Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team opened its 2020-21 season with a 36-0 dual victory at UW-Eau Claire Thursday night in McPhee Center. The Blugolds were also competing for the first time this season.
It is UWL's 35th straight victory over UW-Eau Claire. The Eagles now lead the all-time series, 49-7. UWL recorded its first shutout over UW-Eau Claire since a 49-0 victory during the 2012-13 season.
"Great win for this team," said UWL head coach
Dave Malecek, in his 15th season at UWL. "Each guy battled and we won some match on heart. I felt so good to be around these guys. They have been grateful for the opportunity."
Teams in the WIAC will compete in a dual-meet schedule until February 19. The WIAC Championship, originally scheduled to be hosted by UW-Oshkosh on February 13, has been canceled. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Upper Midwest Regional scheduled for February 26-27 at UW-Eau Claire and the NCAA Division III Championships scheduled for March 12-13 at the La Crosse Center and hosted by UWL were canceled February 3. UWL will host one regular-season dual versus UW-Stevens Point February 19 in Mitchell Hall Fieldhouse.
UWL is ranked fifth and UW-Eau Claire tied for 14th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).
The Eagles took a 5-0 lead as
Josh Stenger won by technical fall (18-1, 4:10) over Jack Marley at 125-pounds to open the match. Stenger is listed as a contender at 133-pounds on d3wrestle.com. UWL's
Sawyer Sarbacker,
Tyler Shackle and
Sam Wenzel followed with wins by decision to give UWL a 14-0 advantage. Sarbacker defeated Thomas Severson at 133-pounds by a 7-3 score; Shackle defeated Tyler Demo by the score of 9-4 at 141 and Wenzel earned a 5-4 victory over Jake Drexler at 149. Demo is a contender at 141-pounds for the Blugolds while Drexel is ranked eighth in the nation. Wenzel is on the contender list for the Eagles.
Nolan Hertel's major decision (11-2) over Reid Lawrence at 157-pounds made it 18-0. Hertel is currently ranked eighth on d3wrestle.com. UWL's
Grant Zamin, ranked second in the country at 165-pounds, earned a decision (9-6) over UW-Eau Claire's Chase Schmidt, a contender in the national rankings.
At 174-pounds, UWL's
Reed Williams defeated seventh-ranked Evan Lawrence by decision (8-3) as the Eagles took a 24-0 lead.
Connor Williams, a contender at 174-pounds for UWL, earned the win by fall (2:49) on Thursday night at 184-pounds defeating UW-Eau Claire's Chase Melton.
The Eagles' top-ranked wrestlers of
Isaac Lahr and
Konrad Ernst completed the shutout victory with wins by decision. Lahr defeated James Huntley by decision (8-1) at 197-pounds while Ernst won by decision (4-1) over Mason Hawkins at 285-pounds. Huntley is listed as a contender on d3wrestle.com.
UWL earned 11 victories in the extra matches on Thursday against UW-Eau Claire.
Isaac Gust picked up a pair of wins at 184-pounds, one by fall and one by technical fall.
Tristan Jenny, ranked sixth, won by fall at 125-pounds.
Noah Leisgang (149) and
Tyler Zeman (157) won by technical fall and
Nolan Paar (174) won by major decision. Other winners included
Sean Crump (149),
Nick Fetzner (165),
Kaleb O'Reilly (165),
Kalyn Jahn (184) and
Pedro Castillo (285).
UWL returns to action Tuesday, February 9 at UW-Oshkosh at 6 p.m.
