Fort Wayne, Ind. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team went 2-1 at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Multi-Divisional National Duals Friday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Eagles, ranked sixth in the NWCA and now 10-3 on the season, opened with a 28-13 win over 14th-ranked Wilkes University (Pa.) before falling 21-17 to third-ranked Wabash College (Ind.) in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bracket, UW-L defeated 12th-ranked Ithaca College (N.Y.) 20-12 and advances to face eighth-ranked Coe College (Iowa) in the consolation semi-finals Saturday.
In the 28-13 win over Wilkes (Pa.), UW-L took seven of the 10 matches. The Colonels took a 4-0 lead after the opening match as Guesseppe Rea won by major decision (12-2) over
Taylor Elliott at 125-pounds. Rea is ranked seventh in the NWCA. UW-L came right back with three straight victories to lead 12-3.
Dustin Weinmann won by fall (2:59) over eighth-ranked Matthew Grossmann at 133 while
Cody See and
Kasey Einerson earned wins by decision. See defeated Pankil Chandler by decision (10-3) at 141-pounds while Einerson, ranked fourth, won by decision (7-6) over Josh Evans at 149.
Wilkes (Pa.) cut the deficit to 12-7 after 157-pounds as Sean Lombardi won by decision (6-4) over UW-L's
Derek Weinmann.
The Eagles won the next four matches, including
Travis Hettinga defeating Mark Maloney by fall (5:00) at 165-pounds to make it 18-7.
Sean O'Neil won by decision (4-2) over Kyle Diesel at 174 and fifth-ranked
Richard Carlson by decision (8-2) over Levi Veppert at 184. UW-L's
Zach Tooley made it 28-7 winning by major decision (11-2) over Wilkes (Pa.) Eric Bach at 197-pounds.
Nicholas Dawson won by fall (:26) over
Cody Endres at 285-pounds to make the final 28-13.
Versus Wabash (Ind.), UW-L took a 6-0 lead with a pair of wins by decision.
Ryan Weinmann defeated AJ Belden by decision (9-4) at 125-pounds while
Dustin Weinmann won by decision (7-0) over Chandler Moore at 133. The Little Giants tied the dual at 6-6 as Michael Venezia won by fall (6:03) over
Austin Schoen at 141.
The Eagles regained the lead at 9-6 with Einerson winning by decision (5-0) over Nick Bova at 149.
Wabash (Ind.) won the next four duals to take a 21-9 advantage. Fifth-ranked Reece Lefever won by major decision (12-0) over
Derek Weinmann at 157 and Ethan Farmer won by decision (2-0) over Hettinga at 165. Second-ranked Conner Lefever and top-ranked Riley Lefever earned major decision victories with Connor Lefever defeating
Tyler Schneider (13-4) at 174-pounds and Riley Lefever winning over Carlson (18-5) at 184.
Tooley cut the lead to 21-13 for UW-L as he won by major decision (12-1) over Wabash (Ind.) Brett Thumm. The Eagles'
Cody Endres won by major decision (14-5) over Jake Barclay at 285-pounds to make the final score 21-17.
Against Ithaca (N.Y.), UW-L's
Ryan Weinmann gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead after a win by decision (5-4) over James Kaishian at 125-pounds.
The Bombers took the next two matches, both by decison, to take a 6-3 lead. Fourth-ranked Alex Gomez defeated
Dustin Weinmann (10-8) at 133 and seventh-ranked Nick Wahba beat Schoen (3-1) at 141.
The teams exchanged leads in the next four matches. UW-L's Einerson won by major decision (12-4) over Ithaca's (N.Y.) Daniel Pak at 149-pounds to give the Eagles a 7-6 lead. Einerson came in ranked fourth and Pak sixth. At 157, eighth-ranked Kevin Collins edged UW-L's
Derek Weinmann by decision (6-5) to give Ithaca (N.Y.) the lead back at 9-7. The Eagles' Schneider won by decision (4-2) over ninth-ranked Nick Velez at 165-pounds to put UW-L back-up 10-9. The Bombers took a 12-10 lead after Jaison White took the 174-pound match by decision in overtime (4-2) over
Sean O'Neil.
UW-L secured the victory by winning the final three matches. The Eagles led 13-12 after fifth-ranked Carlson won by decision (5-3) over Steven Sabella at 184. Sixth-ranked
Eric Twohey took the 197-pound match by major decision (10-1) over Gregory Duvall to make the score 17-12 and Tooley won by decision (6-5) over Joseph Sprung at 285 to make the final score 20-12.
The Eagles advance to face eighth-ranked Coe College (Iowa) in the consolation semi-finals Saturday starting at 8 a.m. (Central).
