Wrestlers Compete at Luther Open

DECORAH, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team competed Saturday at the Luther Open. The Pioneers competed in two divisions at the event which featured over five hundred wrestlers. 

As a unit, the Pioneers tallied nine pins, two technical fall wins, and two major decisions. 

Elite Division Highlights

At 149 pounds, sophomore Kyler Neuberger had a standout day, pinning one opponent and defeating others by technical fall and a major decision. Neuberger started the day by pinning Kael Scranton of Coe (2:19). Victor Voinovich of Iowa took the next bout by technical fall, but Neuberger followed the setback with an 18-3 technical fall victory of his own, defeating Justin Ciliotta of Stevens Tech. The Pioneer kept momentum rolling with an 11-2 major over Chase Kmosena of Luther. Neuberger fell in the final bout by 18-2 tech fall to Cole Becker of Augsburg. 

Wrestling at 141 pounds, sophomore Alec Schmacht returned to the mat for the first time this season and opened the day with an 8-1 decision over Blake Engel of Coe. Tristan Day of Luther took the next second round bout, 5-0. Schmacht rallied and next pinned Michael Rainer of Nebraska Wesleyan (1:05) and defeated Colin Roque of Augustana with a 17-0 technical fall. Nosa Egbon of Loras took the final match with a 16-6 major decision. 

At 157 pounds, junior David Cushman started the day strong with a victory when he pinned UW-La Crosse's Cameron Jacobs (3:21). Cushman later dropped two major decisions to Wartburg's Daniel Meeker and Augsburg's Lukas Paulson. 

At 285, senior Colton Grindle started the day by pinning Mitchell Marr of Upper Iowa (0:54). Easton Fleshman of Iowa took the next bout by a decision of 5-2 and Grindle continued to battle until pin in his third match (5:00) sent Jagger Schack of Augsburg to the next round. 

Wrestling at 184, junior Ryan Pothoof also started the day with a win by fall over Emilio Chavez of Nebraska Wesleyan (4:29). Pothoof went on to drop the next two rounds by 8-1 and 9-5 decisions to Colter Bye of Upper Iowa and Elijah Mitchell of Luther.  

Silver Division Highlights

Wrestling at 285 pounds, freshman Jackson Kirsch placed fourth and pinned two of his opponents. Dylan Bravo Packer of St. Cloud State took the first bout by fall (2:34, but Kirsch pinned Weston Swise of Eureka (2:13) and then pinned Emiliano Lopez of Wartburg (6:17) for back-to-back pins. Kirsch advanced to the third-place match due to injury and fell to Wyatt Smith  of Coe (Fall 0:31) in the final bout of the day. 

At 174 pounds, sophmore Blake Delsman placed seventh and took down Hunter Worthen of Wartburg with a 7-6 decision in the opening round. Delsman dropped the next bout 12-5 to Landry Barker of Loras, but Delsman bounced back and pinned Braike Jones of Newbraska Wesleyan (3:32). Camren Dennee of UW-La Crosse took the next match with a major decision (15-3), and Delsman finished the day strong with a 7-3 decision over Juan Quintero of Rochester CC in the seventh-place match. 

Wrestling at 141 pounds, sophmore Trent DuMont opened the day and pinned Ethan Waters of Augustana by 14-1 major decision. DuMont dropped the next bout 15-0 but rebounded and pinned Austin Frankin of Luther (4:06). 

The Pioneers will take a break from competition until Tuesday, Dec. 5 when they hit the road for their first conference dual of the season.