Louisville, Ky. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team earned a pair of wins Thursday at the U.S. Marine Corps/National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Multi-Division National Duals at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The duals are presented by the ARMS Software, Capitol Construction & Defense Soap, hosted by NUWAY.
The Eagles, now 4-1 on the season, opened the tournament with a 37-3 win over Adrian College (Mich.). UWL earned a 26-14 victory over Millikin University (Ill.) in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Second-seeded UWL will face third-seeded North Central College (Ill.) in Friday's semifinals at 10 a.m. (Central). The Eagles have finished at least fifth in six of the last 10 NWCA Multi-Division National Duals, including second in 2011 and third in 2012. UWL was fifth in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2016.
In the win over Adrian (Mich.) Thursday, UWL took the first nine matches.
Brandon Murphy (125-pounds),
Julian Purney (133) and
Tyler Shackle (141) gave the Eagles a 9-0 lead with three wins by decision. Murphy won by the score of 11-7; Purney 11-8 and Shackle 5-2.
Jake Mandt (149) followed with a win by fall (4:59) while
Nolan Hertel (157) and
Seth Brossard (165) earned major decisions to give UWL a 23-0 advantage. Hertel earned a 15-2 victory and Brossard 10-1.
Luke Clark (174) won by decision (5-0) followed by Kayln Jahn (184) winning by fall (2:19) and
Isaac Lahr (197) by technical fall (21-2). Adrian (Mich.) earned its only victory at 285-pounds by decision (7-1) over UWL's
Ben Kawczynski.
Millikin (Ill.) took a 9-0 lead in its quarterfinal match with UWL. Tommy Russell won by fall (1:45) over Murphy at 125-pounds while Zac Blasioli won by decision (4-3) over
Sawyer Sarbacker at 133. The Eagles took a 11-9 lead after three consecutive victories. Shackle won by decision (13-6) over DJ Millett at 141 while Mandt and Hertel each won by major decision. Mandt defeated Jordan Carson (12-2) at 149-pounds with Hertel earning the victory (8-0) at 157-pounds over Petre McCusker.
The Big Blue regained the lead at 165-pounds as Bradan Birt won by technical fall (16-0) over Brossard at 165-pounds to give Millikin (Ill.) a 14-11 lead. UWL responded with four straight wins to secure the dual victory. Clark won by decision (3-2) over Dejon Glaster at 174-pounds to tie the dual at 14-14. Jahn's win by fall (1:57) over Micah Downs at 184 gave the Eagles a 20-14 advantage. Lahr and Kawczynski followed with wins by decision. Lahr defeated Niles Ager at 197-pounds (9-4) while Kawczynski won by decision (6-0) over Brayan Reyes at 285.
