The University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team took third place at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 2. Twelve teams attended the invite including WIAC rivals UW-Eau Claire and UW-Oshkosh. The Pioneers were only 11 team points behind first place Central, Iowa.

The Pioneers were led by 184-pound wrestler junior Grant Wedepohl and heavyweight junior D’Andre Johnson. Both wrestlers won four consecutive matches to claim the weight class title for the weekend. Wedepohl and Johnson didn’t have much difficulty in the first three rounds, but the finals were a different story. Wedepohl won his final match by a decision of 4-2, and Johnson won his championship bout in triple overtime with a score of 6-2. Wedepohl had control throughout his match, scoring an early take down, and he only allowed a one point escape in the final period. Johnson also had a low scoring first three periods which ended in a tie score of 1-1. In overtime, Johnson scored an escape in the second overtime and turned his opponent to net four back points in the third overtime.

The wrestling team found success at multiple different weight classes at MSOE. In the lighter weights, wrestlers freshmen Nick Donovan and Chase Katzenmeyer lost their first matches of the tournament and battled back to earn third place. 133-pound junior Scott Arneson took second place after winning his first three matches before falling in the championship round. The Pioneers were also successful in the middle of their lineup. Freshman Isaac Roffers at 157 pounds won a fifth place match, and Senior Isaac Brosinski at 165 pounds placed second after losing in the final round. Senior Cody Meyer also took third place at 197 pounds.

“After this past weekend, we as a team are wrestling better each and every time we step on the mat, which is awesome to see because what we worked on during the week at practice is transterring into competition,” junior physical education major Scott Arneson said.

Overall, the Pioneers had six wrestlers place in the top three at the tournament even though the team had a couple of members that were not feeling well at the tournament. 2017 national qualifiers Jon Goetz and Trevor Harsh were not able to wrestle up to their fullest potential. Goetz was absent from the tournament and Harsh felt pain throughout the tournament and eventually injury defaulted during the fifth place match.

This week, the Pioneers have two home dual meets. These conference meets will be held on Thursday and Saturday against UW-Stevens Point and UW-Eau Claire, respectively.

“I don’t make predictions, but the one thing I do know is it’s another WIAC opponent and any competition in the best conference in the country is always fun. And the only guarantees I’ll ever make about our team are that we’re going to score points, have fun and fight out ‘butts’ off,” Arneson said.