Wedepohl's title highlights Wheaton trip

Grant Wedepohl won the 184-pound title to highlight UW-Platteville's efforts at the prestigious Pete Willson Invitational Saturday in Wheaton, Illinois.

The Pioneers, who competed in six of the 10 weights, placed 20th out of 35 teams at the 80th annual tournament, the second-longest running regular season competition in the nation.

Top-seeded Wedepohl won his first three matches by a combined 39-3 score to reach the semifinals. He then topped fourth-seeded Isaac Odell from Wheaton 8-2 to reach the title match, which he won by topping UW-Whitewater's Nick Stencel 6-2.

"It was great to see Grant earn a championship, especially at a nationally competitive tournament like this," Pioneer Coach Mike DeRoehn said. "He wrestled hard, smart and executed a variety of skills we've been working on in practice."

D'Andre Johnson won two matches via pinfall to reach the quarterfinals at 285, while Beau Harrier won two decisions at 125, and Isaac Roffers won once at 157.

Another group of Pioneers competed at the Duhawk Open, hosted by Loras College. Lucius Rinehart won the title at 285, pinning Daniel Eslick of the Iowa State Wrestling Club in 4:53 to clinch the championship. Tony Bivens placed fourth at 157, while Dustin Reynolds was sixth and Michael Belanger eighth at 165.

The Pioneers return to action Thursday in their final home match, facing UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m.

By Paul Erickson, Director, UW-Platteville Communications, 608.342.1194, pr@uwplatt.edu