UW-L Wins at Luther; Ferguson, Zabel and Laurent Earns Victories by Fall

For Immediate Release: Thursday, December 11, 2008

Decorah, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team earned a 30-15 dual victory at Luther College (Iowa) Thursday night. The Eagles, ranked fifth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), improve to 10-2 on the season while the Norse, ranked 17th in the country, drop to 3-3-1.

UW-L won seven of the 10 matches Thursday night, including three wins by fall. The Eagles took a 3-0 lead at 125-pounds as Johnny Brennan won by decision (13-7) over Jayson Swanson. Luther's Zach Bartlett, ranked third in NCAA Division III at 133, came back to win by fall (1:33) over Justin Dixon for a 6-3 Norse lead. Alex Dahl tied the dual at 6-6 at 141-pounds for UW-L as he won by decision (4-2) over Josh Prichard.

In a battle of ranked wrestlers at 149-pounds, the Eagles' fourth-ranked Matt Mauseth won by decision (9-4) over third-ranked Yonny Quist for a 9-6 UW-L lead.

Luther recorded its second fall of the night as Jayson Pyle defeated Ryan Farwell (1:55) at 157-pounds to give the Norse a 12-9 lead. UW-L came back to win four of the five final matches, including Cory Ferguson by fall (3:46) over Dustin Balsley at 165-pounds to make it 15-12. The Eagles' Dan Schulte won by decision (6-1) over Lance Serbousek at 174 for a 18-12 lead and after fifth-ranked Josh Zabel won by fall (6:22) over 10th-ranked Nic Barclay at 184-pounds, UW-L led 24-12.

Top-ranked Alec Bonander cut the score to 24-15 as he won by decision (9-2) over UW-L's sixth-ranked Andy Moore at 197-pounds, but the Eagles' Dan Laurent finished with a win by fall (5:06) over Allyn Plattner for the final score of 30-15. Laurent entered the meet ranked first in NCAA Division III while Plattner was fifth.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, January 3 at two meets. The Eagles travel to the Flash Flanagan Open in Dubuque, Iowa and to the North/South Duals in Collegeville, Pa. Both meets begin at 9 a.m.