The UW-Whitewater wrestling team, ranked tenth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, went 1-2 at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in Springfield, Illinois Saturday. The dual tournament featured the top sixteen teams in Division III. The tourney is the closest Division III has to a national dual meet championship, while the NCAA III Championship Tournament, which determines team and individual champions, will be held in March.
Bracket
The Warhawks kicked off the Cliff Keen National Duals with an 18-16 win over seventh ranked Olivet. Olivet took a 7-0 lead after the first two bouts. Whitewater's
Jake Fredricksen (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) picked up three points for the Warhawks with a decision at 141 but OC answered in the next bout.
Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/) put the Warhawks back in the match with a pin in 4:19 to pull UW-W within one, 10-9. The Warhawks won three of the next five weight classes including
Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel)'s decision over Logan Renas, ranked eighth in the NWCA and sixth according to d3wrestle.com, at 197 pounds.
Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon), listed as honorable mention in the d3wrestle.com poll, finished off the match with a decision over Jake Ceslick, a contender in the same poll.
#-NWCA ranking/d3wrestle.com ranking
Round 1: UW-W defeated Olivet 18-16
125 Esteban Gonzales (OC) defeated
Joe Meylor (Darlington/Darlington) (WW) Major Decision 13-2
133 Michael Gancer (OC) defeated #2/10
Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) (WW) 4-3
141 #7/5
Jake Fredricksen (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) (WW) defeated Kenneth Richmond (OC) 6-3
157
Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/) (WW) pinned Kyle Witgen (OC) 4:19
165 #9/4 James Myers (OC) defeated
Tyler Becker (Fox Lake Grant, IL/) (WW) 9-3
174
Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago) (WW) defeated Nicholas Allen (OC) SV-1 11-9
184 Jeff Holm (OC) defeated
Andrew Pettit (Hoffman Estates, IL/Hoffman Estates) (WW) 3-1
197
Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel) (WW) defeated #8/6 Logan Renas (OC) 8-4
285
Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) (WW) defeated Jake Ceslick (OC) 8-6
Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall),
Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/) and
Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) picked up wins against the number two team in Division III. Perkin and Sarbacker faced opponents ranked in the honorable mention category according to d3wrestle.com. Interestingly,
Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel)'s loss at 197 was to Benefiel, ranked sixth in the NWCA and d3wrestle.com poll in the 174 pound weight class.
#-NWCA ranking/d3wrestle.com ranking
Round 2: Elmhurst defeated UW-W 26-9
125 Lillashawn Coleman (EC) pinned Joey Meylor (WW) 2:57
133 #4/4 Dalton Bullard (EC) defeated #2/10
Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) (WW) Major Decision 8-0
141 #6/9 Ryan Earley (EC) defeated #7/5
Jake Fredricksen (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) (WW) 5-2
149
Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall) (WW) defeated James Spangler (EC) 10-8
157
Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/) (WW) defeated Alex Maynard (EC) 1-0
165 Yousef Al-Ghoul (EC) defeated
Willie Anaya (Downers Grove, IL/Downers Grove) (WW) 7-3
174 Danny Balderas (EC) defeated
Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago) (WW) Major Decision 14-4
184 #1/1 Josef Rau (EC) defeated
Andrew Pettit (Hoffman Estates, IL/Hoffman Estates) (WW) 12-5
197 #6/6 Mike Benefiel (EC) defeated
Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel) (WW) 5-0
285
Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) (WW) defeated Jack Lewis (EC) 11-9
The third match of the day started out well, with the Warhawks taking a 12-4 lead on the eighth ranked Division III team, but Coe turned things around late in the match. The match hung in the balance until the last bout, but Coe prevailed taking the match 19-18. Sutter's 45 second pin in his match at 133 pounds is the fourth fastest this season by a Warhawk wrestler.
#-NWCA ranking/d3wrestle.com ranking
Consolation Round 2: Coe defeated UW-W 19-18
125 Jimmy Gotto (Coe) defeated
Joe Meylor (Darlington/Darlington) (WW) Major Decision 10-1
133 #2/10
Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) (WW) pinned Tyler Shulista (Coe) 0:45
141 #7/5
Jake Fredricksen (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) (WW) defeated Beau Westpfahl 10-4
149
Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall) (WW) defeated Tim Noverini (Coe) 11-4
157 Dimitri Boyer (Coe) defeated
Kegan Arthur (Petoskey, MI/Petoskey) (WW) 2-0
165
Tyler Becker (Fox Lake Grant, IL/) (WW) defaeated McThomas Sewera (Coe) 7-5
174 #5/9 Ethan Ball (Coe) defeated
Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago) (WW) Technical Fall 17-0
184 Ryan Sheldon (Coe) defeated
Andrew Pettit (Hoffman Estates, IL/Hoffman Estates) (WW) Major Decision 11-1
197
Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel) (WW) defeated #7 Donnie Horner (Coe) TB-2 3-3
285 #3/6 Alex Burkle (Coe) defeated
Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) (WW) 7-4
Fredricksen, Perkin, Siefert and Edgren all ended the day 2-1. Edgren's loss was just his second of the season while all four wrestlers have racked up 16 or more wins on the season. Sarbacker, recently moved into the lineup, went 2-0 at the duals.
UW-W, on the road all season so far, will travel to UW-La Crosse for a 7:00 dual start Saturday, January 18. The Warhawks will finally get their first competition on their home mat in Williams Center, January 25 at 7:00 against UW-Eau Claire. That will be followed by the annual Border Brawls Saturday the 26th beginning at 10:30 in Williams Center, and then a home match against UW-Stevens Point January 29.
