UW-L Finishes Second at Wheaton Invite; Laurent Wins Title

For Immediate Release: Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009

Wheaton, Ill. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team placed second at the Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational Saturday afternoon. The Eagles finished with 133.0 team points while UW-Parkside took the team title with 145.0 points. North Central College, Ill. finished third (125.5) followed by UW-Whitewater (91.5) and John Carroll University, Ohio (87.5) to round-out the top-five. A total of 31 teams scored points.

The Eagles' Dan Laurent captured the 285-pound title Saturday afternoon with a win by decision (6-2) over second-seeded Adam Sutter of Lakeland College (Ill.) in the title match. Laurent, the tournament's fourth-seed, advanced to the championship with a win by decision (3-0) over top-seeded Mark Corsello of Elmhurst College (Ill.).

UW-L's Matt Mauseth, the second-seed at 149-pounds, finished second after falling to top-seed Craig Becker of UW-Parkside in the title match by decision (10-3). He advanced to the championship match with a win by decision (5-3) over third-seeded Jason Fitzenreider of North Central (Ill.).

Bebeto Yehaw (133-pounds), Josh Zabel (184) and Andy Moore (197) each placed third Saturday. Yehaw entered the tournament as the fifth-seed and opened Saturday's action with a loss by decision (9-5) to top-seed Adam Kriwinsky of John Carroll (Ohio). He came back in the consolation bracket to defeat seventh-seed Jeff Penny of Ohio Northern by decision (10-4) and fourth-seed Edel Vaca of Knox College (Ill.) by major decision (12-3) in the third-place match.

Zabel lost to second-seed Lucas Haag of UW-Parkside in the semifinals by fall (2:24) before winning his final two matches to earn third-place. The third-seed at 184-pounds, Zabel defeated fifth-seed Sam Leas of Lawrence University (Wis.) by technical fall (16-0, 4:07) and won by default over Ben Adams of John Carroll.

Moore, the second seed at 197-pounds, fell by decision (5-4) to third-seeded Malcolm Briggs of UW-Parkside in the semifinals. He came back in the consolation rounds to defeat Brad Rice of Heidelberg College (Ohio) by decision (11-4) and sixth-seed Vinne Sapienza of North Central (Ill.) by decision (8-4) for third-place.

The Eagles' Mike Schmitz finished fourth at 174-pounds Saturday. He lost to top-seed Kyle Vanderhyde of Olivet College (Mich.) in the semifinals by decision (9-4) before defeating sixth-seed Carsten Carlsen of UW-Platteville in the consolation bracket by decision (5-2). Schmitz, seeded fourth, then fell by decision (6-4) to fifth-seed Luke Rynish of UW-Parkside for third-place.

Alex Dahl finished fifth at 141-pounds for UW-L. Seeded eighth, Dahl won his first two matches Saturday, beating Bryan Wight of Trine University (Ill.) by fall (3:59) and Jeff Coners of Wheaton (Ill.) by decision (11-6). He then lost to sixth-seed Boomer Fechk of Heidelberg (Ohio) by decision (4-2) before defeating seventh-seed Kory Theil of Lakeland College (Wis.) by decision (4-2) in the fifth-place match.

UW-L's Jake Gosch advanced to Saturday's round after going 2-1 Friday. He lost to Justin Marble of Wheaton (Ill.) by decision (5-3) in the consolation round Saturday. Albie McKinney and Ryan Farwell both finished 2-2 in Friday's action.

For complete results, click here.

UW-L returns to action Friday, Feb. 6 at Lakeland College (Wis.) at 7 p.m.