Cedar Falls, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team placed third at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/Marine Corps Multi-Divisional National Duals Saturday at the University of Northern Iowa UNI-Dome. The duals are presented by A Better Way Athletics, Capital Construction and Defense Soap hosted by NUWAY.
The Eagles, now 9-1 in duals this season and third in the NWCA Dual Rankings, fell 20-17 to second-ranked Wartburg College (Iowa) in the semifinals on Saturday before earning a 22-15 victory over fourth-ranked North Central College (Ill.) in the third-place match.
UWL has now finished at least fifth in nine of the last 13 NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals. The Eagles captured their first national duals title in 2022 with a 31-9 win over Wabash College (Ind.) in the championship match. UWL was second in 2011, third in 2012 and fourth in 2023 while placing fifth in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2016.
Versus Wartburg (Iowa), the Knights took the first three matches in the semifinals. Brett Birchman opened with a decision (21-15) over the Eagles' 10th-ranked
Remington Bontreger followed by a pair of technical falls for Wartburg (Iowa). Third-ranked Joe Pins defeated
Zach Weiler at 133-pounds (16-0) and 15th-ranked Kyler Romero defeated 14th-ranked
Sam Lorenz at 141 (17-1) to make it 13-0.
UWL responded with three straight victories. Third-ranked
Tyler Goebel won by decision (4-0) over seventh-ranked Charlie Dojan at 149-pounds with
Nolan Hertel and
Noah Leisgang following with major decisions. Hertel, ranked first at 157-pounds, defeated 13th-ranked Blain Christie (16-4) and Leisgang, ranked sixth at 165, earned a major decision (12-1) over 11th-ranked Nathan Fuller to cut the lead to 13-11.
Top-ranked Zane Mulder extended Wartburg's (Iowa) lead to 17-11 with a major decision over UWL's
Leo Draveling at 174-pounds. The Eagles'
Marcus Orlandoni, ranked 11th at 184-pounds, cut the deficit to 17-14 with a decision (6-5) over Matt Rogge. Massoma Endene, the top-ranked wrestler at 197-pounds, gave Wartburg (Iowa) a 20-14 lead with a decision over UWL's ninth-ranked
Ben Kawczynski. The Eagles' third-ranked
Michael Douglas won by sudden victory (2-1) over Mitch Williamson at 285-pounds to cut the final score to 20-17.
North Central (Ill.) won the first three matches in its dual with UWL. Second-ranked Christian Guzman won by technical fall (18-1) over Bontreger at 125-pounds. Robbie Precin followed with a major decision (10-1) over Weiler at 133 and seventh-ranked Bradley Rosen won by decision (2-0) over Lorenz at 141 to make it 12-0.
Goebel got UWL on the scoreboard with a win by decision (5-1) over Jared Gumila at 149-pounds and Hertel's technical fall (20-4) over Luke Christie at 157 cut it to 12-8. The Cardinals extended their lead to 15-8 on Alex Villar's decision (4-2) over Leisgang at 165-pounds. Villar is ranked eighth.
UWL took the next three matches to take a 19-15 lead.
Eddie Simes, ranked 11th at 174, earned a win (2-1) over Payton Geigner to cut it to 15-11. Orlandoni's win by decision (5-4) over Cole Cervantes at 184-pounds made it 15-14 and Kawczynski gave the Eagles a 19-15 lead with a technical fall (16-1) versus Elijah Brockie at 197. Douglas secured the victory with a decision (7-6) over 10th-ranked Robby Bates at 285-pounds.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 13 at the Cornell College (Iowa) Mike Duroe Invite at 9 a.m.
