WHEATON, Ill. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wrestling team finished in second place out of 32 teams at the Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational on Saturday.
Jon Harvey (So. – Lake City, Minn./Lincoln) and
Jared Stricker (Jr. – Ashland, Wis.) both won individual titles for the Blugolds.
UW-Eau Claire tallied 143.5 points as a team, finishing just one point behind champion UW-La Crosse. The Blugolds had six place-winners at the tournament.
Harvey scored an upset of seventh-ranked Brayden Peet of UW-Whitewater by 5-4 decision in the 165-pound semis. The win moved him into the championship match, where he blanked Jeff Nugent of Elmhurst 5-0 to take first. It's the third tournament title of the season for Harvey, who also won at the 8-Man Battles and Northwoods Scramble.
Stricker moved into the 174-pound finals by winning his semifinal with a pin in the first period. He clinched the title with a 5-0 decision over UW-La Crosse's Leo Draveling in the championship match. It's the second individual tournament title of the season for Stricker, who also prevailed at the 8-Man Battles.
Zach Sato (Jr. – Oswego, Ill.) began the day with a pin in the 149-pound semifinals to advance to the finals, earning his 99
th career victory in the process. He ended up with a runner-up finish after a 13-5 defeat to Buena Vista's Axel Hernandez in the first-place match.
The Blugolds had several other placewinners through wrestle-backs as well.
Jackson Schichel (Sr. – Hastings, Minn.) earned a fourth-place finish at 285 pounds. He won his Saturday opener 4-0 in the consolation bracket and moved into the third-place match thanks to a medical forfeit. He finished fourth after dropping the third-place match in overtime.
Tyler Fleetwood (Sr. – Fulton, Ill.) took fifth at 133 pounds. The senior won his first match on Saturday by 11-3 major decision to earn a spot in the consolation semifinals, where he fell by narrow 3-2 decision to sixth-ranked Dominik Mallinder of UW-Whitewater. Fleetwood wrapped up the tournament with a 15-0 technical fall victory to place fifth.
Connor Collins (Sr. – Oshkosh, Wis./West) placed fifth at 184 pounds. He won his first match of the day by 6-1 decision to advance to the consolation semifinals, where he fell to ninth-ranked Marcus Orlandoni of UW-La Crosse. Collins finished the day with a victory by medical forfeit in the fifth-place match.
The Blugolds will return to action with their annual home tournament next weekend. They host the Don Parker Open on Saturday, February 3, at the McPhee Center. Wrestling begins at 10 a.m.
