Grapplers grab 18th at Wheaton Invitational

The UW-Oshkosh men's wrestling team placed 18 out of 30 in the "Pete Wilson" Wheaton Invitational held Jan. 29-30 in Wheaten, Ill.

Sophomore Zach Mueller started out for the Titans in the 125-pound weight class. Mueller, seeded No. 5, lost to No. 1 seed Cody Zimmerman (UW- Parkside) in a 4-0 decision.

"I faced Zimmerman a few weeks earlier and had gotten the first take down," Mueller said.

"I wanted to stay neutral with him in the invitational, but I obviously couldn't pull off the win."

After the loss Mueller went into the 3rd place bracket, where he faced Albie McKinney (UW- La Crosse). Mueller was able to beat McKinney last week, but wasn't able to get a victory in Illinois.

After winning his first three matches of the open, Mueller ended up placing 6th at the invitational losing the next three matches; the final one coming at the hands of No. 4 seeded Riki Reynolds (Mount Union College).

Mueller hopes to continue his hot streak when the Titans face UW-Eau Claire

"I've been wrestling well recently," Mueller stated. "I expect to continue to do so and hopefully get a few more wins."

Fellow sophomore Jose Quintana, who posted a 2-2 record in the 149-pound weight class, dropped a 16-1 result to Charlie Curran of Elmhurst College (Ill.) in his opening match. He then recorded wins of 12-6 over Donovan Sarno of the University of Chicago (Ill.) and 10-1 over Isaac Roberson of Lakeland College, before loosing 6-4 to David Lopez of the University of Indianapolis (Ind.).

Junior James Dederich, who competed in the 165-pound weight class, lost on a pin by Vinny Alber (UW-Platteville) in 2 minutes, 35 seconds. Dederich then won two consecutive matches, with pins in 2:33 over Jake D'Acquisto (UW-Whitewater) and 1:25 over Graham Youngs (Wabash College) before losing on a pin in 1:37 to George Markou of Trine University (Ind.). Dederich ended up posting a 2-2 record in the invitational.
Leading the Titans to a fourth place finish was sophomore Sam Engelland. Engelland, who wrestled in the 174-pound weight class, defeated David Jones of Messiah College (Pa.), 5-2, and Cowan Brown of North Central College, 3-2, before suffering a 3-1 setback to top-seeded Luke Rynish of UW-Parkside.

"It was rough losing in the semi-finals," Engelland said. "It set me back mentally losing in a close match like that, but I knew that I just had to get refocused and come back strong in my next match."

Engelland then won a 9-3 decision over Greg Rhoads of Wabash College (Ind.) and lost an 8-1 verdict to Kyle Kwiat of Ohio Northern University.

"It was upsetting taking fourth in my weight class," Engelland said. "I set my goal to win it, and that didn't happen. And after I lost my semifinal match, I ended up wrestling a little sloppy the rest of the day and really needed to have a stronger finish."
The Titans are at home Friday, facing UW-Eau Claire.

Mueller and Engelland both have set the same goals.

Both wrestlers said they go into every meet looking to take first and if everyone comes out ready, the Titans shouldn't have a problem in the dual.