Wrestling competes at Upper Midwest Regional, Rinehart qualifies for Nationals

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team wraped up the two day Upper Midwest NCAA Regional Saturday as sophomore Lucius Rinehart secured his place in the NCAA Tounament in Roanoke, Virginia.

Rinehart is the lone Pioneer to qualify for the 2019 NCAA Tournament as he earned a bye in the first round of competition and went on to win the quarterfinal and semifinal to advance to the Championship round at 285 pounds.

In the quarterfinal, Rinehart defeated Tyler Burt of UW-Eau Claire by an 11-0 major decision.  Once in the simifinal round, Rinehart pinned his opponent, Grant Miller of Wheaten, at the 4:25 minute mark before falling to rival Konrad Ernst of UW-La Crosse at 2:05 in the final match up of the day.

Three other Pioneers placed at the the Upper Midwest Region including senior Scott Arneson at 133 pounds, sophomore Chase Katzenmeyer at 141 pounds, and senior Grant Wedepohl at 184 pounds.

Arneson, who pinned his opponent from Lakeland University (1:28) in the first round, lost to Ben Vosters of UW-Stevens Point by a 10-2 major decision in the quarterfinal and found himself having to fight his way back on day two for a shot at the national tournament.  The veteran senior was not able to secure one final appearance at the national tournament as he was defeated by UW-Eau Claire's Thomas Severson by a 9-0 major decision. He was however able to bring his career as a Pioneer to a close with one final victory in the seventh  place match where he defeated Concordia-Moorhead's Benjamin Bogart by a 8-5 decision.

Katzenmeyer, entered day two of the regional in a similar state as Arneson, having to wrestle back on Saturday after a victory Friday in the first round against Wheaton's Yosep Lee (Fall 2:41) and then a narrow loss by  a 3-0 decision against UW-Whitewater's Hazen Rice in the quarterfinal.  Katzenmeyer was on track for the third place match with victories over Pacific's Mike Day (Fall 3:36) and  Concordia Moorhead's Bret Wilson by a 7-4 decion, but fell one round short when he lost to UW-La Crosse's Hayden Schlough by a 5-3 decision.  Katzenmeyer claimed fifth place in his final match of the day when UW-Steven Point's Matt Berlin took fourth place by a 3-1 decision.

Wedepohl, who qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament, but had to remove himself prior to competition due to injury looked to secure his place at the tournament his senior year on Saturday.  After a first round victory over Concordia Morehead's Aiden Jolley (Fall 2:32), Wedepohl found himself having to fight his way to the third place match when he suffered a narrow loss by a 5-4 decision to UW-Whitewater's Nick Stencel in the quarterfinal.  Wedepohl, went on a two  round spree defeating UW-Eau Claire's Jordan Blanchard by a 6-1 decision and then UW-Oshkosh's Colten Cashmore by a 3-0 decision.  Wedepohl's chase for the national qualifying spot came to an end when he suffered at a 2-0 decision favoring Isaac Odell of Wheaton.  Wedepohl completed his senior year with the sixth place finish against UW-La Crosse's Reed Williams in the 5th place match by a 3-0 decision.

Saturday marked the conclusion of seven seniors' careers on the Pioneer wrestling team.  The group of upperclassmen included four individuals who fell short of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, but were no strangers to the national stage. 

Arneson and Trevor Harsh, each previous NCAA qualifiers, were among the group of four sophomores who qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2017.

Wedepohl is a three-time NCAA qualifier, having qualified his freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons, and is a three-time member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Academic Team.

The fourth Pioneer, Jon Goetz, who has not seen much time on the mat for most of the 2018-19 season due to a season ending injury early in the year, is a three-time NCAA qualifier and was the first wrestler in program history to qualify for the National Championship Round and was named National Runner-Up at 174 pounds in March of 2018.  Last year, Goetz became the 21st Pioneer wrestler to achieve All-American status.  Goetz is also a three-time member of the (NWCA) All-Academic Team.

The Pioneers will now watch as Rinehart represents the Pioneer wrestling program in Roanoke, Virginia on March 8-9 at the NCAA DIII Tournament.

Team Results

1   Augsburg 191.0
2   Wis.-La Crosse 151.0
3   Wis.-Whitewater 146.0
4   Wis.-Stevens Point 95.0
5   Chicago 90.0
6   Wis.-Oshkosh 81.0
7   Concordia-M`head 69.5
8   Elmhurst 57.0
9   Wheaton (IL) 55.0
10 Wis.-Platteville 51.5
11 Wis.-Eau Claire 48.0
12 St. John`s (MN) 40.5
13 MSOE 18.5
14 Pacific (OR) 7.5
15 Concordia Wisconsin 7.0
16 Lakeland 2.5
17 St. Olaf 0.5

For individual results, click here.