Pioneers take second place at Central College Invite

PELLA, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team (3-1, 2-1 WIAC) finished second of 12 teams Saturday at the Central College Invite. The Pioneers combined for a team score of 101.0 points and were only outscored by Central College which led with 112.0 team points. Overall, UW-Platteville claimed one title and thirteen top-five finishes in the tournament. 

The Pioneers' top finisher of the day was junior Lucius Rinehart who took home the first-place title in the Gold 285-pound bracket. Rinehart started the day with a 2-0 decision out of the gate before pinning Quincy Spiering of St. Johns (5:40) in the second round.  The Pioneer then advanced to the championship bout after a medical forfeit by Zach Santee of North Iowa Area Community College. Rinehart faced Duncan Lee of Central College and the two wrestlers took the final bout to overtime with the Pioneer finishing on top with a 3-1 decision in overtime. 

Freshman Bradley Ruger ended with a second-place finish in the Silver 141-pound weight class. Ruger pinned his first two opponents, Jordan Bendor of Central College (6:37) and Zander Coakley of Graceland Collge (4:37) before falling to Maximus Barajas of Briar Cliff in the final bout by a 14-2 major decision. 

Pioneers took both second place and third place in the Silver 157-pound bracket. Freshman Coy Ruess won two bouts by a 5-1 decision and an 8-3 decision after a first-round bye. Ruess fell to Luke Condy of Central College in the Championship bout by an 8-2 decision. Sophomore Adam Beine pinned his first opponent (1:53) and won by a 10-2 major decision in the second round before dropping to Condy by a 5-4 decision. Placed in the third-place bout, the Pioneer won by an 8-2 decision over Braxton Doebel of Wartburg. 

Junior Luke Pradel captured third place in the Gold 133-pound weight class. Pradel stacked up a 16-0 technical fall in the first round and a pinfall (4:05) in the second round before dropping the next bout 6-0. Paired against Darquell Pierre in the third-place match, Pradel won by a 7-5 decision in overtime to secure the third-place finish over the William Penn wrestler.

Freshman Nathan Wynsma finished the day strong with a third-place finish in the Gold 165-pound weight class. Wynsma pinned his first opponent in 2:07 before defeating Jacob Herrmann of Wartburg by a 7-3 decision. The Pioneer fell by a 5-3 decision in the next match, but took the third-place bout over Brennan Swafford of Graceland College with a 6-2 decision. 

Junior Nick Dado also claimed a third-place finish in the Gold 174-pound bracket. Dado followed a first-round bye with a 10-2 major decision over Darwin Diaz of William Penn. Dado dropped the next bout by a narrow 6-5 decision, but finished the day strong taking home a third place 7-4 decision. 

Sophomore Isaac Wiegel took fourth place in the Gold 125-pound bracket once he advanced to the third-place bout after winning the first two matches by 6-4 decision and 5-3 decision. Wiegel loss by a 13-2 major decision before narrowly falling 6-5 in the third-place match bout.

Junior Chase Katzenmeyer finished in fourth place in the Gold 141-pound weight class. Katzenmeyer pinned his first opponent in 2:11 before taking the next bout with a 7-6 decision. The Pioneer dropped to the third-place match after an 8-2 decision and finished the day with a fall (2:40) to Derek Anderson of Grand View. 

Senior Kyle Wolf took home a fourth-place finish in the Silver 184-pound weight class. Wolf received a bye in the first round and fell by a 4-1 decision before dropping the third-place bout by a 9-4 decision to Shane Mathias of Simpson College. 

Sophomore Alexander Strueder took home a fifth-place finish in the Gold 157-pound bracket. Strueder won his first bout by a 9-1 major decision before dropping a 9-3 decision. The Pioneer wrestled back to the fifth-place bout with a 13-4 major decision before taking the top five finish by a medical forfeit. 

In the Gold 184-pound weight class, sophomore Jacob Sklenar finished with another top five finish for the Pioneers. Sklenar opened with an 8-0 major decision before falling 10-8 in the next bout. The Pioneer closed out the day with a 3-2 decision before claiming the fifth-place bout with an 8-3 decision over Jake Leicht of Briar Cliff. 

Junior Omar Otero also finished with a fifth-place finish in the Silver 149-pound bracket. Otero dropped the first bout by a narrow 4-3 decision, but went on to win the next by a 11-8 decision before taking down Brent Sawyer of Briar Cliff by pinfall (2:33) in the fifth-place bout.  

The final Pioneer to take home a top five finish was junior Cole Knier in the Silver 285-pound weight class. Knier fell by 3-1 decision in the second round after a bye in the first round before advancing to the fifth place bout with a pinfall (1:30) over Adam Sepan of Simpson College. Knier shutout Jaise Gulling of Central College and claimed the fifth-place finish by 6-0 decision.  

For full results, click here. 

The Pioneers return to action next Saturday, Jan. 18 when they travel to the Cornell Invitational in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.