Yineman Repeats As WIAC Champion
Led by Beau Yineman's second straight title at 197 pounds and the second-place performances of Luc Valdez and Jordan Lemcke at 125 and 285, respectively, UW-Oshkosh finished fourth in the team competition at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wrestling Championship (presented by Culver's) Saturday (Feb. 12) in Kolf Sports Center.
Yineman, the National Wrestling Coaches Association's top-ranked NCAA Division III wrestler in the 197-pound weight class, successfully defended his conference title with a 5-2 victory over UW-Platteville's Tyler Hannah in the final.
Yineman advanced to the championship bout with a pin of UW-Eau Claire's Jackson Schichel in 2:19 and an 8-3 decision over UW-La Crosse's Marcus Orlandoni. Yineman, the only UW-Oshkosh wrestler to win the 197-pound weight class since the WIAC started the category in 1999, improved his season record to 28-2 (13 pins) and career mark to 67-8 (22 pins) with Saturday's results.
Valdez, who previously finished sixth in the conference at 133 pounds in 2020 and third at 133 pounds in 2021, lost his 125-pound title match by a 4-1 score to UW-Platteville's Isaac Wiegel.
Valdez qualified for the final with wins of 1-0 over UW-La Crosse's Brandon Murphy and 7-2 over UW-Platteville's Nolan McKittrick. Valdez owns a season record of 20-5 (6 pins) and a career mark of 42-22 (10 pins).
Lemcke became a four-time place winner in the WIAC's 285-pound weight class with his second-place outcome on Saturday. Lemcke, who previously finished third at the 2019 and 2020 championships and fourth in 2021, lost this year's title bout by a 6-4 verdict to UW-La Crosse's Ben Kawcyznski.
Lemcke, who entered the championship ranked fourth nationally, moved to Saturday's final with victories of 2-0 over UW-La Crosse's Michael Douglas and 3-1 over UW-Whitewater's Cadin Koeppel. Lemcke now owns a season record of 21-2 (9 pins) and a career mark of 77-41 (26 pins).
UW-Oshkosh also had Denis Murphy finish sixth at 133 pounds, Nate Stokhaug fourth and Issac Ortegon sixth at 157, Preston Morgan third and Cody Welker fourth at 165, Patrick Curran fifth at 184 and Matt Hanke sixth at 285.
Murphy tallied a 1-3 record in the championship after being pinned in his fifth-place bout by UW-La Crosse's Julian Purney in 2:03. Murphy opened with a 7-5 sudden-victory over UW-Whitewater's Matt McEnroe before being pinned by eventual champion Matt Berlin of UW-Stevens Point in 2:07 and losing a 7-3 decision to UW-Whitewater's Ethan Pogorzelski. Murphy placed third at 125 pounds in the 2020 championship and fourth in 2021.
Stokhaug alternated victories as he tallied a 2-2 record in the tournament, including a 9-5 loss to UW-Eau Claire's Tristan Massie in their third-place bout. Stokhaug started with a pin of UW-Platteville's Owen Norman in 2:33 before losing an 8-3 decision to UW-Stevens Point's Luke Smiley and ousting UW-Oshkosh's Ortegon, 9-0. Stokhaug also finished fourth at 157 pounds a year ago.
Ortegon accumulated a 2-3 record after being pinned in his fifth-place bout by UW-Platteville's Norman in 2:17. Ortegon opened with a 10-4 win over UW-Whitewater's Simon Rillie before being pinned by eventual champion Nolan Hertel of UW-La Crosse in 2:51. Ortegon then pinned UW-Stevens Point's Mason Wheeler in 2:15 and lost a 9-0 outcome to UW-Oshkosh's Stokhaug.
Morgan won his third-place bout by a score of 17-7 over UW-Oshkosh's Welker to conclude the championship with a 3-1 record. Morgan defeated UW-Stevens Point's Josh Heuss, 11-3, in his opening contest before losing a 5-2 decision to eventual champion Seth Brossard of UW-La Crosse. Morgan rebounded from his defeat to Brossard with a 10-7 win over UW-La Crosse's Nick Fetzner.
Welker finished fourth after losing his third-place match to UW-Oshkosh's Morgan. Welker opened with a 13-11 loss to UW-Stevens Point's Brandon Peckham before winning by medical forfeit over UW-Whitewater's Tommy Hoy and posting an 11-0 victory over UW-Stevens Point's Heuss. Welker advanced to his third-place on a medical forfeit by Peckham.
Curran's 1-3 record in the championship included an 8-7 loss to UW-Platteville's Jacob Sklenar in their fifth-place bout. Curran was pinned by UW-Eau Claire's Evan Lawrence in 3:34 of his inaugural bout before defeating UW-Oshkosh's Devin Keast by an 8-2 score and losing by a 9-1 result to UW-Eau Claire's Chase Melton.
Hanke compiled a 2-3 record and lost his fifth-place match by a 6-1 score to UW-Platteville's Brett Schoenherr. Hanke opened with a 14-5 loss to UW-Whitewater's Shelby Jones before defeating UW-La Crosse's Douglas and winning on a medical forfeit over UW-Stevens Point's Noah Wieczorek. Hanke then lost a 3-1 result to Jones.
UW-Oshkosh's other competitors at the championship were Matt Joyce (0-2 record) and AJ Schoenfuss (0-2) at 141 pounds, Bryce Jankowski (0-1) and Cade Schmitz (1-2) at 149, Bryant Schaaf (0-2) and Muzi Sitshela (0-2) at 174 and Keast (1-2) at 184. Schoenfuss previously finished second in the conference at 125 pounds in both 2019 and 2021 while Sitshela was sixth at 157 pounds in both 2019 and 2020.
UW-La Crosse scored 145 points to win its sixth straight WIAC title and league-record 21st championship overall. The Eagles were followed in the team standings by second-place UW-Eau Claire with 139 points, third-place UW-Platteville with 123.5, fourth-place UW-Oshkosh with 89, fifth-place UW-Whitewater with 85.5 and sixth-place UW-Stevens Point with 69.
UW-La Crosse led all competing teams with four individual champions while UW-Platteville had two and UW-Eau Claire, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater one apiece.
UW-Stevens Point's Berlin was chosen as the WIAC Championship John Peterson Wrestler of the Meet for the second straight year. UW-Whitewater's Jaritt Shinhoster received the WIAC Max Sparger Wrestling Scholar-Athlete Award while UW-La Crosse was named the WIAC Mertz Mortorelli Coaching Staff of the Year.
WIAC Championship Match Results
125: Isaac Wiegel (UWP) Defeated Luc Valdez (UWO), 4-1
133: *Matt Berlin (UWSP) Defeated Tyler Fleetwood (UWEC), 12-3
141: Zach Sato (UWEC) Won By Medical Forfeit Over Zach Licht (UWP)
149: Brock Parker (UWP) Defeated Jake Burford (UWW), 3-2
157: *Nolan Hertel (UWL) Defeated Luke Smiley (UWSP), 4-0
165: Seth Brossard (UWL) Pinned Chase Schmidt (UWEC), 4:27
174: Jared Stricker (UWL) Defeated Nick Dado (UWP), 8-1
184: Jaritt Shinhoster (UWW) Defeated Kalyn Jahn (UWL), 7-0
197: *Beau Yineman (UWO) Defeated Tyler Hannah (UWP), 5-2
285: Ben Kawcyznski (UWL) Defeated Jordan Lemcke (UWO), 6-4
* - Defending champion
Photo by Patrick Flood, UW-Oshkosh University Marketing & Communications