UW-La Crosse 34, Wheaton College (Ill.) 10
UW-La Crosse 45, Lakeland College (Wis.) 0
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team earned a pair of wins Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Hall in its final home matches of the season. The Eagles, ranked fifth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), opened with a 34-10 victory over Wheaton College (Ill.) before earning a 45-0 win over Lakeland College (Wis.) on senior day. UWL improves to 13-4 on the season.
"Today was a great way to send the senior group out with two wins," said UWL coach
Dave Malecek. "I really like how our team bounced back after a loss Thursday night to Whitewater."
In the win over Wheaton (Ill.),
Ryan Weinmann at 125-pounds and
Dustin Weinmann at 133-pounds earned wins by forfeit to open the match.
Ryan Weinmann is ranked fifth at 125-pounds and
Dustin Weinmann sixth in the NWCA. The Eagles took a 15-0 lead at 141-pounds as
Grant Sutton won by decision (11-4) over Wheaton's (Ill.) Eric Wales.
Mason Geary earned a win by major decision (13-3) over Zach Harrell at 149-pounds for a 19-0 lead. The Thunder earned their first win of the match at 157-pounds with Jared Fekete winning by major decision (10-2) over
Austin Schoen.
UWL's
Andrew Dayland won by decision (11-9) over Frank Aiello at 165-pounds for a 22-4 lead and
Tyler Schneider, ranked fith at 174-pounds, won by fall (2:20) over Caleb Odell for a 28-4 advantage.
Wheaton's (Ill.) Logan Walkup won by decision (5-3) over
Austin Cook at 184-pounds and Mikey Swider won by decision (4-2) over
Zach Tooley to make it 28-10. The Eagles'
Clay Broze, ranked sixth in the NWCA at 285-pounds, earned a win by fall (4:21) over Max Gierke to finish the dual.
Versus Lakeland (Wis.),
Ryan Weinmann (125) and
Dustin Weinmann (133) won by forfeit. UWL took the next four matches by decision. Garrett Dzeidzic won by decision (5-1) over Ian Gioacchini at 141-pounds; Geary defeated Marus McCauley (8-1) at 149;
Michael Murnane defeated Anthony Chiarello (8-2) at 157 and
Derek Weinmann defeated Mitchell Fucile (8-4) at 165.
"
Derek Weinmann had a big win against Lakeland," added Malecek. "His opponent was an returning NCAA qualifier."
Schneider won by fall (:42) over Zavier Gonzalez at 174 and Cook won by forfeit at 184 to give UWL a 36-0 lead.
Sean Ward won by decision (8-3) over Eddie Terres at 197-pounds and Broze won by forfeit at 285.
"I think we're at the part of our season where we have to continue to get better every time we step on the mat," said Malecek. "This team is moving forward."
UWL returns to action Friday, January 29 at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Pete Willson Invitational at 11 a.m.
