UW-L in Second Place After First Day of NCAA III Championships; Four Wrestlers Advance to Semifinals

For Immediate Release: Friday, March 7, 2008

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – The UW-La Crosse wrestling team is in second-place after the first day of the NCAA Division III Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. The Eagles have 55.5 team points while Wartburg College (Iowa) leads with 77.5. Augsburg College (Minn.) is third (45.0) while Coe College (Iowa) and Delaware Valley College (Pa.) are tied for fourth (44.0).

Six of UW-L's eight wrestlers advanced to Saturday's competition, including four to the national semifinals. All six wrestlers advancing to Saturday's competition earn All-America honors.

Seniors Tim Palmer (165) and Josh Chelf (174) along with junior Josh Zabel (184) and sophomore Dan Laurent (285) all advanced in the championship round Friday night. Palmer, seeded first, won by major decision (11-1) over Julian Mancha of Buena Vista (Iowa) in his opening match before defeating eighth-seeded Messiah's Trent Zempel by major decision (13-2). He will face fourth-seed Benjamin Hoover of Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) in Saturday's semifinals.

Chelf, also seeded first and the defending NCAA III Champion at 174-pounds, won both of his matches by fall in Friday's action. He defeated Benjamin Plowman of Ohio Northern (1:45) in his first match before defeating eighth-seeded Jerome Owens of Johnson & Wales (R.I.) in the quarterfinals (6:11). Chelf will take on Stevens Institute of Technology's (N.J.) Brandon MacWhinnie, the tournament's fifth seed at 174, in the semifinals.

Zabel, the fourth seed at 184, won by fall (1:48) over Eric Fishel of Johns Hopkins (Md.) in his opening match before earning a win by major decision (9-1) over Dustin Baxter of St. John's (Minn.) in the quarterfinals. Zabel will now face top-seeded Romeo Djoumessi of Wartburg (Iowa) in the semifinals.

Laurent, who received a bye in the opening round, advanced to the semifinals with a win by decision (3-2) over Luke Panizzi of York (Pa.). He faces fifth-seed Ryan Bowers of Heidelberg (Ohio) in the semifinals Saturday.

UW-L senior Jordan Kolinski (133-pounds) and freshman Matt Mauseth (149) advanced in the consolation round Friday night to earn All-America accolades. Kolinski, seeded fifth, opened the tournament with a win by decision (8-4) over Dave Colagiovanni of SUNY-Cortland before falling by major decision (17-9) to fourth-seed Jacob Helvey of Wartburg. He came back in the consolation round to win by fall (5:14) over Delaware Valley's Brandon Clemmer and will go up against Luther's (Iowa) Zac Bartlett in Saturday's consolation bracket.

Mauseth, unseeded at 149-pounds, defeated eighth-seed Aaron Cook of Buena Vista by decision (5-3) in his opening match before falling by decision (9-4) to top-seed Jacob Naig of Wartburg (Iowa) in the quarterfinals. Mauseth came back in the consolation round to defeat Ithaca's (N.Y.) Blaine Woszczak by decision (5-3). He will face fourth seeded Paul LeBlanc of SUNY-Cortland in the consolation round Saturday morning.

With his All-America honor this season, Chelf becomes the third wrestler in school history to earn four career awards, joining Ryan Allen and Jason Lulloff. Along with winning the national title in 2007, Chelf placed third in 2006 and sixth in 2005. Kolinski earns his third career All-Ameria honor after placing sixth in 2007 and seventh in 2005. Palmer picks up his second career award after finishing third in 2007 while Zabel, Laurent and Mauseth all earned their first NCAA III honor.

Senior Jay Milz and freshman Brandon Music were eliminated from competition Friday night. Milz, unseeded at 157-pounds, went 1-2 on the day. He fell by decision (8-3) to second seed Jason Brew of Olivet (Mich.) in his first match before defeating Nathan Bachmann of Rochester Institute (N.Y.) by decision (8-1) in the consolation bracke. Milz then dropped a decision (3-2) to Gettysburg's (Pa.) Andrew Goldstein. He finishes his season at 22-15. Music went 0-2 at 125-pounds Friday, falling to sixth-seeded Chris Sheetz of Delaware Valley College (Pa..) by fall (2:52) in his opening match and by decision (14-9) to Eracleo Vallejo of Manchester College (Ind.) in the consolation round. Music finishes his season at 23-14.

Action continues Saturday, March 8 at 10 a.m.