15 Pioneers place at Luther Open

DECORAH, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team's Saturday at the Luther College Open was highlighted by 15 Pioneers placing in the event. Seven wrestlers placed in the Elite division while eight underclassmen showcased their skill and placed in the Silver division.

Elite
125: Isaac Wiegel 4^th
165: Coy Ruess 6^th
Alexander Strueder 8^th
174: Nick Dado 5^th
197: Tyler Hannah 3^rd
Max Schmitz 6^th
285: Brett Schoenherr 3^rd

Silver
125: Nolan McKittrick 6^th
141: Nathanial Boulton 8^th
157: Owen Norman 4^th
Tyler Janssen 8^th
174: Ryan Pothoof 8^th 
184: Alex Witt 3^rd
Jacob Seward 7^th
285: Alex Ashauer 7^th

Freshman Tyler Hannah (197) and sophomore Brett Schoenherr (285) each finished third in the Elite division. After a tough 3-2 decision defeat in the quarterfinal, Hannah pinned Wartburg's Mershad Bashang (1:55) and then defeated Dubuque's Darwin Diaz by technical fall, 19-2 to advance to the consolation semifinal. The Pioneer battled with Donovan Corn of Luther and prevailed with a 6-5 decision to move on to the 3^rd place match. After three periods on the mat with Kobe Woods, the same wrestler who forced the Pioneer to wrestle back after the quarterfinal, Hannah captured the bronze in sudden victory (SV-1 3-1).

Schoenherr also had to work back following an early loss in the first round. The Pioneer coupled a 7-3 decision with a 4-3 victory to advance to the semifinal. Schoenherr faced off with Jordan Baumler of Upper Iowa University and won by medical forfeit to move on to the 3^rd place match. Paired against Guy Snow of Coe, Schoenherr defeated the Kohawk 4-2 to capture the Pioneers second 3^rd place finish of the day.

In the Silver bracket, freshman Alex Witt won the first match over Luther's Ben Strehlow with a 10-6 decision. Witt dropped the quarterfinal and wrestled back stacking 3-2, 10-7 and 8-7 decisions to take a place in the 3^rd place match. The Pioneer finished the day with a 10-2 major decision over Cornell College's Truman Thuente.

"I loved the way our freshmen competed and battled today!" said head coach Trevor Kittleson. "They are buying in and getting better every day. We had some great performances all around. We had some redemption from earlier in the year and really started to see guys figure it out and put it all together. We are consistently seeing progress every week which is all I can ask for!"

The Pioneers head back to the wrestling room for the week and return to action on Saturday, Nov. 20 in Minneapolis, Minn. at the Augsburg Invite.