9-7 by Wesam Alabed over Jake Drexler at 149 pounds and 10-3 by two-time All-American Mark Choinski over Seth Vosters at 157.

UW-Eau Claire rallied back to tie the match at 15 on wins by Connor Hanson at 165 pounds and Evan Lawrence at 174. Hanson defeated UW-Oshkosh's Tony Kontney, 14-5, while Lawrence pinned Titan Husam Alabed in 2:18.

UW-Oshkosh wrestles UW-Stevens Point in another WIAC dual meet next Tuesday (Nov. 20) in Stevens Point.