Championship Website

Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team captured its fifth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) Sunday night in the UW-Stevens Point Multi-Activity Center. The Eagles finished with 168.0 team points to win their 20th (1994, 1998-99, 2000-11, 2017-21) title in program history. 

UW-Eau Claire placed second with 141.5 points followed by UW-Oshkosh (115.0), UW-Stevens Point (101.0) and UW-Platteville (77.5). UW-Whitewater did not compete in this year's championships due to COVID-19 protocols.  

The 168.0 total points scored by UWL are the most in WIAC Championship history.  The Eagles finished with 164.0 points to capture the 1998 crown.

It is UWL's 10th (2007-11, 2017-21) conference championship under 15-year head coach Dave Malecek.  He has been selected the Mertz Mortorelli WIAC Coach of the Year on seven occasions (2007-11, 2015, 2017).  UWL earned the WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year Award for the fourth straight season Sunday night.     

UWL had seven individual champions on Saturday, including Josh Stenger (125), Tyler Shackle (141), Nolan Hertel (157), Grant Zamin (165), Reed Williams (174), Connor Williams (184) and Konrad Ernst (285). The seven individual titles are the most in the WIAC since UWL captured seven in 2010-11.

Stenger went 2-0 on the day to capture the 125-pound title.  He won by major decision (13-2) over Denis Murphy of UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals before the championship victory (6-0) over teammate Tristan Jenny. 

Shackle finished 3-0 to win the 141-pound division.  He opened with a fall (5:12) over Tyler Hantbarger of UW-Eau Claire in the quarterfinals before a major decision (13-4) over Colin Barker of UW-Stevens Point in the semifinals.  Shackle won the title with a fall (1:51) over AJ Schoenfuss of UW-Oshkosh.  He had placed sixth in 2020.

Hertel also went 3-0 on the day to capture the 157-pound title.  Opening with a technical fall (18-2, 3:26) over UW-Eau Claire's Reid Lawrence in the quarterfinals, Hertel won by major decision (14-3) over UW-Oshkosh's Nate Stokhaug in the semifinals.  He took his first career WIAC title with a major decision victory (11-3) over UW-Stevens Point's Luke Smiley.  Hertel was second last season.  

Finishing 3-0 in the tournament, Zamin won by decision (7-6) over Brandon Peckham of UW-Stevens Point in the quarterfinals and by technical fall (17-1, 6:38) over Alfred Daniel of UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals.  He captured the title with a decision (5-0) over UW-Platteville's Alexander Strueder. It is Zamin's third career WIAC championship, winning the 157-pound title in 2019 and 2020 after placing second in 2018.

Reed Williams won the 174-pound title with a 3-0 record, opening with a win by fall (1:28) over UW-Oshkosh's Mikey Volkmar in the quarterfinals.  He won by technical all (18-0, 2:41) over UW-Eau Claire's Nlall Schoenfelder in the semifinals and captured the league title with a major decision (14-2) over UW-Eau Claire's Evan Lawrence.  Williams was third in 2019 and 2020 at 184-pounds.

At 184-pounds, Connor Williams captured the title with a 3-0 record.  He won by fall (1:59) over Taran Holland of UW-Stevens Point in the quarterfinals and by decision (5-4) over Chase Melton of UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals.  Williams won by decision (13-6) over Husam Alabed of UW-Oshkosh in the championship.  He had finished third at 174-pouns in 2020.

Ernst also won his third WIAC title at 285-pounds with a decision (4-2) over Mason Hawkins of UW-Eau Claire in the championship match. He went 3-0 on the day, winning by fall (3:50) over Guyon Cyprian of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals and by decision (7-3) over Austen Hakes of UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals. Ernst captured the 285-pound title in 2018 and 2019 after finishing second in 2017.  He was also named the 2020-21 Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  

Fourteen of UWL's 18 wrestlers placed in Sunday's tournament.  Three wrestlers placed second on Sunday, including Jenny (125), Sam Wenzel (149) and Kalyn Jahn (197) who all went 2-1 in the championships.  Jenny won by fall (3:38) over Justin Mitchell of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals and by fall (2:01) over Jack Marley of UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals before the championship loss to Stenger.  Jenny finished fourth in 2019 and second in 2020.  

Wenzel opened with a decision (5-4) over Wyler Lubeck of UW-Eau Claire in the quarterfinals and earned a win by fall (6:27) over Brandon Lenczer of UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals.  He lost by fall (1:32) to Jake Drexler of UW-Eau Claire in the championship match.  Wenzel placed third in 2019 and 2020. 

Jahn won by decision (3-2) over Jerry Lipke of UW-Stevens Point in the quarterfinals on Sunday and by technical fall (19-1, 6:37) over James Huntley of UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals before dropping the title match by major decision (16-3) to Beau Yineman of UW-Oshkosh. 

Isaac Gust (184) placed third overall with a 3-1 mark.  He won by decision (6-5) over Sam Melton of UW-Eau Claire in the quarterfinals before losing by decision (14-7) to Alabed of UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals. Gust took the next two matches, winning by decision (5-3) over Taran Holland of UW-Stevens Point in the consolation semifinals and by decision (3-2) over Melton in the third-place match.

UWL's Brandon Murphy (133) and Kaleb O'Reilly (165) each placed fifth overall.  Murphy went 1-2, losing by major decision (11-0) to UW-Oshkosh's Luc Valdez in the quarterfinals and by decision (4-2) to UW-Eau Claire's Javon Taschuk in the consolation semifinals. He came back to earn fifth with a win by fall (2:13) over Colby McHugh of UW-Oshkosh. Murphy was fifth in 2020.  

O'Reilly won by decision (6-2) over Chase Schmidt of UW-Eau Claire in the quarterfinals before losing by decision (3-1 sudden victory) to Alexander Strueder of UW-Platteville in the semifinals and by decision (3-2) to Brandon Peckham of UW-Stevens Point in the consolation semifinals.  He finished fifth with a win by fall (4:37) over UW-Eau Claire's Alfred Daniel. 

The Eagles' Nolan Paar (174) finished sixth on Sunday with a 2-3 record.  He won by major decision (12-3) over Mike Baumann of UW-Oshkosh in the first round before a loss by decision (8-5) to Nick Dado of UW-Platteville in the quarterfinals.  Paar won by decision (7-5) over UW-Stevens Point's Trystan Altensey in the consolation third round.  He lost by decision (10-3) to Schoenfelder of UW-Eau Claire in the consolation semifinals and by major decision (14-6) to Ben Kasten of UW-Stevens Point in the fifth-place match. Paar was fourth in 2020.

Jake Mandt (149) went 1-2 in the championships.  He won by technical all (19-3, 3:59) in the first round over Andrew Steinardt of UW-Platteville.  He lost by major decision (12-3) to Wesam Alabed of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals and by decision (12-8) to Mason Wheeler of UW-Stevens Point in the consolation third round. 

Tyler Zeman (157) went 0-1 at the league championships Sunday.  He lost by injury default in the quarterfinals to Smiley of UW-Stevens Point and was forced to medically forfeit to Caden Fry of UW-Platteville in the third round of the consolation bracket.  

Matt Brewster (197) and Pedro Castillo (285) each finished 0-2.  Brewster lost by fall (2:59) to Max Schmitz of UW-Platteville in the first round and by fall (4:35) to Brett Schoenherr of UW-Platteville in the consolation second round.  Castillo lost by decision (5-0) to UW-Platteville's Cole Knier in the first round and by major decision (10-1) to UW-Stevens Point's Noah Wieczorek in the second round of the consolation bracket.

Each institution was permitted to enter two wrestlers per weight class.