Pioneers prevail over Pointers in final match

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville came away with a thrilling 23-20 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Thursday night at Williams Fieldhouse.

The Pioneers jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead over the Pointers after the first three matches. Grant Wedepohl began the dual with a 5-2 decision, moving the No. 3 ranked 184 pounder to 11-0 on the season. Cody Meyer scored another decision at 197 pounds, and D'Andre Johnson followed at 285 pounds with a pin in just 56 seconds.

Decisions by Scott Arneson and Chase Katzenmeyer stretched UW-Platteville's lead to 18-5, but back to back Pointer pins at 149 and 157 pounds brought UW-Stevens Point within one at 18-17. Another decision by the Pointers put the Pioneers down for the first time all night at 18-20 with one match to go. Fortunately for UW-Platteville, that match was wrestled by No. 3 Jon Goetz at 174 pounds.

Goetz started the match down 2-1, but quickly gained control. Not content with a decision, Goetz began piling on points and came away with a technical fall at 17-2.

The technical fall gave the Pioneers a 23-20 dual meet win. UW-Platteville now sits at 1-1 in WIAC competition while UW-Stevens Point falls to 1-2.

The meet was also deemed "Headlocking Hunger" night. Combined, the athletic department and wrestling fans came together and collected over 2800 pounds of food to be donated to the Platteville Food Pantry.  Head Coach Mike DeRoehn stated "What a team effort tonight, on and off the mat.  We are so proud of our entire athletic department, student-athletes and their families for rallying together in support of the local food pantry, especially during the holiday season.  The opportunity to help our community in conjunction with an electric home dual meet environment is a great example of why everyday is a great day to be a Pioneer!"

Adding a unique twist to the event was a performance by local rock band, "The Initial First".   The band performed prior to the dual, during pre-meet introductions, walk out songs prior to each individual bout as well as a half time performance.  In true Pioneer fashion, this is thought to be one of, if not the, first time that a live rock band has performed at a college dual meet.  

Three-time National Wrestling Broadcaster & Journalist of the Year Jason Bryant of the MatTalk Online had this to share.  "College teams are always looking to do more things to promote their programs and the sport as a whole. This year alone, we've seen duals wrestled on an aircraft carrier, in football stadiums, in student unions and practices held at football tailgates. Marketing the experience is part of what needs to be done to create a buzz and in over 20 years of covering wrestling, I've never seen or heard of a wrestling dual tied together with a rock concert. It sounds like it was a unique atmosphere for sure and if the band gets more fans from it, awesome. If the wrestling program gets more fans from it, even more awesome." 

UW-Platteville welcomes UW-Eau Claire to Williams Fieldhouse Saturday for another WIAC matchup. First match begins at 1 p.m.