Pioneers Place Three in the Top Eight at the 2011 North Central College Wrestling Invitational

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team placed three wrestlers in the top eight on Saturday at the 2011 North Central College Wrestling Invitational.

T.J. Wunnicke was the top finisher for the Pioneers, finishing third at 133 pounds. Wunnicke saw his 12-match winning streak snapped in the semifinals before he bounced back with two victories in the wrestlebacks to take third place. For the season, the Dodgeville native is 16-3 with 13 first period pin victories.

At 197, Sean Yaros – who was seeded fifth - started the day with a technical fall with a 16-0 win over his seventh-seeded opponent. In the quarterfinals, he posted a 13-6 win to advance to the semifinals. Yaros would lose in the semifinals to the eventual champion. In the wrestleback semifinals, he returned to his winning ways with a 10-2 major decision before losing his third-place match by the score of 6-0. The fourth-place finish is the highest of the season for Yaros.

At 157, Rob Maertz was eighth after posting a 3-3 record on the afternoon. Maertz began the day with back-to-back victories to reach the championship quarterfinals. In that match, he dropped a 5-2 decision before picking up a 7-2 win in his first match in the wrestlebacks. A pair of losses in the consolation wrestlebacks, earned him eighth place honors. It is the second eighth-place finish on the season for Maertz, who also finished at the Concordia Open.

Four Pioneers' Tyler Henken (141), Tyler Ledbetter (149), Quinn Sedlak (174) and Bryant Etherton (285) all posted a 2-2 record on the day.

Next, UW-Platteville will host its first meet of the season when they take on UW-Stevens Point, who comes to Williams Fieldhouse on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.