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UW-La Crosse Captures Fourth Straight WIAC Wrestling
Championship
With six individual champions and seven national qualifiers, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse claimed its fourth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wrestling championship Sunday at the conference championship meet at the Quandt Fieldhouse in Stevens Point. The Eagles had nine wrestlers reach the finals of the 10 weight classes and won just one of the first five weights before capturing the titles in the final five weight classes. All 10 champions and three at-large selections qualify for the NCAA Division III championships March 2-3 in Waterloo, Iowa. UW-La Crosse finished with 156 team points, while UW-Stevens Point was second for the second straight year, posting 98 team points. One of the Eagles' few upsets of the night came at 133 pounds where UW-Whitewater's Jason Rogers handed UW-La Crosse's Josh Habeck just his second defeat of the season with a 9-4 decision. Rogers earned the Wrestler of the Meet award for his performance and Habeck was awarded an at-large selection with his 35-2 overall record. UW-La Crosse, which also landed the league's Coach of the Year in Tim Fader, had three wrestlers win their second straight titles. Jeremy Miller defended his crown at 184 pounds, Bart Bly was a repeat winner at 197 pounds and Jason Ott won the heavyweight title. The Eagles also received titles from Brady Cudd at 141 pounds, Nick Patenaude at 165 pounds and Ben Bly at 174 pounds. The only other repeat winner came at 125 pounds where UW-Eau Claire sophomore Davey Starks handed UW-Platteville's Brian Olson his second loss of the season with a 10-7 decision. Olson also earned the Pioneers' lone NCAA qualifying spot with an at-large selection. UW-Stevens Point's Nathan Preslaski at 157 pounds was the Pointers' lone individual champion and UW-Oshkosh's Joel Dziedzic was the individual champion at 149 pounds. UW-Stevens Point's Wes Kapping was an at-large selection for nationals at 174 pounds. Team Scores UW-La Crosse 156, UW-Stevens Point 98, UW-Eau Claire 95.5, UW-Oshkosh 87, UW-Platteville 85, UW-Whitewater 80, UW-River Falls 51.5. Championship Matches 125 - Davey Starks, EC dec. Brian Olson, PLT 10-7 Wrestleback - Olson dec. Nick Mueller, LC 13-2 133 - Jason Rogers, WW dec. Josh Habeck, LC 9-4 Wrestleback - Habeck dec. Brady Holtz, SP 12-4 141 - Brady Cudd, LC dec. Adam Anderson, PLT 7-3 Wrestleback - Anderson dec. Jacob Lawrence, EC 6-3 149 - Joel Dziedzic, OSH dec. Pat Kearns, LC 8-2 157 - Nathan Preslaski, SP dec. Josh Ernst, LC 3-2 Wrestleback - Ryan Nash, PLT dec. Ernst 9-6 165 - Nick Patenaude, LC dec.Ben Hunter, PLT 9-1 Wrestleback - Matt Sommerville, WW pinned Hunter 2:18 174 - Ben Bly, LC dec.Wes Kapping, SP 7-4 184 - Jeremy Miller, LC dec. Ben Kureck, SP 2-0 197 - Bart Bly, LC dec. Yan White, SP 12-6 Wrestleback - White dec. Cody Tonsor, WW 1-0 285 - Jason Ott, LC dec. Brian Mingus, WW 18-7 Wrestleback - Pete Peterson, EC dec. Mingus 5-3 Additional NCAA Division III championships qualifiers Brian Olson, PLT - 125 pounds Josh Habeck, LC - 133 pounds Wes Kapping, SP - 174 pounds |