For the second time this month the UW-Whitewater wrestling team, ranked thirteenth in the National Wresling Coaches Association Division III poll, made a statement.  The Warhawks remain undefeated in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 26-15 win over sixth-ranked UW-Stevens Point, now 3-1 in WIAC duals, Tuesday night in Kachel Gym of Williams Center in Whitewater, Wisconsin.  UW-W defeated fifth-ranked UW-La Crosse 24-14 January 18.

Photo gallery by Jenny DuPuis, available for purchase

Although injuries could change the lineups and the biggest tournaments of the year are a month away, Tuesday's match is significant for seeding at the WIAC Championship Tournament and possibly beyond. 

The match opened at 125 pounds.  Whitewater's Joe Meylor (Darlington/Darlington) led 2-1 after one period on a takedown.  In the second Point's Lance Fabry went ahead 3-2 with a reversal, but Meylor escaped to tie the score 3-3 after two periods.  Meylor escaped from the bottom position to start the third to take a 4-3 lead, but with 16 seconds left Meylor was penalized a point for stalling to tie the match 4-4, and with just one second left Fabry scored a takedown for a 6-4 win.  UW-Stevens Point led 3-0 in the team score.

Whitewater's Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville), listed as a "contender" in the D3wrestle.com rankings, picked up six points with a forfeit at 133 pounds to put UW-W in front 6-3.

The 141 pound match featured a pair of wrestlers that might see each other in the WIAC Tournament, the NCAA III regional, and even the NCAA III championship (as you will see, was the case with several matches for the evening), with Whitewater's Jake Fredrickson coming in ranked fifth by D3wrestle.com and Point's Jordan Kust listed as a "contender".  Two takedowns by Fredrickson in the first period gave him a 4-2 lead, and he added an escape from the bottom position to go up 5-2 after two.  Kust chose the bottom position in period three, escaped to make it 5-3, but that was the end of scoring in the match as UW-W's lead increased to 9-3.

Whitewater's Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall), a D3wrestle.com "contender", rolled up a technical fall, 16-0, in 5:51 over Shane Sweeney at 149 pounds.  Perkin led 7-0 after a first period that included a three point nearfall, increased the lead to 10-0 after two, and closed out the match with a takedown and three point nearfall in period three to up the Whitewater lead in the match to 14-3.

At 157 pounds Whitewater's Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/), also listed as a "contender" by D3wrestle.com defeated Point's Jamey Simmons 7-4.  Leading 2-1 after the first three minutes, Sarbacker added a two point nearfall, and Simmons came back with an escape to make it 4-2 after two periods.  Sarbacker escaped from the bottom position to lead 5-2, but a Simmons takedown with just 0:24 remaining made it 5-4 before Sarbacker closed it out with an escape and one point of riding time.  Whitewater led in the team score 17-3.

Whitewater's Tyler Becker (Fox Lake Grant, IL/), ranked seventh, pinned James Rodgers in 1:41 to pad Whitewater's cushion to 23-3.

The Pointers got back on the scoreboard with a 12-6 win by Jordan Schulte over Whitewater's Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago) at 174 pounds.   Schulte led 4-1 after the first period and 7-2 after two.  Aprahamian closed within 9-6 with a takedown in the third, but Schulte ended the scoring with an escape and a takedown.  Point trailed in the team score 23-6.

UW-SP's Craig Brandvold pinned Whitewater's Justin Birschbach (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) at 184 pounds.  After a scoreless first period Brandvold led 2-1 when he got the pin at 4:31 to pull Point closer, 23-12.

Two more wrestlers that will be seeing a lot of each other the rest of the season matched up at 197, with Whitewater's Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel) ranked seventh by D3wrestle.com and Stevens Points' Dustin Wozniak listed as a "contender".  Siefert went ahead 4-1 in the first period, but Wozniak cut that lead to 4-3 with a reversal from the bottom in period two.  An escape by Siefert at the beginning of period three gave him a 5-3 lead, but Wozniak earned a penalty point and got a takedown with four seconds left to pull out the win.  UW-SP pulled closer in the team score, 23-15.
 
 The final match of the evening was like so many before it, with Whitewater's Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) and Stevens Point's Jordan Koranda both listed as "contenders" by D3wrestle.com.  Edgren and Koranda wrestled a cautious 0-0 first period.  Edgren took the lead with a reversal in period two, but Koranda cut it in half with an escape and it stood 2-1 after the second period.  Koranda escaped from the down position to tie the match, but with just eight seconds left Edgren took down Koranda to make it 4-2.  Riding time was added for the final score.

125   Lance Fabry, SP, defeated Joe Meylor (Darlington/Darlington), WW, 6-4
133   Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville), WW, won by forfeit
141   Jake Fredricksen (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock), WW, defeated Jordan Kust, SP, 5-3
149   Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall), WW, defeated Shane Sweeney, SP, technical fall 5:51 (16-0)
157   Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/), WW, defeated Jamey Simmons, SP, 7-4
165   Tyler Becker (Fox Lake Grant, IL/), WW, pinned James Rodgers, SP, 1:41
174   Jordan Schulte, SP, defeated Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago), WW, 12-6
184   Craig Brandvold, SP, pinned Justin Birschbach (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac), WW, 4:31
197   Dustin Wozniak, SP, defeated Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel), WW, 6-5
285   Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon), WW, defeated Jordan Koranda, SP, 5-2

UW-Whitewater will compete in the Wheaton Invitational in Wheaton, Illinois Friday and Saturday.



tf/LL