Pioneers Sweep Duals vs. UW-Eau Claire, 22-12 and Knox College, 30-15

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team posted a pair of dual meet victories over Knox, 30-15 and WIAC rival UW-Eau Claire, 22-12 on Thursday.

In the 30-15 dual meet victory over the Prairie Fire, the Pioneers took advantage of a pin, two forfeits and picked up riding time points in three matches for the win.

After a forfeit at 125 by the Pioneers, Josh Bayer put UW-Platteville on the scoreboard at 133 with a 9-6 win. The Peshtigo native jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in the first period. He later added to its lead in the third period when he added a takedown and two escapes for the win. After a loss at 141 put the Pioneers behind, 9-3 in the dual meet, the Pioneers won the next two matches at 149 and 157 respectively.

At 149, freshman Tyler Ledbetter led from start to finish. The rookie began the third period with a 4-3 advantage before a convincing finish in the final two minutes. He picked up a reversal early in the period to stretch the lead to 6-3 and began to ride his opponent for most of the period. Despite surrendering an escape, he added a takedown and finished with 1:51 of riding time for the 9-4 win.

Then, the Pioneers took their first lead in the dual when Peter Crocco pinned Rey Cardenas in 2:37 to put UW-Platteville up 12-9. As quick as UW-Platteville gained the lead, Knox snatched the lead back with a pin at 165 to take a 15-12 lead.

Again, the lead in the dual changed hands for the final time as the Pioneers rattled off four-straight victories to close out the dual. Austin Holland started the winning streak with a win at 174 by forfeit and Quinn Sedlak posted a 12-7 win at 184 to stretch the team lead for the Pioneers to 21-15. UW-Platteville closed out the dual with wins at 197 by Matt Scott by forfeit and Devin Johnson at heavyweight, 6-5.

Josh Bayer for the second-straight dual got the Pioneers off to a strong start with a forfeit win at 133. Tyler Henken stretched the lead to 9-0 in the dual with a 7-4 win at 141 pounds. Henken had an impressive second period, recording 3-point and 2-point nearfalls.

After a Blugolds win at 149, the Pioneers picked up its second win on the evening with a forfeit by UW-Eau Claire at 157. The Blugolds were victorious at 165 and the momentum of the match swung back to the Pioneers with a major decision by Austin Holland at 174. A high-scoring first period saw Holland post a 7-4 lead, who closed with a takedown and an escape for the early advantage. After a scoreless second period, Holland added to his lead with a dominating third period. He added a reversal and two 2-point nearfalls as well as 3:07 of riding time for the 14-4 win.

UW-Eau Claire came back to post victories at 184 and Heavyweight in the dual, in between the wins was a victory by Matt Scott at 197 for UW-Platteville. The senior jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the first period and controlled the third period to post a 6-1 win.

Next, the Pioneers are idle this weekend before they travel on Saturday, Jan. 21 to the Wabash Duals in Crawfordsville, Indiana and the Flash Flannigan Open in Dubuque.