Wedepohl's title highlights WIAC meet

Grant Wedepohl won the 184-pound championship, highlighting UW-Platteville's day at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wrestling championships Friday at UW-Whitewater.

The Pioneers tied UW-Eau Claire for fourth place in the team standings with 100 points. UW-La Crosse took home the championship with 143 points, while the host Warhawks scored 118, UW-Stevens Point 116.5 and UW Oshkosh 89.5.

Wedepohl pinned UW-Eau Claire's James Huntley in 1:47 in the quarterfinals, beat UW Oshkosh's Colten Cashmore 3-2 in the semifinals and topped UW-La Crosse's Sean O'Neil 4-3 in the title bout. He became the first Pioneer to claim the 184-pound championship since Troy Austin in 2002 and raised his season record to 29-1.

Jon Goetz (174) and D'Andre Johnson (285) each were runners-up in their weights. Goetz won via pinfall and technical fall to reach the finals, where he lost for the first time this year, dropping an 11-6 decision to UW-La Crosse's Sawyer Massie. Johnson won his first three matches, including a pin and a technical fall, but was pinned by UW-La Crosse's Konrad Ernst in the second overtime of the championship match.

Lucius Rinehart placed third at 285 while Carter Barkema finished fourth at 157, and Luke Pradel (141), Chase Katzenmeyer (133), and Beau Harrier (125) were each fifth. 

Michael Hyde earned a spot on the six-person all-sportsmanship team.

Direct from DeRoehn
-We did some winning and learning today, and the good thing is that we have two weeks to learn and improve for the upcoming NCAA regional meet.

The Pioneers are back in action Feb. 23-24 at the NCAA III regionals in Minneapolis, Minnesota, seeking to qualify individuals for the NCAA III national championships, held March 9-10 in Cleveland, Ohio.

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