Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational Team Standings

Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational Individual Brackets

Wheaton, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team placed third at the Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational Saturday afternoon. The Eagles finished with 92.0 team points. UW-Parkside took the team title with 175.5 points while Heidelberg University, Ohio was second with 108.5. UW-L's Mike Schmitz took the 174-pound title Saturday afternoon.

North Central College, Ill. was fourth (89.0) in the team standings while Elmhurst College, Ill. was fifth (86.5). The University of Indianapolis, Ind. finished sixth (79.5) followed by UW-Platteville (75.0), Trine University, Ind. (69.0), UW-Whitewater (61.0) and Ohio Northern University (58.5) to round-out the top-10. A total of 30 teams scored points.

Schmitz, seeded second in the tournament, won the 174-pound division with a 4-3 win over top-seeded Luke Rynish of UW-Parkside. Schmitz, who went 5-0 in the two-day invitational, advanced to the finals after a 12-7 victory over third-seeded Kyle Kwiat of Ohio Northern in the semifinals.

The Eagles' Dan Laurent placed second Saturday at 285-pounds after a 5-4 loss to Mark Corsello of Elmhurst. Laurent was the top-seed and Corsello the second seed. Laurent advanced after a win by major decision (13-1) over fifth-seed Loyde Braidlow of Truman State in the semifinals. He went 3-1 overall in the tournament.

UW-L's Albie McKinney (125) and John Poppie (197) both placed Saturday afternoon. McKinney finished fourth at 125-pounds going 4-2 overall. He opened Saturday's competition with three wins, defeating Greg Stolfer of North Central (4:15) and seventh-seed Allen Fish of UW-Platteville (4:40) by fall. McKinney beat fifth-seeded Zach Mueller of UW-Oshkosh by decision (9-6) before fallin to second-seed Joe Norton of North Central in the third-place match by decision (6-5).

Poppie, unseeded in the tournament, finished fifth overall at 197-pounds. He was 6-2 in the two-day invitational. Poppie defeated seventh-seed Alex Fleet of Trine by major decision (12-4) in the opening match Saturday before winning by fall (:43) over sixth-seed Jon Treml of UW-Parkside. He lost to fourth-seeded Bill Meaney of Elizabeth by decision (7-6), but came back to win by decision (6-5) over fifth-seed Brad Zellner of UW-Platteville to claim fifth-place.

The Eagles' Alex Dahl (141) and Ryan Farwell (157) both lost their only matches Saturday while Brenden Faust (184) went 1-1. Dahl lost to Sam Delpra of Heidelberg by decision (9-5) while Farwell lost by fall (:40) to Dan Hamilton of Elmhurst. Dahl and Farwell each went 2-2 overall.

Faust defeated eighth-seed Andy Jenkins of Mt. Union by major decision (13-5) in his first match Saturday before falling to fifth-seed Justin Marble of Wheaton (7-5). Faust went 3-2 overall.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, Feb. 6 at the UW-Eau Claire Invitational.