1998-99 Wrestling in Review

UW-Platteville's Brian Olson, a junior from Wausau (D.C. Everest High School) earned all-America honors at the NCAA Division III wrestling championships at the College of New Jersey over the weekend.

Olson placed fourth in the 125-pound weight class. On Friday, he beat Delaware Valley College's Mike Jones 4-3, but lost a 3-2 decision to the fifth seed, Anthony Conte of the College of New Jersey. Olson then defeated Eric Kelly of Kings College, 6-4 in overtime, Capital's Brandon Newill 6-4 and third-seeded Russ Peloquin of UW-La Crosse 2-1 before falling to Conte again in the third-place match, 9-1. Olson finished the season with a 26-8 record.

The Pioneers placed 27th in the tournament with 11.5 points.

Two seniors concluded their outstanding careers in New Jersey. Nick Matiash, from Waunakee, was 1-2 at 184 pounds in the tournament. He ended the year with a team-high 32 wins against only 6 losses. Wes Folk was 0-2 at 197 pounds, ending his season at 19-6.

Chris Aultman, a freshman from Iowa Grant, lost two matches at 157 pounds.

UW-Platteville wrestlers had mixed results on the first day on the NCAA Division III championships at the College of New Jersey.

Brian Olson won two out of three matches at 125 pounds. Olson, a junior from Wausau (D.C. Everest) beat Delaware Valley College's Mike Jones 4-3, but lost a 3-2 decision to the fifth seed, Anthony Conte of the College of New Jersey. Olson then defeated Eric Kelly of Kings College, 6-4 in overtime.

Chris Aultman, a freshman from Iowa Grant, lost 8-2 to fourth-seeded Jimmy Wandsnider of Mt. St. Joseph's in his opening match. Aultman was then eliminated by Springfield's Craig Vedrani, 8-2.

Nick Matiash, the fifth seed at 184 pounds, was surprised by Buena Vista's Mike Pamulak in the opener, 4-3. The senior from Waunakee, who has a 31-5 record, will attempt to come back through the consolation bracket tomorrow.

Seventh-seeded Wes Folk will wrestle his first match Saturday at 197 pounds.

With Olson's victories, the Pioneers are in 36th place with 4.50 points.

Behind three individual champions, UW-Platteville recorded its best wrestling finish ever by placing second at the 44th annual Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meet Saturday at UW-La Crosse.

Chris Aultman (157 pounds), Nick Matiash (184) and Wes Folk (197) won individual titles and automatically qualified for the NCAA III wrestling championships March 5-6 in Trenton, New Jersey. Brian Olson, who was third at 125 pounds, was voted by the coaches to represent the WIAC as well at nationals.

The Pioneers scored 126.5 points Saturday, finishing second to UW-La Crosse, who had 146.5. UW-Stevens Point was third at 113.5, followed by UW-Oshkosh, 81.5, UW-Eau Claire, 62.5, UW-Whitewater, 54, and UW-River Falls, 46.5.

Coach Chris Walter's team showed its depth, as nine of the 10 Pioneers wrestled for at least fourth place, and the other finished fifth.

Besides Olson, placing third were John Kelly (133), Tim Swenson (149) and Tony Austin (165). Finishing fourth were Chris Vogel (142) and Nick Maleck (174), while Clint Biodrowski was fifth at heavyweight.

Aultman, a freshman who started wrestling late in the year, won an overtime decision over Stevens Point's Bob Weix, 5-3, in the championship match. Matiash, who rolled to two early wins, reversed a mid-season loss to La Crosse's Jeremy Miller by winning 3-2. Matiash improved his record to 31-4. Folk claimed his title by pinning La Crosse's Bart Bly in 4:10.

UW-Platteville's Nick Matiash won four straight matches at 184 pounds and walked away with the Most Valuable Wrestler Award at the UW-Eau Claire Invitational Saturday.

Matiash, a senior from Waunakee, beat La Crosse's Chris Guderski 10-3, Augsburg's Robert Kendall 13-5 and Oshkosh's Josh Fine 10-5 to reach the championship match. In the title clash, he defeated St. John's Ryan Tietz 7-6.

The Pioneers placed fourth in the 13-team tournament.

Clint Biodrowski was second at 185 pounds, losing to top-seeded Ben Kureck of Stevens Point 5-4 in the finals. Brian Olson took third for Platteville at 125 pounds.

UW-Platteville Record: 9-5-1;

Thanks to four first-place finishes, UW-Platteville won the 10-team Elmhurst Invitational Saturday.

Brian Olson (125 pounds), Ryan Nash (157), Nick Maleck (174) and Wes Folk (197) brought home championships from Illinois.

The Pioneers scored 149 points to edge Augustana by one point for the team title.

UW-Platteville is ranked 17th in the latest NCAA Division III poll.

UW-Platteville Record: 8-5-1; UW-Whitewater 2-11

The UW-Platteville wrestling team went 2-1 at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Duals at UW-Oshkosh Saturday.

The Pioneers blasted UW-Eau Claire 40-3 and UW-River Falls 41-9, but lost to UW-La Crosse 24-9.

The 11th-ranked Pioneers improved to 7-5-1 on the year.

Tony Austin won all three of his matches at 165 pounds for the Pioneers. Nick Maleck was also undefeated at 174 pounds, going 2-0. Brian Olson (125), John Kelly (133), Nick Matiash (184), Clint Biodrowski (197) and Wes Folk (285) all were 2-1.

Platteville returns to Williams Fieldhouse Tuesday to face UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.

The UW-Platteville wrestling team battled not only outstanding competition, but also the flu bug at the NCAA III National Dual Wrestling Championships Jan. 15-16 in Williamsport, Pa.

The fifth-seeded Pioneers dropped their first match to Delaware Valley, 25-10, then bounced back to beat Ohio Northern 26-12 and Messiah 21-20. The Pioneers fell 25-6 to Springfield in the consolation semifinals and 28-13 to Augustana in the seventh-place match.

Because of the flu, 16 different wrestlers saw action over the weekend. Nick Matiash recorded a perfect 4-0 mark, raising his total to 17-2 at 184 pounds, while Wes Folk was 4-1 at 197 pounds.

In a matchup of two of the nation's top DIII wrestling teams, UW-Stevens Point defeated UW-Platteville 20-12 in UWSP's Berg gymnasium.

Most of the matches, at least were in the Berg gymnasium. At 197 pounds, Stevens Point's Ben Kureck defeated Wes Folk 9-7 in overtime at Quandt Fieldhouse during halftime of the Pointer men's basketball game vs. UW-Superior.

Claiming victory for the Pioneers were Brian Olson at 125 pounds, Tony Austin at 165, Nick Matiash at 184 and Clint Biodrowski at heavyweight.

UW-Platteville spotted Oshkosh an 11-0 lead, then came back to beat the host Titans 27-14 Friday night.

The match started at 157 pounds, and the Titans took that weight as well as 165 and 174.

Nick Matiash got the Pioneers' first win, a 13-8 victory over Josha Finke. Clint Biodrowski followed with a pin at 197, and heavyweight Dan Beitz won in his first action of the year, giving the Pioneers a 13-11 lead.

John Steinhauer, by forfeit, Brian Olson and Chris Vogel won their matches to give Platteville and insurmountable 27-11 lead.

Platteville, ranked ninth in the country, improved to 3-0-1 on the year and 1-0 in the conference.

The UW-Platteville wrestling team made an auspicious beginning to the new season, compiling a 2-0-1 record in dual meets.

The Pioneers came from behind to defeat Loras 23-18 on Thursday night, then travelled to Cornell College Saturday for a pair of matches. Minus all-American Wes Folk, the Pioneers tied Luther 17-17, then blasted Cornell 42-5.

Brian Olson and Nick Matiash both were 3-0 on the week.

Note: A new rule in college wrestling calls for a drawing prior to the match to determine the order. The heavyweight match was first.