Rinehart and Wynsma finish fourth at NCAA Upper Midwest Regional in season finale

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The No. 22 ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team's 2019-20 season came to a close on Saturday at the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional hosted by No. 3 Augsburg University in Si Melby Hall. Junior Lucius Rinehart and freshman Nathan Wynsma finished the competition in a team high fourth place and were narrowly kept from the National Meet with the top three of each weight class moving on to the NCAA Championship.

After two days of competition in a Regional Meet including five of the top 25 teams in the nation, head coach Mike DeRoehn said, "It was a disappointing finish to an otherwise solid season." DeRoehn went on to say, "I'm proud of the growth and improvements we made individually and as a team. Now we look forward to better days ahead."

Six Pioneers entered Saturday's matches with the possibility of qualifying for the National Meet, but by the end, Rinehart and Wynsma were the two Pioneers to advance to third-place matches.

No. 4 ranked heavyweight Rinehart opened up the Regional with a quick pin (Fall 1:27) over Harlen Nolasco of St. Olaf. Rinehart then defeated Grant Miller of Wheaton by a 6-2 decision in the quarterfinal. On day two, Jordan Lemcke of UW-Oshkosh pinned the Pioneer (Fall 5:22) and forced Rinehart to wrestle back to the third-place match. Rinehart accepted the challenge and defeated Tyler Kim of Augsburg by an 8-5 decision to advance to the third-place match. With Nationals on the line, Rinehart left it all on the mat, but was edged by Cole Fibranz of Chicago with a 3-2 decision. 

At 165 pounds, Wynsma had hopes to close out a stellar freshman year with a trip to Nationals, but a last-minute fall in the third-place match closed out the season for the Pioneer. Wynsma entered the Regional Meet with the gusto that had driven him all season long as he pinned Stephen Watson of Wheaton (Fall 0:34) and Chase Schmidt of UW-Eau Claire (Fall 4:49) in the first two rounds. Wynsma suffered a loss to Mitchell Hertel of UW-La Crosse by a 4-1 decision in the semifinal and was challenged to wrestle back to the third-place match. The Pioneer defeated Jordan Weinzetl of UW-Stevens Point by a 7-0 decision with one final deciding bout remaining. Wynsma was winning the third-place match 16-4, but it was Lucas Jeske of Augsburg who made the move and pinned the Pioneer (Fall 6:02) in the final minute to advance to the National Meet. 

Three other Pioneers finished in the top-five at the Regional Meet including sophomore Isaac Wiegel at 125 pounds, sophomore Alexander Strueder at 157 pounds, and junior Nick Dado at 174 pounds. Junior Luke Pradel finished sixth at 133 pounds and was the final Pioneer who entered the second day of competition with the possibility of advancing to the National Meet. 

Wiegel suffered an early loss in round one after sudden victory in favor of Anthony Zamora of Wheaton. The Pioneer received a bye before defeating Denis Murphy of UW-Oshkosh by a 9-5 decision. Wiegel then defeated Jack Marley of UW-Eau Claire by a 10-2 major decision before dropping an 8-7 decision to Anthony Zamora of Wheaton. The Pioneer closed out the day with a 7-4 decision over Justin Stauffacher of Augsburg to take the fifth-place match.

Highlights of Pradel's weekend included a 15-1 major decision in round one, a technical fall (15-0) in the consolation round two, and win by pinfall over Griffin Seyfried of Chicago (Fall 6:24) in round three of the consolation bracket. 

Strueder's highpoints of the competition included a 4-0 decision in the quarterfinal and a 4-3 decision over Jerod Novak of St. Johns to take the fifth-place match. 

Dado's weekend included a thrilling 6-4 sudden victory win over Austin Stebane of UW-Stevens Point in round one, a 14-3 major decision over Will Dixon of UW-Oshkosh in round two of the consolation bracket, a 7-3 decision in round three, and another 7-3 decision over Austin Stebane of UW-Stevens Point to win the fifth-place match. 

Junior Max Schmitz finished after two days of competition in seventh place at 197 pounds and sophomore Garrett Ruckdashel finished in eighth place at 149 pounds for the Pioneers.

Results

125 - Isaac Wiegel (24-14) placed 5th and scored 9.5 team points.

133 - Luke Pradel (27-17) placed 6th and scored 12.5 team points.

141 - Chase Katzenmeyer (11-14) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

149 - Garrett Ruckdashel (12-14) placed 8th and scored 4.5 team points.

157 - Alexander Strueder (22-10) placed 5th and scored 9.0 team points.

165 - Nathan Wynsma (24-5) placed 4th and scored 15.5 team points.

174 - Nick Dado (24-16) placed 5th and scored 10.0 team points.

184 - Jacob Sklenar (13-16) place is unknown and scored 0.5 team points.

197 - Max Schmitz (15-17) placed 7th and scored 5.0 team points.

285 - Lucius Rinehart (24-3) placed 4th and scored 13.5 team points.