Pioneers to host community night

Platteville, Wis-The top two defensive men's basketball teams in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will battle it out on Bo Ryan Court Wednesday, Jan 15, as the # 7 ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville (13-1, 3-0) welcome UW-Stevens Point (10-4, 2-1) at 7 p.m. for community night.  The Pointers are the top defensive team in the WIAC and ninth in the NCAA III, allowing 61.2 points per a game, while the Pioneers are second in the WIAC, and 11th in the NCAA, allowing 62.0 points per a game.  The Pioneers rank 10th nationally and lead the WIAC in scoring margin at 16.8.

The Pioneers will travel to #14 ranked UW-La Crosse (12-1, 2-1) on Jan. 18 for a 5 p.m. start. 

The Pioneers picked up a pair of conference wins this past week, as they used a big second half to defeat the defending national champions UW Oshkosh 74-70.  Carter Voelker led the Pioneers in scoring and assist with 21 points and 5 assists.  Drew Gunnink scored a career high 18 on 7-9 shooting, including 3-3 from behind the three-point line.  Justin Fox pulled down 8 boards. 

Voelker continued his strong play, leading the Pioneers in scoring, rebounding and assist as the Pioneers knocked off UW-Eau Claire 60-53 on Jan. 11.  Voelker had 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Quentin Shields chipped in 12 points and pulled down seven boards.  Voekler's strong play earned him the WIAC Kwik Trip Athlete of the Week in basketball.  This is Voelker's second athlete of the week of the season, and third of his career.

Shields leads the Pioneers in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per a game (eighth in WIAC).  Voelker is second on the team with 14.0 points per contest and is the team leader in rebounds and assist, with 6.1 boards a game (ninth in WIAC) and 3.3 points per contest (fifth in the WIAC).  Jeff Gard is in his 11th season as head coach and has a career record of 170-112, good for 23rd all-time in WIAC victories.

The Pointers split a pair of WIAC games the past week, defeating UW-Whitewater 68-54, before losing to UW- La Crosse 63-58.  Ethan Bublitz leads the Pointers in scoring with 18.0 points per a game (third in WIAC).  Bob Semling is in his 15th season as head coach of the Pointers and has a career record of 311-93.

The Eagles picked up a pair of WIAC wins, defeating UW-River Falls 80-72 on Jan. 8, and UW-Stevens Point 63-58 on Jan. 11.  The Eagles are the top three-point shooting team in the conference and ninth in the nation, shooting 40.7 % (114-280) from behind the arc.  Ethan Anderson leads the Eagles in scoring with 16.1 points per a game.  Kent Dernbach is in his third year at UW-La Crosse and has a career record of 50-29.  The Eagles travel to UW-Whitewater on Jan. 15 before hosting the Pioneers.

Domask leads WIAC in rebounding

The UW-Platteville women's team (8-6, 0-3) travels to UW-Stevens Point (7-7, 2-1) on Jan. 15 for a 7 p.m. tip, before welcoming UW-La Crosse (11-3, 2-1) to Bo Ryan Court on Jan 18 for a 3 p.m. contest.

The Pioneers dropped a pair of WIAC games this past week.  The Pioneers lost to UW Oshkosh 63-45 on Jan. 8. Allison Heckert led the Pioneers in scoring versus the Titians with 10.  Taylor Gilbert pulled down a team-high five rebounds, while Rachel Emendorfer tallied four assists.

Morgan Horstman led the Pioneers with 13 points and four assists as UW-Eau Claire defeated the Pioneers 73-58 on Jan. 11.  Maiah Domask pulled down a team-best six rebounds.

Domask leads the WIAC in rebounding with 8.1 boards a game and second in WIAC in scoring with 15.3 points per a game.  Hortsman is forth in the WIAC in scoring with 14.5 points per a contest.  Emendorfer leads the conference in steals with 2.43 per a game.  Kelly McNiff is in her first season as head coach of the Pioneers.

The Pointers split a pair of conference games this past week, losing to UW-Whitewater 67-49 on Jan. 8 and defeating UW-La Crosse 67-58 on Jan. 11.  The Pointers are led in scoring by Amber Baehman with 12.7 points per game.  Shirley Egner is in her 31st season as head coach and has a career record of 555-266

The Eagles split their conference games, defeating UW-River Falls 87-55 on Jan. 8 before dropping a game at UW- Stevens Poit 67-58.  Dani Craig leads the Eagles in scoring, with 13.2 a game.  Karen Middleton is in her fourth season as head coach, with a career record of 128-150.

Wrestlers prepare for Cornell Invite

The Pioneer wrestling team (3-1, 2-1) found success on the mat as they knocked off nationally ranked UW-Eau Claire (6-2, 2-2) and finished second of 12 teams at the Central College Invite.

The Pioneers erased a 20-12 deficit over the final three matches to defeat the Blugolds 24-20 on Jan. 7.  Isaac Wiegel started the match off at 125 and picked up the win.  Alexander Strueder earned a hard-fought victory at 157, and Nathan Wynsma won by pin at 165 to shift momentum to the Pioneers.  Jacob Sklenar and Max Schmitz both got revenge on Blugold opponents who defeated them earlier in the year, Sklenar won 3-2 and Schmitz won by pin at the 2:28 mark of the first period.  Lucius Rinhart put the finishing touches on the impressive victory with a 7-1 victory in the final match.

On Saturday Jan. 11, the Pioneers traveled to Central College to participate in the 12-team invitational.  Rinehart took home first-place in the Gold 285-pound bracket, winning the championship bout 3-1 with a takedown in sudden victory.  Bradley Ruger (Silver 141-pound bracket), and Coy Ruess (Silver 157-pound bracket) finished second in their respective brackets.  Wynsma (Gold 165-bracket) and Nick Dado (Gold 174-pound bracket) finished third.

Mike DeRoehn is in his sixth season as head coach of the Pioneer wrestling team.  The Pioneers return to action on Jan. 18 at the Cornell Invite in Mount Vernon, Iowa.  The next home match is Feb. 7 for the annual "Throwdown in the Theater" match vs UW Oskhosh.