UW-L Remains in Third-Place at NCAA III Championships; Mauseth and Laurent Advance to Finals; Three Others Earn All-America Honors

For Immediate Release: Saturday, March 7, 2009 - Posted 3:20 p.m. by Sports Information Director David Johnson

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – The UW-La Crosse wrestling team remains in third-place after the third session of the 2009 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. The Eagles have 79.0 team points. Wartburg College (Iowa) leads with 109.5 points while Augsburg College (Minn.) is second with 100.0. Coe College (Iowa) is in fourth-place with 78.5 points, but the Kohawks don't have any wrestlers in the championship matches Saturday night while the Eagles have two in the finals. Delaware Valley College (Pa.) is in fifth-place with 60.5 points and also have two in the finals.

The final session of championship matches begins Saturday at 7 p.m.

Sophomore Matt Mauseth (149-pounds) and junior Dan Laurent (285) have both advanced to their national championship matches. Mauseth advanced after a 3-1 win over top-seeded Willy Holst of Augsburg College (Minn.) in the semifinals. Holst placed third and Mauseth sixth at the 2008 NCAA III Championships. Mauseth, the fourth-seed, will face third-seeded Paul LeBlanc of Cortland State (N.Y.) in the title match Saturday night. Laurent, the defending national champion and second seed at this year's championships, advanced to the title match after a 6-3 victory over third-seed John Helgerson of Wartburg College (Iowa) in the semifinals. He will face fifth-seed Mark Corsello of Elmhurst College (Ill.) in the championship.

Mauseth advanced to the semifinals with a win by decision (11-6) over Dan Mizener of John Carroll University (Ohio) in the quarterfinals Friday night. Mizener is the fifth seed in this year's championship. Mauseth won his opening match Friday over Luther College's (Iowa) Jason Pyle (13-6). Laurent advanced to Saturday's semifinals with a win by decision (6-1) over Coe College's (Iowa) Mitch Sander. Sander is seeded seventh. Laurent, making his third appearance in the NCAA III Championships, opened with a win by fall (1:26) over Luther College's (Iowa) Allyn Plattner Friday afternoon.

Senior Josh Zabel (184-pounds) earned his second career All-America honor with a third-place finish Saturday. Seeded fifth in the tournament, Zabel won by decision (4-0) over fourth-seeded Gabe Youel of North Central College (Ill.) in the third-place match. Zabel, who placed fifth a year ago, went 4-1 in this year's championships and finishes the season with a record of 43-6. He ranks fourth in career wins at UW-L with a record of 136-42.

Zabel advanced to the third-place match after a major decision (10-2) victory over sixth-seed Bryan Lenhardt of Johnson & Wales. He had lost to top-seed Michael Wilcox of Delaware Valley College (Pa.) by decision (11-5) in the semifinals Saturday after advancing with a win by decision (5-2) over Youel in the quarterfinals Friday night. Youel placed fourth at the 2008 NCAA III Championships. Zabel earned a win by major decision (16-4) over Josh Wake of Oneonta State (N.Y.) in his first match Friday.

Freshman Mike Schmitz (174-pounds) and junior Andy Moore (197) both placed fourth Saturday for the Eagles to earn All-America awards. Schmitz lost by fall (4:08) to Bryon Grothus of Coe College (Iowa) in his third-place match while Moore lost by decision (7-6) to UW-Eau Claire's Josh Holforty. Moore had earned a win by decision (5-2) over Holforty in the quarterfinal round Friday night.

Schmitz went 4-2 in the two-day championships and ends the year at 17-8. He advanced to the third-place match with a win by decision (3-2) over fifth-seed Kyle Kehrli of Cornell College (Iowa) in the consolation semifinals. Schmitz won by major decision (13-3) over Brian Thomason of York College (Pa.) in his opening match Saturday. He went 2-1 Friday, losing to second-seeded Rocky Mantella of Delaware Valley College (Pa.) by decision (4-3) in the quarterfinals and earning a major decision (14-4) over Michael Reilly of King's College (Pa.) in the consolation bracket. After receiving a first round bye, Schmitz earned a win by decision (8-3) at 174-pounds over seventh-seeded Troy Carlson of the University of Chicago (Ill.) in his first match.

Moore, seeded eighth and making his first career appearance at the national championships, also finished 3-2 at this year's meet and wraps up the season with a record of 28-11. He advanced to the third-place match after winning by fall (3:43) over seventh-seed Rob Kramer of Coe College (Iowa) in the consolation semifinals. Moore lost by fall (2:13) to fourth-seed Ryan Malo of Williams College (Mass.) in the semifinals Saturday. Moore earned a win by decision (5-3) over Eric Vincent of Merchant Marine in his opening match Friday after receiving a first round bye.

Sophomores Albie McKinney (125-pounds) and Cory Ferguson (165) were both eliminated in Friday night's consolation round in their first career appearances at the national meet. McKinney went 1-2 and Ferguson 0-2 Friday.

UW-L has 14 top-10 finishes at the national champinships since joining the NCAA III in 1992, including a school-best second-place showing in 2001, 2006 and 2008. The Eagles have had eight top-four finishes at the national meet.

For more information on the NCAA III Championships, click here.