Wrestling Ready to Begin Season This Weekend

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team will begin the 2023-2024 campaign this weekend when it heads to the University of Dubuque Jim Fox Invite on Saturday.

The Pioneers will be under the direction of first-year head coach Topher Carton, who joins the program after serving as an assistant coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Joining Carton on the staff will be assistant coach Alex Friddle, who recently wrestled at Coe.

"I am very excited for our guys to compete this weekend," Carton said. "They have been working hard and developing well over the last 6 weeks. We like what we have been seeing in the practice room. There will be some good competition this weekend at UD and next week at Luther, so it will be a great early season test for us. We have simulated competition in our practices, but nothing can replace the competition arena. I like where we are as a team right now, so I am looking forward to seeing everyone let it fly this weekend." 

Next weekend, the Pioneers will head to the Luther Open in Decorah, Iowa before traveling to UW-Stevens Point for a WIAC dual in early December to close out 2023. The team returns to competition in January, starting with the Cliff Keen-Mike Duroe Invite on January 13.

The first two home duals of the season will take place on Thursday, January 18 and Friday, January 19 as UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire travel to Platteville for a pair of conference duals. In February, the Pioneers head to UW-Whitewater and the Don Park Open in Eau Claire before closing the regular season at home against UW-La Crosse on Tuesday, February 6 for the annual Throwdown in the Theatre.

The Pioneers will play host to the 2024 WIAC Tournament, the first time the conference meet has been held in Platteville since 2017.

UW-Platteville placed fourth at the WIAC Championships a season ago and return five wrestlers who competed in last year's conference meet. Sophomore Kyler Neuberger (149 pounds) posted a fifth-place finish at the championships, while junior David Cushman (157) placed sixth in his weight class.