Results

Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team captured its ninth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) Saturday at UW-Whitewater's Kachel Gymnasium. 
 
The Eagles won their league-high 24th (1994, 1998-99, 2000-11, 2017-25) title in program archives with 158.5 team points.
 
UW-Eau Claire placed second with 147.5 points while UW-Whitewater was third with 132.5. UW-Stevens Point was fourth (64.5), UW-Platteville fifth (25.5) and UW-Oshkosh sixth (8.5).
 
UWL entered the championship first in the NWCA Division III Tournament Team Rankings released on February 7. UW-Eau Claire was ranked sixth and UW-Whitewater 13th.  Each institution was permitted to enter two wrestlers per weight class and only the highest finishing wrestler from each institution factored into the team scoring.  
 
It is the Eagles' 14th (2007-11, 2017-25) league title under 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 the for the eighth straight season (2018-25) on Saturday.
 
UWL won five individual championships on Saturday.  

Talan Schutte captured the 141-pound title on Saturday, going 4-0. He opened with a technical fall (15-0) over Zach Ries of UW-Platteville followed by a decision (5-1) over Brody Toledo of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals. Schutte won by decision (9-3) over Andrew Kested of UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals and won the title with a decision (8-3) over Riese Thornberry of UW-Stevens Point.

UWL's Tyler Goebel won his second league title on Saturday, taking the 157-pound division with a 3-0 record. He won by technical fall (20-2) over UW-Stevens Point's Dylan Cariveau in the quarterfinals and by major decision (9-0) over 15th-ranked Jermaine Butler of UW-Whitewater in the semifinals. Goebel, ranked fourth in the NWCA, won in a tiebreaker (5-4) over Luke Swan of UW-Whitewater in the title match. Goebel also won the 149-pound division in 2024 while placing second in 2023 and fifth in 2022.
 
Tanner Gerber took the 165-pound championship on Saturday with a 3-0 record. He won by technical fall (15-0) over UW-Whitewater's Aden Byal in the quarterfinals and by decision (13-6) over UW-Stevens Point's Josh Heuss in the semifinals. Gerber won the title with a decision (2-0) over UW-Whitewater's Brayden Peet, ranked ninth in the NWCA.
 
Third-ranked Marcus Orlandoni won the 184-pound crown on Saturday after finishing second last season. He was also fifth at 197-pounds in 2023. Orlandoni went 3-0 on Saturday. He opened the tournament with a technical fall (20-5) over Jack Callen of UW-Stevens Point in the quarterfinals. Orlandoni won by decision (7-2) over UW-Eau Claire's Zak McPhee in the semifinals and won the division with a sudden victory (4-1) over UW-Eau Claire's 15th-ranked Nlall Schoenfelder.
 
Michael Douglas, the top-ranked wrestler at 285-pounds, captured his second straight league title on Saturday with a 3-0 record. He won by technical fall (21-5) over UW-Oshkosh's Garth Martell in the quarterfinals followed by a technical fall (20-4) over UW-Whitewater's Isaak Smith in the semifinals. Douglas took the title with a major decision (12-4) over UW-Eau Claire's Sloan Welch. Along with the two titles, Douglas was second at 285-pounds in 2023.
 
Thirteen other wrestlers placed on Saturday for UWL, including four second-place finishers in Wyatt Magolski (133), Josh Cherba (149), Eddie Simes (174) and Ben Kawczynski (197). Magolski went 2-1, losing the championship match by major decision (19-5) to fourth-ranked Dominink Mallinder of UW-Whitewater. Cherba also went 2-1. He lost by decision (2-0) to fifth-ranked Zach Sato of UW-Eau Claire in the championship match.
 
Simes, ranked 10th, finished 2-1 on the day. He lost by decision (1-0) to number-one ranked Jared Stricker of UW-Eau Claire in the title match. Simes was fifth at the 2024 league championships. Kawczynski also went 2-1 on Saturday, losing by major decision (11-3) to Ian Pepple of UW-Eau Claire for the championship. He won the 285-pound division in 2022 and 197-pound title in 2024. Kawczynski, ranked second this season, was third at 197 in 2023.
 
Quintin Wolbert, ranked 12th at 125-pounds, placed third with a 3-1 record. He won by technical fall (19-2) over UW-Whitewater's Luke Berktold in the third-place match. Wolbert placed fourth in 2024. Teague Holzer was also third at 133-pounds with a 3-1 record, defeating Travis Moelter of UW-Eau Claire by decision (4-1) in the third-place match.
 
Third-ranked Tate Flege was third at 165-pounds on Saturday with a 3-1 record. He defeated UW-Stevens Point's Josh Heuss by major decision (13-1) for third-place. Flege was second a year ago.
 
Leo Draveling (174), Tyler Dormanen (184) and Gabe Carter (285) also placed third Saturday, with Draveling and Dormanen going 4-1 while Carter went 3-1. Draveling won by decision (5-4) over Ryan Riser of UW-Whitewater in the third-place match. He was also third in 2023. Dormanen won by decision (5-1) over Gavin Kohel of UW-Whitewater in Saturday's third-place match while Carter won by decision (3-2) over Blake Flach of UW-Stevens Point.
 
The Eagles' Cole Hansen was fourth at 157-pounds Saturday while Kasey Gish was fifth at 197. Hansen, who placed second in 2023, went 3-2 at this year's WIAC Championships. He lost by decision (5-1) to Jermaine Butler of UW-Whitewater for third-place. Gish finished 2-2 on Saturday, winning by technical fall (15-0) over UW-Whitewater's Hunter Coons in the fifth-place match. Gish placed second last season.
 
Grant Madl placed sixth at 125-pounds with a 1-3 record on Saturday.
 
UWL's Kaiden Schrandt went 1-2 at 141-pounds after finishing fifth in 2024.
 
UWL returns to action Friday-Saturday, February 28-March 1 at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Upper Midwest Regional at Augsburg University (Minn.).
 
The NCAA Division III Championships are Friday-Saturday, March 14-15 in Providence, Rhode Island.