UW-L Captures WIAC Championship; Seven to Compete at NCAA III Championships; Malecek Honored

For Immediate Release: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009

Oshkosh, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team captured its 12th straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship Sunday night in Kolf Sports Center at UW-Oshkosh.

The Eagles, who won their 13th conference title in school history, finished with 146.0 team points while UW-Stevens Point was second with 144.0 and UW-Whitewater third with 126.0. UW-Oshkosh placed fourth (74.0) followed by UW-Eau Claire (73.0), UW-Platteville (61.0) and Lawrence University, Wis. (20.0).

UW-L head coach Dave Malecek was named the Mertz Mortorelli Coach of the Year of the third straight season.

UW-L had five wrestlers capture individual titles Sunday night. Albie McKinney (125-pounds), Matt Mauseth (149), Mike Schmitz (174), Josh Zabel (184) and Dan Laurent (285) won their championship matches and earned automatic qualified berths for the NCAA Division III Championships March 6-7 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Laurent won his third consecutive 285-pound title with a win by fall (2:12) over UW-Whitewater's Sean Evans. Laurent becomes the fifth individual in WIAC history to win three straight championships at 285-pounds. He earned a win by fall (6:05) over UW-Eau Claire's Joe Pitsch in the quarterfinals Sunday and by major decision (8-0) over UW-Stevens Point's Brett Oswald in the semifinals.

Mauseth and Zabel each picked up their second straight conference titles Sunday. Mauseth defeated UW-Eau Claire's Andy Johnston by fall (4:23) in the championship match at 149-pounds. He won by fall (1:51) over Ryan Bormann of UW-Platteville in the quarterfinals and by decision (9-5) over Kris Magruder of UW-Stevens Point in the semifinals. Zabel also went 3-0 on the day to win the 184-pound division. He won by decision (6-0) over UW-Stevens Point's Ben Engelland to earn the conference crown. Zabel won by fall (1:16) over UW-Oshkosh's Eli Felts in the quarterfinals and by major decision (13-5) over UW-Whitewater's David Casper in the semifinals.

Mauseth was named to the 2008-09 All-WIAC Sportsmanship Team while Zabel earned the 2008-09 Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award.

McKinney and Schmitz both garnered their first career WIAC titles as McKinney won by decision (8-7) over Max Oldenburg of UW-Whitewater in the 125-pound title match and Schmitz won by decision (10-3) over Sam Engelland of UW-Oshkosh to capture the 174-pound championship. McKinney received a first-round bye and won by decision (12-5) over Zach Mueller of UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals. Schmitz also received a first-round bye and advanced to the championship match with a major decision (11-3) victory over Dennis Reckelberg of UW-Stevens Point in the semifinals.

The 10 conference champions, along with nine at-large selections will advance to the NCAA Division III Championships. UW-L's Cory Ferguson (165-pounds) and Andy Moore (197) received at-large bids and will join the Eagles' five conference championships at the national meet.

Ferguson finished second at 165-pounds Sunday. After a first-round bye, Ferguson lost by decision (8-3) to UW-Stevens Point's Jason Wozniak in the quarterfinals. Ferguson came back to win his next three matches to earned second-place. He defeated James Dederich of UW-Oshkosh by technical fall (15-0) in the consolation semifinals and Ryan Higgins of UW-Platteville by technical fall (19-3) in the third-place match. In the true second-place match, Ferguson won by fall (6:24) over Patrick Nagel of UW-Whitewater for second-place.

Moore placed second at 197-pounds with a 3-1 record. He won by decision (10-6) over UW-Platteville's Matt Scott in the quarterfinals and by decision (3-1) over UW-Eau Claire's Josh Holforty in the semifinals. He then fell by decision (6-0) to UW-Whitewater's Karl Voeck in the title match.

UW-L's Bebeto Yewah (133-pounds) finished second Sunday while Alex Dahl (141) placed third and Ryan Farwell (157) fourth. Yewah won his first two matches Sunday, defeating Chris Spaude of UW-Platteville by fall (4:24) in the quarterfinals and Andy Miller of UW-Eau Claire by decision (8-5) in the semifinals. He then fell by decision (10-7) to UW-Stevens Point's Jered Kern in the championship match.

Dahl went 2-1 at 141-pounds to place third. He received a first-round bye, but fell by decision (5-4) to Chase DeCleene of UW-Stevens Point in the semfinals. Dahl came back in the consolation semifinals with a win by decision (4-1) over Alex Mueller of UW-Oshkosh. Dahl then defeated UW-Platteville's Andrew Casper by decision (6-0) in the third-place match.

Farwell opened the championships with a win by technical fall (15-0) over Matt Meiselman of Lawrence University in the quarterfinals. He then fell by fall (:44) to Tom Trieloff of UW-Whitewater in the semifinals, but won by decision (3-2) over Jon Ames of UW-Eau Claire in consolation semifinals. Farwell lost by decision (7-2) to UW-Stevens Point's Andrew Dillworth in the third-place match.

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UW-L returns to action Friday, March 6 at the NCAA Division III Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.