#4 UW-La Crosse 35, #17 Luther College (Iowa) 6
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team earned a 35-6 dual victory over Luther College (Iowa) Thursday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, ranked fourth in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) improve to 4-1 on the season while the Norse, ranked 17th in NCAA III, drops to 1-2. UWL now leads the all-time series, 31-16-1, with Luther (Iowa).
UWL won the first three matches Thursday as
Ryan Weinmann opened with a win by decision (9-2) over Spencer Davies at 125-pounds to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
Dustin Weinmann, ranked sixth at 133-pounds, followed with a win by technical fall (17-1) over Gareth Ballard to make it 8-0. Weinmann improved to 9-2 on the season. UWL led 14-0 after
Grant Sutton won by fall (1:55) over Cole Van Anrooy at 141-pounds. Sutton had lost to Anrooy by decision (7-3) in the championship match at the Augsburg College (Minn.) Auggie-Adidas Open November 21. "That was a big win for us at 141-pounds," said UWL head coach
Dave Malecek. "I think that match really changed the dual."
Luther (Iowa) cut the lead to 14-3 at 149-pounds as fourth-ranked Dakota Gray won by decision (10-8) over UWL's
Mason Geary. Gray is now 11-1 on the season.
The Eagles took the next three matches to lead 27-3 as
Austin Schoen won by decision (3-2) over Travis Zurfluh at 157-pounds;
Andrew Dayland won by fall (4:01) over Hans Holkesvik at 165 and
Tyler Schneider won by major decision (10-1) over Billy Poray at 174. Schneider, who improved to 9-1 on the season, is ranked first in NCAA Division III. "Wrestlers are trying to slow Tyler down this year and he can't get frustrated by that," said Malecek. "He was really able to wear the guy down tonight and open it up a little bit."
The Norse' Justin Kreiter won by decision (10-8 sudden victory) over the Eagles'
Alex Friedman at 184-pounds to make it 27-6.
UWL took the final two matches to earn the 35-6 victory.
Zach Tooley, now 8-2, won by technical fall (18-3, 7:00) over Jamal Vaughns at 197-pounds while
Clay Broze won by decision (9-7) over Conner Herman at 285. Broze scored four points in the final seconds of the match, earning two points for a takedown and two for a near fall. "
Zach Tooley has really come a long way after moving down from heavyweight," said Malecek. "He keeps getting better every week.
"Our new guys are not backing down from anyone," added Malecek. "They are being aggressive and having fun wrestling. I feel good about our team and we can keep getting better. They really work hard in practice."
UWL returns to action Friday, December 11 at UW-Eau Claire at 5 p.m.
