Goetz becomes UW-Platteville's first-ever NCAA finalist

Cleveland, OHIO - Jon Goetz (28-1) advanced to the 174 pound national championship match Saturday morning with a 4-2 decision over Wartburg's Eric Devos (17-1) inside the Cleveland Public Auditorium.

Friday night Goetz became UW-Platteville's first All-American since Jesse Milks in 2010, and with the win Saturday morning he becomes the Pioneers' first ever national finalist.

Goetz got down 2-0 in the first period on a takedown by top-ranked Devos, who carried a 33 match winning streak into the semifinal bout dating back to the 2016 NCAA III Championships. But they were also the only points he would give up in the contest with Devos.

The Pioneers' junior started on top in the second period and managed to ride Devos for the entire two minutes. Starting down in the third period, Goetz escaped early, and the battle for a spot in the national championship match was on.

"He was very confident choosing bottom (in the third period), especially considering his opponent had already been warned for stalling," said head coach Mike DeRoehn.

With just over 30 seconds remaining in the match, Goetz made a move on Devos and earned the takedown for the 3-2 lead. He rode the defending national champion for the final seconds to earn riding time, securing a 4-2 victory, and his spot in UW-Platteville wrestling history. Goetz has now outscored his poonents 56-2 in the last seven matches.

"Jon is wrestling to his potential and it's so much fun to support him from the corner," said DeRoehn. "He committed to the work all off-season and throughout this year. He's a living example of 'Know Sweat, No Regret!'"

Goetz is set to face second-ranked Jairod James (21-1) of Mount Union in the championship match Saturday night back inside the Cleveland Public Auditorium.

The final round of wrestling begins at 6 p.m. central time with the 125 pound weight class, and Goetz will wrestle at 174 pounds approximately one hour later. The championship matches can be followed live on trackwrestling.com using their Dashboard feature, and can also be watched live for free through th NCAA.