Rinehart competes at NCAA Championship, Pioneers earn high academic honors

ROANOKE, Va. – University of Wisconsin-Platteville sophomore 285 pounds wrestler, Lucius Rinehart, competed in day one of the NCAA Division III Championship in Roanoke, Virginia.

Rinehart fell out of the chase after two bouts Friday with the first loss coming at the hands of Trevor Piggott of Olivet College and a 4-2 decision favoring Piggott. 

With the loss, Rinehart found himself paired up once again against fourth seed, and conference rival, Konrad Ernst of UW-La Crosse.  As in the WIAC Championship and NCAA Regionals, Rinehart was not quite able to find a way around Ernst and fell out of the bracket after a 8-2 decision to Ernst.

"It was a tough way for Lucius to finish an otherwise successful sophomore season. We remain proud of his progress and look forward to continued success for him, on and off the mat," said head coach, Mike DeRoehn.

Rinehart finishes the season outscoring his opponents 203-78, with 28 wins, and 9 pins with 13 bonus point victories.

In addition to Rinehart qualifying for the NCAA Championship, the Pioneer wrestling team as a whole was recognized Thursday night as an All-American Scholar Wrestling Team and placed in the Top 30 teams in the country in Division III with a team grade point average of 3.359.