Sports
Wrestlers second in WIAC, 4 travel to NCAA
The Pointer
rnech142@uwsp.edu
The Pointers missed the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship by two points in Oshkosh this past weekend.
They fell behind UW-La Crosse, who rolled on to victory with 146 points and the championship win in five weight brackets.
Senior Jason (Jake) Wozniak took the 165-pound bracket in the tournament with pins against UW-Eau Claire’s Seth Hendricks and UW-Whitewater’s Patrick Nagel. He also earned an 8-3 decision against Cory Ferguson of UW-La Crosse.
Wozniak was the twelfth Pointer to receive the John Peterson Wrestler of the Meet, like his brother Tyler two years before, and was mentioned in the All-Sportsmanship team.
No other team in the conference has come close to earning that many Peterson awards, and the Wozniak brothers were the first brother combination to take home the award.
“Being voted the Wrestler of the Meet by the coaches is an honor,” Wozniak said, “especially when you look at the competition in the tournament and see that there are a lot of really good wrestlers who could have gotten it.”
Jered Kern overcame a knee injury and took his first-ever WIAC conference championship. Kern had a bye in the first round, beat Kyle Wachholder from UW-Whitewater and won a 10-7 decision over Bebeto Yewah from UW-La Crosse.
Both Kern and Wozniak will advance on to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championships on March 6 and 7 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“Kern wrestled tough, as we expected. He is one of the best wrestlers in the country and he proved it this weekend,” Coach Johnny Johnson said. “His recovery was good and he still has room to improve. I’m certain he’ll be ready for the national tournament.”
Chase DeCleene (141 pounds) and Ben Engelland (184 pounds) were also chosen to move on after earning second place finishes in the WIAC tournament.
Brett Oswald (285 pounds) also scored a second place finish, assisting in the 144-point second place finish behind UW-La Crosse.
Another four Pointers went on to place third in the conference tournament.
Johnson said the remaining wrestlers will be focusing on the mental aspect. They have more time to prepare for this tournament and will train more on technique and rest up.
“Our goal is to work hard, improve our technique and get rested before we head down to Iowa,” Johnson said.
“We will not change much; we have been training for this all year. It’s the same concept as the WIAC: this is it,” Kern said. “We just need to mentally prepare ourselves.”
