UW-Platteville's Zach Chambers won his third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wrestling championship, and teammates Ryan Higgins and Jesse Milks also earned berths into the NCAA III national tournament at the WIAC championships Sunday in La Crosse.
Host UW-La Crosse won seven of the 10 individual titles and claimed the team title with 152.5 points, well ahead of runner-up UW-Stevens Point's 114.5. The Pointers claimed two individual titles, and Chambers took the other. The Pioneers finished fifth in the team standings with 76 points.
Chambers defeated UW-Whitewater's Austin Bautista 6-5 in the 141-pound championship match to become the first Pioneer to claim three conference titles since Steve Behl won the 177 crown in 1977-78-79.
Higgins (149) and Milks (157) both took second places in their weight classes, then were voted two of the league's nine at-large berths by the WIAC coaches.
Chambers takes a 24-3 record into the NCAA III nationals, while Higgins comes in at 28-3 and Milks 25-7. The national championships are practically in the Pioneers' back yard, as they will be contested March 2-3 in Dubuque's Five Flags Center.
Chambers pinned Lawrence's Matt Meiselman in 2:50 and recorded a 15-0 shutout of UW-Stevens Point's Kyle Mueller to advance to the finals.
Higgins beat Lawrence's Tony Norton 16-4 then earned a technical fall over UW-Whitewater's Gary Reid, 20-4. Higgins fell 5-1 to UW-La Crosse's Jake Larsen, ranked fifth in the country, in the championship match. He then defeated UW-Eau Claire's Dan Vanevenhoven 12-4 in the true second-place match.
Milks earned the second seed and drew a bye in the first round then defeated UW-Stevens Point's Chris Brown 10-5 before falling in the championship match to UW-La Crosse's Ross Needham 2-1. Needham is the nation's fifth-ranked wrestler at 157 but had to fight off the freshman Milks for the title.
Spencer Peterson took third place at 125 pounds. He defeated Lawrence's James Williamson 6-4 for third. Heavyweight Ryan Rozek pinned UW-Stevens Point's Mitchell Szwet in the consolation semifinals before falling to UW-Eau Claire's Justin McAuley in the third-place match, while while Jeff Gale grabbed sixth place at 133 pounds.
Team Scores
UW-La Crosse 152.5, UW-Stevens Point 114.5, UW-Whitewater 96, UW-Eau Claire 89.5, UW-Platteville 76, UW-Oshkosh 62, Lawrence 53.5
WIAC Championship Matches (All champions advance to national meet)
125 – Jacob Calhoun (UW-Stevens Point) wins by fall over Patt Parrillo (UW-La Crosse), 1:14
133 – Jordan Kolinski (UW-La Crosse) wins by major decision over Andy Miller (UW-Eau Claire), 13-3
141 – Zach Chambers (UW-Platteville) wins by decision over Austin Bautista (UW-Whitewater), 6-5
149 – Jake Larsen (UW-La Crosse) wins by decision over Ryan Higgins (UW-Platteville), 5-1
157 – Ross Needham (UW-La Crosse) wins by decision over Jesse Milks (UW-Platteville), 2-1
165 – Tim Palmer (UW-La Crosse) wins by major decision over Lance Valiquette (UW-Eau Claire), 18-7
174 – Josh Chelf (UW-La Crosse) wins by major decision Adam Dorner (UW-Oshkosh), 12-0
184 – Jason Lulloff (UW-La Crosse) wins by decision over Craig Bollig (UW-Stevens Point), 7-1
197 – Tyler Wozniak (UW-Stevens Point) wins by decision over Mike Schmidt (UW-Whitewater), 4-0
285 – Dan Laurent (UW-La Crosse) wins by major decision over Derrick Johnson (UW-Whitewater), 13-2
At-Large Qualifiers
141 – Austin Bautista (UW-Whitewater)
149 – Ryan Higgins (UW-Platteville)
157 – Jesse Milks (UW-Platteville)
165 – Lance Valiquette (UW-Eau Claire)
174 – Adam Dorner (UW-Oshkosh)
174 – Eric Bath (UW-Stevens Point)
184 – Craig Bollig (UW-Stevens Point)
197 – Mike Schmidt (UW-Whitewater)
197 – Jim Swanson (UW-La Crosse)
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