UWL Competes at Pete Willson Invite; Zamin and Schultz Advance to Semifinals

Wesley Schultz advanced at the Pete Willson Invite

Wheaton, Ill. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team completed first day action at the Pete Willson Wheaton College (Ill.) Invitational Friday night. The Eagles are currently in fifth place in the two-day competition with 64.0 team points. UW-Whitewater leads with 89.5 points, with Messiah College (Pa.) second with 85.0 points. Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) is in third (85.4), and the University of Mount Union (Ohio) is fourth (81.5). A total of 38 teams are competing.

Two Eagles remain in the hunt for championships in their weight classes, while four others are alive in their respective draws.

At 157-pounds, seventh-seeded Grant Zamin advanced to the semifinals, going 3-0 Friday. Zamin defeated JaVon Phillips of

Manchester University (Ind.) by major decision (12-4) in the first round, won by forfeit over Zachary Jandereski of Alma College (Mich.) in the second, and by decision (5-2) over Michael McIntire of Mount Union (Ohio) in the quarterfinals. He advances to face Brad Kerkhoff of Buena Vista University (Iowa) in the semifinals Saturday.

Also advancing to the semifinals was fifth-seeded Wesley Schultz at 197-pounds. Schultz opened with a win by fall (:52) over Alex Roberts of Manchester (Ind.) before winning by decision (10-5) over Grant Martin of Mount Union (Ohio). He defeated Ramsey Bloy of UW-Eau Claire by decision (8-5) in the quarterfinals, and will face top-ranked Jordan Newman of UW-Whitewater in the semis.

Zach Villarreal (125-pounds) and Mitch Hertel (165-pounds) both won in their first two rounds Friday. After two wins by fall, third-seeded Villarreal dropped his third match by decision (5-0) to Christopher Doyle of Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio), and Hertel lost by decision (5-1) to Jeff Hojnacki of Messiah (Pa.) after wins by fall and decision in the first two rounds. Both will try to earn a third-place finish Saturday, after advancing in the back-draw. Villarreal won by fall (5:24) over Jimmy Murphy of Thomas More College (Ky.) and Hertel bested Nathan Hunt of Nebraska Wesleyan University by major decision (12-2).

At 133-pounds and 141-pounds, seventh-seeded Josh Stenger and sixth-seeded Hayden Schlough both received first round byes. Stenger lost by fall (4:11) in the second round to Nolan Wochna of Mount Union (Ohio), before winning three consecutive matches in the back-draw. Schlough won his second round match over Caleb Maddox of University of Chicago (Ill.) by decision (11-8) before falling by decision in the quarterfinals. He advanced in the consolation bracket with a win by fall (1:42) over Todd Slade of Heidelberg University (Ohio). Both will have a chance to finish as high as third-place on Saturday.

Seventh-seeded Sawyer Massie wrestled at 174-pounds, and won his two first rounds to advance to the quarterfinals. He lost by decision (8-4) to Jairod James of Mount Union (Ohio), and was eliminated from competition after a loss by decision (13-6) to Blake Dixon of John Carroll University (Ohio).

At 184-pounds, Lee Fuller drew top-ranked Grant Wedepohl of UW-Platteville in the first round, losing by technical fall (16-0, 7:00). Fuller won two matches in the consolation bracket, before a loss by fall (1:38) to Dan Squires of UW-Stevens Point knocked him out of the competition. Fuller defeated Griffin Meeker of Millikin University (Ill.) by decision (12-8) and Cash Thompson of Ohio Northern by decision (5-0).

Spencer Nevills, sixth-seed at 149-pounds, went 1-2 on the day. He lost by decision (6-5) to Riley Rasler of Trine (Ind.) in the opening round before a major decision win (10-0) over Toby Warrington of Muskingum. Nevills was eliminated with a loss by fall (:58) to Matt Sears of Augustana (Ill.).

Second day action at the Pete Willson Invite begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.

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