2019 WIAC Wrestling Championship Preview

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will strive for a third consecutive title at the 2019 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Wrestling Championship (presented by Culver’s). The 64th gathering of league schools will be hosted by UW-Eau Claire at McPhee Center on Feb. 8.
 
The Eagles claimed the 17th championship trophy in program archives a season ago, earning 143 points to exceed UW-Whitewater’s second-place total of 118 points. UW-Stevens Point place third with 116.50 points, while UW-Eau Claire and UW-Platteville tied for fourth with 100 and UW-Oshkosh sixth with 89.50.
 
UW-Whitewater also owns 17 conference championships, while UW-Stevens Point has won eight and UW-Oshkosh one. Former programs to win titles include: UW-River Falls (11); UW-Superior (6); UW-Stout (2); and UW-Milwaukee (1).
 
At this year’s championship, 10 individual first-place finishers will be crowned along with a team champion. Each institution will be permitted to enter two wrestlers per weight class. Competition will begin at noon, with the first-place, third-place and fifth-place matches starting approximately 6:30 p.m.
 
UW-La Crosse enters the event ranked ninth nationally in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) NCAA Division III Dual Meet Team Rankings distributed on Jan. 30, while UW-Whitewater is 14th, UW-Oshkosh 21st and UW-Stevens Point 22nd.
 
Returning individual champions from a season ago include: UW-La Crosse’s Konrad Ernst (285 pounds), Sawyer Massie (174) and Hayden Schlough (141); UW-Oshkosh’s Mark Choinski (157); UW-Platteville’s Grant Wedepohl (184); and UW-Whitewater’s Hazen Rice (133) and Mike Tortorice (125). Massie was recognized as the Wrestler of the Meet from the championship and is ranked third by the NWCA at 174 pounds this year, Choinski is the two-time defending champion at 157 pounds and enters the competition ranked sixth at 165 pounds. Ernst is ranked fourth at 285 pounds, Rice eighth at 141 pounds and Tortorice sixth at 125 pounds.
 
Runner-up performances from last year consisted of: UW-La Crosse’s Logan Schlough (165), Josh Stenger (133) and Grant Zamin (157); UW-Platteville’s Jon Goetz (174); and UW-Stevens Point’s Luke Smiley (149) and Ben Vosters (125). Vosters is ranked eighth at 133 pounds and captured the 125-pound title at the 2016 championship, while Stenger is ranked sixth at 133 pounds and Zamin eighth at 157 pounds.
 
In 2017, Ernst, Wedepohl and Goetz secured runner-up finishes in their weight classes, along with UW-Eau Claire’s Toby Mosley (165), UW-La Crosse’s Jackson Schoen (157) and UW-Oshkosh’s Kody Azarian (141).
 
UW-Platteville’s Scott Arneson was selected the Wrestler of the Meet in 2016 after winning the 133-pound crown. The championship also featured UW-Whitewater’s Nicholas Bonomo posting a first-place finish at 184 pounds and UW-Stevens Point’s Dan Squires was the runner-up at 174 pounds.
 
Qualification for the NCAA Division III Championship will be based on regional competition held Feb. 22-23. All six WIAC teams will compete in the Upper Midwest Regional hosted by UW-Eau Claire. The national championship will be held March 8-9 in Roanoke, Va., and hosted by Ferrum College.
 

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