Platteville, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team earned its 14th straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship Sunday afternoon in Wiliams Fieldhouse on the campus of UW-Platteville. It is the Eagles' conference leading 15th title in school history. UW-L totaled 132 points while UW-Whitewater was second with 105.5 and UW-Stevens Point third with 103.
UW-Oshkosh placed fourth (85) while UW-Platteville was fifth (82) and UW-Eau Claire sixth (51.5).
UW-L head coach Dave Malecek was selected the Mertz Mortorelli WIAC Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive season.
Seven UW-L wrestlers won individual titles Sunday, including senior Matt Mauseth who captured his fourth consecutive 149-pound championship with a 8-4 victory over UW-Stevens Point's Kris Magruder. Mauseth is the first wrestler in league history to win four 149-pound titles. After receiving a first-round bye, Mauseth won by fall (:56) over Ryan Borman in the semifinals before defeating Magruder in the title bout.
Mauseth was also named the 2011 Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete.
Senior Albie McKinney and junior Mike Schmitz both won their third straight WIAC title Sunday. McKinney became the second wrestler in conference history to won three 125-pound crowns as he won by major decision (11-2) over Carl Deluca of UW-Oshkosh. Davey Starks of UW-Eau Claire won four titles from 2000-03. McKinney advanced to Sunday's final after winning by fall (1:23) over Jedd Wilson of UW-Whitewater and by technical fall (16-0, 6:13) over Mack Drees of UW-Platteville.
Schmitz is the third wrestler to capture three 174-pound divisions with a major decision (12-3) over Reud Dickerson of UW-Whitewater in Sunday's championship match. UW-L's Josh Chelf (2006-08) and UW-Stevens Point's Cody Koenig (2003-05) also won three championships at 174-pounds. Schmitz earned a pair of wins by fall in his first two matches Sunday, defeating Aaron Geiger of UW-Oshkosh (1:30) and William Christ of UW-Eau Claire (2:47). Schmitz is also the defending NCAA Division III champion at 174-pounds.
UW-L senior Cory Ferguson earned the 165-pound title Sunday with a win by decision (6-3) over Jordan Schulte of UW-Stevens Point. It is his second straight championship after finishing second in 2009. Ferguson also defeated Schulte in the 2010 title match. Ferguson received a first-round bye Sunday and then defeated Aaron Konitzer of UW-Oshkosh by major decision (17-4) in the semifinals.
Junior Bebeto Yewah won his second straight league crown Sunday as he earned a technical fall (25-10, 5:14) against UW-Whitewater's Dylan Scroeder in the 141-pound division. Yewah won the 133-pound WIAC and NCAA III title a year ago. He had a first-round bye in Sunday's action before winning by fall (5:00) against Kyle Kleuskens of UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals.
Yewah was named the 2011 John Peterson WIAC Wrestler of the Meet after winning the 141-pound title.
Sophomore Adam Sheley picked up his first WIAC title Sunday, winning the 133-pound division with a decision (4-2) over Jake Fredrickson of UW-Whitewater. He opened the day with a win by fall (2:16) over Neil Manns of UW-Eau Claire and then won by decision (5-3) over Zach Mueller of UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals. Sheley was also named to the 2011 All-WIAC Sportsmanship Team.
UW-L sophomore Billy Mayer continued the streak of Eagles winning the 285-pound division as he defeated UW-Whitewater's James Zarate in the title match (6-0). He becomes the fourth straight UW-L wrestler to win the 285-pound crown, joining Jason Ott (200-02), Ryan Allen (2003-06) and Dan Laurent (2007-10). The Eagles have won the last 12 league titles at 285-pounds. After a first-round bye, Mayer defeated UW-Eau Claire's Joe Pitsch by fall (5:57) in the semifinals before getting the championship win over Zarate.
The Eagles had a pair of wrestlers, senior Ryan Farwell at 157-pounds and senior Mitch Artist at 184-pounds, finish third Sunday. Farwell earned third-place with a win by decision (8-2) over UW-Oshkosh's Jose Quintana. He opened with a major decision (12-0) over Jon Hagen of UW-Platteville before falling in overtime (2-0) to Ben Strobel of UW-Stevens Point in the semifinals. Farwell was second in 2010.
After placing second last season at 184-pounds, Artist earned third-place this year with a win by decision (7-2) over UW-Whitewater's Andrew Pettit. He won by technical fall (16-0, 1:56) against UW-Platteville Wesley Mathieu in his first match Sunday, but lost by fall (3:20) to UW-Oshkosh's Sam Engelland in the semifinals.
Artist earned one of eight at-large bids to the NCAA III Tournament and will compete in the championships next weekend.
Freshman Tony Piechowski finished fifth overall Sunday at 197-pounds. He defeated UW-Eau Claire's Luke Ortscheid in the fifth-place match by decision (5-2). Piechowski lost by major decision (10-2) to Adam Latella of UW-Whitewater in his first match and by major decision (9-0) to Matt Scott in the consolation round before coming back to defeat Ortscheid.
UW-L's seven individual winners, McKinney (125), Sheley (133), Yewah (141), Mauseth (149), Ferguson (165), Schmitz (174) and Mayer (285) automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships with their victories. Artist earned one of the eight at-large bids.
The NCAA Division III Championships are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 11-12 at the La Crosse Center.
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