The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, with five individual champions, won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Sunday in the Kris Russell Volleyball Arena of Williams Center in Whitewater.  The win, UW-W's first since 1991, breaks a string of fourteen consecutive titles by UW-La Crosse.  Whitewater's five champions, and one wild card, advance to the NCAA III championship March 10-11 in La Crosse.

Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville), tenth in the national Division III ranking, won the 125 class with a pin and a major decision.  He opened with a 1:32 pin of Lance Fabry of UW-Stevens Point, then defeated Zach Mueller of Oshkosh 9-0 in the title match.  Sutter improved to 11-0.

At 149 Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/Iowa-Grant), ranked sixth nationally, began with a 5-2 decision over Jamey Simmons of Stevens Point, and topped Jose Quintana of UW-Oshkosh with a major decision 14-6.  Sarbacker, who is 8-1, won the 157 pound title in 2011.

In a first round match David Dwyer (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), seventh ranked nationally at 184, pinned Matt Rieckhoff of Eau Claire in1:35.  He followed up with Sam Engelland of Oshkosh, ranked ninth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III poll, and won the title bout 3-1 in overtime.   Dwyer is 23-7.

Adam Latella (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) repeated as WIAC champion at 197 and will return to the NCAA III championships.  Latella defeated Luke Ortscheid of Eau Claire 3-2, then beat Matt Scott of Platteville 9-4, and prevailed in the championship 3-2 over Zach Strickland of La Crosse.  Latella is 16-4.

Corey Anderson (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), third ranked nationally, won the 285 title.  He beat Matt Cuadra of Stevens Point 14-5 to set up a match with Billy Mayer of La Crosse, ranked seventh in Division III.  Anderson won 8-0 and upped his record to 35-3.

Jake Fredrickson will be making a return trip to the NCAA III meet.  Fredrickson, ranked sixth nationally,  finished third at 133 and earned a wild card berth.  Fredrickson lost in overtime 3-1 to fourth-ranked Adam Sheley of La Crosse.  He came back with a 13-1 win over Neil Manns of Eau Claire, and won the third place match 8-5 over third-ranked Timothy Wunnicke of Platteville.  Fredrickson, UW-W's representative on the WIAC Sportsmanship Team, is 28-4.

Whitewater's Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield), ranked tenth, earned the WIAC's second alternate spot.  He will compete at the NCAA III meet if two wrestlers in the top sixteen (ten champions, six wild card) are unable to compete in La Crosse.  Gibson owns a 32-10 record.

UW-W coach Tim Fader won his first title at UW-Whitewater -- but not his first WIAC title.  Fader was the architect of the La Crosse program, guiding the Eagles to seven straight championships (1998-2004).

Team Scores
1. UW-Whitewater 108.5
2. UW-La Crosse 96.0
3. UW-Stevens Point 70.5
4. UW-Oshkosh 66.0
5. UW-Eau Claire 14.0
6. UW-Platteville 9.0

Final Brackets
125...Champion - Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville), UW-Whitewater
133...Champion - Adam Sheley, UW-La Crosse
141...Champion - Bebeto Yewah, UW-La Crosse
149...Champion - Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/Iowa-Grant), UW-Whitewater
157...Champion - Nazar Kulchytskyy, UW-Oshkosh
165...Champion - Kevin O'Brien, UW-La Crosse
174...Champion - Mike Schmitz, UW-La Crosse
184...Champion - David Dwyer (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), UW-Whitewater
197...Champion - Adam Latella (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), UW-Whitewater
285...Champion - Corey Anderson (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), UW-Whitewater



Meet Preview

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will host the 2012 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wresling Championship Sunday, February 26, beginning at 9:00 in the Williams Center on campus. 

Follow the tournament (brackets)  in the left, blue column click on Tournaments ... in the Quick Search box, event name, type in WIAC ... select Go ... you will want the first choice on the next screen, WIAC Conference Touranment

Teams competing in the league championship will include UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater.

The WIAC Championship will feature four teams mentioned in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Brute Wrestling Poll.  UW-La Crosse is ranked second, UW-Whitewater ninth, UW-Oshkosh seventeenth, and UW-Stevens Point twenty-sixth. 

UW-La Crosse has won fourteen consecutive WIAC titles (1998-2011), and finished second in the NCAA III tournament three of the last six years.  The Eagles feature four defending WIAC champions, all of whom are included in the NWCA III individual ratings.  Adam Sheley is fourth in the ratings at 133, Bebeto Yahweh is number one at 141, Mike Schmitz is second at 174, and Bill Mayer is seventh at 285.  Schmitz will be looking for his fourth WIAC title and Yahweh his third.

UW-Whitewater enters the competition with five ranked wrestlers, including Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/Iowa-Grant), ranked sixth at 149, and Adam Latella (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) at 197.  Other Warhawks in the NWCA ratings are Jake Fredrickson, sixth at 133; Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield), tenth at 165; David Dwyer (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), seventh at 184; and Corey Anderson (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), third at 285. 

UW-Oshkosh will bring three nationally ranked competitors to the meet, Zach Mueller, seventh at 125; Nazar Kulchytskyy, second at 157; and Sam Engelland, ninth at 184. 

Platteville's T.J. Wunnicke, nationally ranked third at 133, heads what could be the most competitive weight class with three WIAC wrestlers among the top six nationally.

The WIAC Championship is a qualifying tournament for the NCAA III Wrestling Championship.  Top wrestlers from the WIAC will advance to the national meet March 9-10 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Sunday's schedule begins with the first round at 9:00, semifinals at 11:00, consolation semifinals at 12:45, and finals at 2:00.

The WIAC Championship will generate live stats during the competition, will be televised by UW-W TV (Charter cable systems, channel 19/20).  The broadcast will also be available via the internet courtesy of Penn Atlantic.  FSN-Wisconsin will cover the tournament and air a show Sunday, March 25 at 4:00.

Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for youth.  Any student at a member WIAC school will be admitted free, with a valid student ID.