WIAC Championship Team Scores
WIAC Championship Brackets
UWL Match-by-Match Results

Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team captured the 2017 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) Friday night in UW-Platteville's Williams Fieldhouse.  The Eagles finished with 160.0 team points while UW-Whitewater placed second with 108.0.  UW-Platteville and UW-Stevens Point tied for third with 97.5 points while UW-Eau Claire was fifth with 89.0 and UW-Oshkosh sixth with 75.0.

It is UWL's 16th league title in school history and first since 2011.  The Eagles also won the crown in 1994 and from 1998 through 2011. 

UWL head coach Dave Malecek was selected the WIAC Mertz Mortoreilli Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his career (2007-11, 2015).

The championship followed an individual tournament format this season, crowning 10 individual first-place finishers, along with the team champion.  Each institution was permitted to enter two wrestlers per weight class.  Only the highest finishing wrestler from each institution in each weight class factored into the team scoring.  UWL entered the championships fifth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings distributed February 8 while UW-Whitewater was 10th. 

Nineteen of 20 wrestlers placed for UWL Friday, including four champions in Dustin Weinmann (141-pounds), Mason Geary (149), Richard Carlson (174) and Michael Otomo (197).  Weinmann, ranked first in the NWCA, improved to 19-0 on the season with three wins Friday.  He won won by fall (4:55) over Dellas Vandenberg of UW-Oshkosh in his opening match in the quarterfinals followed by a win by major decision (12-0) over Alex Costello of UW-Platteville in the semifinals.  Weinmann captured the title with a win by major decision (13-0) over Kody Azarian of UW-Oshkosh.  Weinmann placed second at 133-pounds in 2015. 

Weinmann was named the WIAC John Peterson Wrestler of the Meet at the conclusion of the championship. He is the 11th wrestler in school history to earn the honor and first since Eric Twohey in 2014-15.

Geary, ranked eighth in the country at 149-pounds, also went 3-0 Friday.  He won by technical fall (16-0, 3:34) over Joe Pelkey of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals and by decision (7-1) over Carter Focht of UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals.  Geary, now 20-4 on the season, won by decision (7-5) over teammate Kal Gerber in the championship match.

Carlson improved to 21-2 on the year with a 4-0 record at 174-pounds in Friday's championship.  Ranked fourth in the nation, Carlson won by fall (1:10) over Ryder Sigler of UW-Whitewater in the first round and by fall (1:23) over Kyle Wolf of UW-Platteville in the quarterfinals.  He won by decision (4-2) over Colten Cashmore of UW-Oshkosh in semifinals and by decision (8-1) over Jon Goetz of UW-Platteville in the finals.

Otomo is now 23-10 on the season after capturing the 197-pound division with a 3-0 mark.  He won by major decision (11-1) over John DePersia of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals and by decision (7-2) over Ross Agg of UW-Stevens Point in the semifinals. Otomo took the title with a win by decision (10-4) over Cecil Philson of UW-Eau Claire.

Four wrestlers placed second Friday for UWL, including Ryan Weinmann (133-pounds), Gerber (149), Jackson Schoen (157) and Konrad Ernst (285).  Weinmann, ranked 10th in the country, went 2-1 in Friday's championship.  He won the 125-pound title in 2015. Gerber and Schoen both went 2-1 at the league championships while Ernst finished 3-1 with one win by fall.

UWL had four wrestlers finish third, including Reid Johnson (133-pounds), Mitch Hertel (165), Sawyer Massie (174) and Austin Cook (184).  Johnson went 3-1 while Hertel, Massie and Cook each finished 4-1.  Cook earned two wins by fall.

Hayden Schlough (141), Michael Murnane (157), Alex Friedman (184) and Brady Koller (285) each placed fourth Friday.  Schlough, Murnane and Friedman finished 2-2 while Koller went 4-2. Friedman was selected the WIAC Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete, the eighth UWL wrestler to win the award in the last 11 years and first since Twohey in 2014-15.

Nelson Baker (125) finished fifth while Logan Schlough (165) and Clay Broze (197) placed sixth.  Baker went 2-2 while Schlough finished 2-3 and Broze 1-1.  Broze won the 285-pound title in 2016.  UWL's Riley Lull (125) went 0-2 Friday.

UWL returns to action Friday, February 24 at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Midwest Regional in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Action starts at 10 a.m. (Central Time).