WHEATON, Ill. - The UW-Whitewater wrestling team won the Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational in a tough 32-team field for the first time in program history. Two Warhawks won their weight classes, Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield North) and Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel), while seven others placed in the top eight. UW-Whitewater was fourth last year in the invitational.

Team Standings || Brackets || Finals Summary || Tournament Website

Gibson needed to wrestler just twice Saturday to capture the 165 pound title. He opened the second day of competition with a major decision over UW-La Crosse's Tyler Schneider 11-3. In the championship bout, Gibson recorded a 7-6 decision over Matthew Tuttle of Alma. Gibson was a perfect 5-0 in the invitational and improves to 16-5 this season.

Siefert went 2-0 Saturday to win the 197 pound championship. In his first bout of day two, Siefert posted a 7-2 decision over Jason Russell of Heidelberg. He topped Nick Rajcsak of Mount Union 4-3 in a close title bout. Siefert was 5-0 in the competition and now has 30 wins this season to lead Whitewater.

In the 133 pound weight class, Jimmy Nehls (Downers Grove, IL/North) fell to eventual champion Jeremy Border in the first bout of the day. He bounced back to win his next two matches, a decision over Colin McDermitt (Heidelberg) 7-4 and a 4-0 decision over Joseph Her (UW-Parkside), to finish third in the invitational. Teammate Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall) followed a similar path at 149 pounds. Perkin dropped in opening bout to Daniel Mirman (John Carroll) 3-1 who went on to win the weight class. Perkin came back with a 6-0 decision over Mount Union's Tyler Jonston. He won the third place bout with a technical fall over Nathan Segal of North Central 17-0 ending the match in 4:25.

Two Warhawks finished fourth in the invitational including Matt Adcock (Bloomingdale, IL/Lake Park) at 141 pounds and Andrew Pettit (Hoffman Estates, IL/Hoffman Estates) in the 174 pound weight class. Adcock fell to Justin Holm, ranked third by the NWCA, in the semifinal by a 4-0 decision. He advanced to the third place match with an 11-7 decision over Augustana's Isaiah Schaub but lost the battle for third by a 3-1 decision to Wayne Black of Mount St. Joseph. Pettit worked his way through the wrestleback bracket opening Saturday with a pin in 5:37 over Matt McCrary of Wheaton. He advanced to the third place match by medical forfeit. Pettit finished fourth after falling by 5-2 decision to Ricardo Plummer of Messiah.

Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago) went 0-3 Saturday to finish sixth at 184 pounds after having to submit a medical forfeit in the fifth place bout. Similarly, Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) was injured in his first bout of the day at 285 pounds and was forced to medically forfeit his final two matches to finish sixth. Zac Denny (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) rounded out the place finishers for the Warhawks with a seventh place finish at 125 pounds.

UW-W split their squad Saturday with another contingent competing in the Duhawk Open hosted by Loras College. Mitch Elmer (174) and Taylor Hildebrandt (Genoa City/Lake Geneva Badger) (184) highlighted the competition for Whitewater with fifth place finishes. Justin Birschbach (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) was sixth in the 197 pound weight class.

The brawlers will compete in the Blugold Open Saturday, February 8 hosted by UW-Eau Claire.

Graphic photo courtesy of Wheaton College Sports Information.

Friday Recap
WHEATON, Ill. - The UW-Whitewater wrestling team sits atop the leaderboard with 106 .5 team points and will have nine wrestlers competing in the second day of the Wheaton Invitational Saturday. The Warhawks have seven wrestlers in the championship bracket, nearly double the number posted by any other team, and two competing in the wrestleback. The invitational features 32 teams, 10 ranked in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, and 267 wrestlers competing in 10 weight classes. The invitational will wrap up Saturday with the semifinals, wrestlebacks and championship matches.

Team Standings || Bracket || Tournament Website

In the championship bracket, Jimmy Nehls (Downers Grove, IL/North), the fourth seed in the 133 pound weight class, went 2-0 Friday to advance to the semifinals. Opening the day with a first round bye, Nehls needed just 1:56 to pin his first opponent, Ryan Harter of Elizabethtown. Nehls, ranked third in the NWCA, followed with a major decision over Baldwin-Wallace's Andrew Taylor, 15-1.

The number three seed at 141, Whitewater's Matt Adcock (Bloomingdale, IL/Lake Park) went 3-0 Friday. Adcock, ranked fourth according to the NWCA, pinned Joe Pelkey from UW-Oshkosh in 2:59 to open the competition. He followed with a technical fall over James Warren from Marantha Baptist stopping the bout in 7:00 with a score of 20-4. Adcock advanced to the semis after a 4-0 decision over Chicago's Charles Banaszak, ranked tenth in the nation at 141 pounds.

Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall), the number two seed and eighth ranked wrestler at 149 pounds, followed up a first round bye with a pin of Marantha Baptist's Richard Warren in 1:04. He won his quarterfinal matchup with William Byrd of Wheaton by a 7-2 decision.

Top seeded Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield North) went 3-0 for the Warhawks at 165 pounds. Gibson, ranked fourth by the NWCA, posted back-to-back pins in his first two bouts stopping the clock in 3:46 over Thomas Dahlke (UW-Oshkosh) and 4:21 over Augustana's Connor Cummings. He added a major decision over Alex Vosburgh of North Central, 12-4, to advance to the semifinals.

Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago), the four seed in the invitational, opened Friday with two pins at 184 pounds. The ref tapped the mat at the 5:40 mark in his first bout over Tyler Ray (Mount St. Joseph) and Aprahamian registered a pin in 6:03 over Luke Ortscheid (UW-Eau Claire) in his second bout of the day. A 5-0 decision over fifth seeded Josh Anthony of UW-Parkside sent Aprahamian to the semifinals.

Whitewater's 197-pounder, Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel), racked up the most team points for the Warhawks Friday night. Siefert, the top seed in the invite and ranked second in the nation, needed just 54 seconds to record his first win of the day, a pin over Mario Palmisano of Chicago. He followed with another pin, this time in 2:20 over Mount St. Joseph's Nathan Islamovsky. Siefert advanced to the semifinals after winning by medical forfeit in his third match of the day.

Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon), the top seed at 285, improved throughout the day. Edgren, ranked third in the NWCA poll, opened the day with a major decision over Jeffrey Tyburski of Chicago 11-1. He followed with a technical fall in 5:30 over Lakeland's Rainger Rossway, 17-1 and capped the first day of competition with a default win to advance to the semifinals Saturday.

Two Warhawks will compete in the wrestleback. Zac Denny (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) fell in his first bout of the day at 125 pounds but rebounded with a pin over Ferrum's Robert Cunningham in 2:42. Denny added a major decision over Oshkosh's Scott Worlund, 10-2, and stayed alive with an 8-5 decision over Heidelberg's Delian Schneider. At 174 pounds, Andrew Pettit (Hoffman Estates, IL/Hoffman Estates) topped Mount St. Joseph's Nicholas Manning 3-2 after a first round bye. He was upset by David Brunk of Case Western 5-1 in his second bout of the day but will return to the mat Saturday after notching a 4-0 decision over Knox's Greg Ventris.

Team points are earned as a wrestler advances depending on the type of match decision. The Warhawks lead the 32-team field with 106.5 team points. UW-La Crosse (79), Messiah (61.5), Mount Union (60) and Olivet (58.5) round out the top five.

The Wheaton Invitational will conclude Saturday. For the most up to date information and complete tournament details please see Wheaton's Invitational website.



AK