Pioneers 2nd of 17 teams at Cornell
UW-Platteville rang in 2018 with a bang, winning two weight classes and placing second out of 17 teams at the Cornell Matman Invitational in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
UW-Platteville rang in 2018 with a bang, winning two weight classes and placing second out of 17 teams at the Cornell Matman Invitational in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
Augsburg, the top-ranked NCAA III team in the country, according to InterMat/NWCA, won the team title with 133, while the Pioneers were runners-up with 106.5.
Grant Wedepohl, ranked second nationally at 184 pounds, took down the top-ranked wrestler, Augustana's Christos Giatras, 8-1 in the championship match. Wedepohl won three earlier matches to set up the #1 vs #2 title bout.
Jon Goetz, ranked third at 174, won all five of his matches to win his weight class. He downed Augsburg's Tanner Vassar, ranked sixth, 9-2 in the finals showdown. Goetz pinned two of his early-round opponents and won another by a major decision.
At 285, D'Andre Johnson advanced to the championship match before losing to Cornell's Tyler Ortmann via a medical forfeit. Johnson topped teammate Lucius Rinehart 10-0 in the semifinals.
Placing third was Isaac Brosinski at 165, while Rinehart was fourth at 285, and Chase Katzenmeyer was seventh at 133.
Coach Mike DeRoehn's team returns to action Friday at Augustana and then again Jan. 23 at UW-La Crosse in a match postponed Thursday because of unsafe roads.
By Paul Erickson, UW–Platteville, Director, Communications, 608.342.1194, pr@uwplatt.edu