The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team sent a squad to compete in the high-powered North Central College Invitational Saturday finishing fifth in the 12-team field. Five teams in the field are ranked among the top ten in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association tournament rankings including Augsburg-2, North Central-5, John Caroll-7, Baldwin Wallace-9, and UWW-10.
 
The Warhawks had a number of top six finishers on the day. At 125 pounds, John Fortugno (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills) went 3-1 to finish in third place. He opened the day with a 9-2 decision over Tyler Evitts (Aurora) before taking down Brendan Johnston (Wheaton) by 8-2 decision. Fortugno dropped his third match by technical fall to Augsburg's Derek Steele, ranked third in the weight class nationally. In the battle for third, Fortugno defeated Wyatt Kaczrowski (Augsburg) by 3-2 decision.
 
At 184 pounds, Kade DeSormeau (Milton, Wis./Milton) pinned North Central's Jon Kratz in his first bout of the day. He followed up the fall with an 18-0 technical fall over Devin Rogers (Carthage) to meet seventh-ranked Bentley Schwanebeck-Osterman of Augsburg in a semifinal. DeSormeau fell to the eventual 184-pound champion by fall in 4:24. In the third-place match, DeSormeau fell to North Central's Payton Geigner by 5-2 decision to finish fourth.
 
The 133 bracket was interesting for UWW as both Warhawks ended up meeting for a chance to wrestle for fifth. Justin Fortugno (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills) was 2-1 heading into the match against teammate Dominik Mallinder (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park). Mallinder had registered a pair of pins in his two victories heading into the bout and he would advance with an exciting 5-4 sudden victory win over Fortugno. Mallinder dropped the fifth-place bout the Manuel Leija (Davenport) by 5-1 decision.
 
Lucio Morgan (Deerfield, Wis./Deerfield) had quite the day at 149 pounds Saturday. Morgan competed in five matches with each resulting in a fall. He pinned Davenport's Deegan Herman in 1:16 and then North Central's Caleb Magruder in 2:44. He fell to Kaden Reetz of Augsburg in 1:05 before bouncing back with a pin of Josh Dorr (North Central) in 5:17. His final bout of the day was a fall to Augsburg's Lucas Jagodzinske in 5:40.
 
Also representing UW-Whitewater:
125 – Jalen Dunson (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest): 2-2
141 – Josiah Lynden (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago): 2-2
141 – Ethan Pogorzelski (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls): 1-2
157 – Hunter Rudzinski (Waterford, Wis./Waterford): 2-2
157 – Nick Klug (Weston, Wis./D.C. Everest): 1-2
165 – Buddy Evangelista (Wheaton, Ill./North): 2-2
174 – Tyler Haydon (River Falls, Wis./River Falls): 2-2
197 – Jacob Kaminski (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls): 2-2
197 – Jakub Maciorow: 1-2
285 – Jacob Peacy (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington): 2-2
285 – Garner Simmons (Oconomowoc, Wis./Oconomowoc): 0-2
 
Team Scores:
Augsburg - 176.0
North Central - 167.0
Baldwin Wallace - 94.5
John Carroll - 68.5
UWW - 66.0
Aurora - 42.0
Quincy - 39.0
Davenport - 31.5
Wheaton (IL) - 15.5
Carthage - 14.5
Eureka - 9.0
Fontbonne - 3.0