Springfield, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team placed fifth at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/Cliff Keen National Duals Sunday afternoon in the Prairie Capital Convention Center. The Eagles, ranked sixth in the Brute NWCA Division III Poll and seeded sixth in this weekend's tournament, earned a pair of victories Sunday to improve to 13-2 on the season. UW-L went 4-1 in the two-day tournament.

The Eagles opened with a 22-19 victory over eighth-ranked Coe College (Iowa) to advance to the fifth-place match. UW-L then earned a 25-14 win over 30th-ranked Wesleyan University (Ct.) to claim fifth.

Versus Coe, Izzy Balsiger gave UW-L a 3-0 lead as he won by decision (10-4) over Jimmy Gotto. The Kohawks' Tyler Endres earned a win by major decision (17-7) over the Eagles' James Bennett to give Coe a 4-3 lead.

UW-L then won the next three matches to lead 16-4. Adam Sheley, ranked second at 141-pounds, won by major decision (10-2) over Drew Hinschberger; Keegan Einerson won by fall (:44) over Tim Noverini at 149 and JR Lewis, ranked eighth in the country at 157, won by decision (2-1) over Dimitri Boyer.

Coe took the next two duals to cut UW-L's lead to 16-13. Tenth-ranked McThomas Sewara won by major decision (11-1) over Derek Weinmann at 165-pounds and fifth-ranked Ethan Ball earned the win by technical fall (16-1) over Mitch Anderson. UW-L's Eric Twohey, currently ranked fifth in the NWCA at 184-pounds, won by decision (7-0) over Scott King to make it 19-13 and the Eagles' Tony Piechowski won by decision (2-1) over seventh-ranked Donnie Horner at 197-pounds for a 22-13 advantage.

The 285-pound match featured two of the top-three ranked wrestlers in the country as Coe's third-ranked Alex Burkle won by fall (3:16) over UW-L's second-ranked Billy Mayer.

UW-L had lost to Coe by the score of 16-15 in its first match of the season November 9.

Against Wesleyan, the first four matches were all decided by major decision. Balsiger opened the dual with a win (16-4) over James Hamilton at 125, but Wesleyan's Christopher Siracusa came back to earn the major decision (9-1) over UW-L's Bennett at 133. UW-L's Sheley won by major decision (11-1) over Nick Scotto to make it 8-4, but Wesleyan's Howard Tobochnik came back to defeat (11-3) Einerson.

Lewis and Weinmann then gave UW-L a 15-8 lead. Lewis won by decision (5-0) over Alexander Cannon at 157 and Weinmann won by major decision (14-2) over Taran Carr at 165.

The Cardinals cut the lead to 15-14 with a pair of decision wins at 174 and 184. Kyle Roosa defeated Anderson (4-1) at 174-pounds while Jefferson Ajayi defeated Twohey (7-3) at 184-pounds.

Piechowski and Mayer ended the dual with technical fall victories Sunday. Piechowski won by technical fall (15-0) over John San Filippo at 197 and Mayer won by technical fall (17-2) against Austin Frank at 285.

UW-L returns to action Friday, January 18 hosting 10th-ranked UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m. in Mitchell Hall.