UW Oshkosh wrestling sent seniors Beau Yineman and Luc Valdez to the Division III national meet where they competed against some of the top D-III wrestling programs in the country March 10.

In the meet, Yineman managed to place seventh after a comeback pin, which would earn him All-American honors. This was Yineman’s second time at nationals and second time being an All-American. Yineman commented on his second time becoming an All-American.

“It feels good to be a two-time All-American,” Yineman said. “I worked really hard to get to that level and I’m grateful to have that opportunity to be an All-American. The goal was higher and to win nationals, but I did the best I could; anybody could beat anybody in that tournament and I’m really happy to be an All-American.”

Valdez went 1-2 at the tournament. With this being his first D-III national tournament appearance. Valdez  would reflect on his first Nationals experience.

“I remember watching nationals meets like this when I was growing up, and to be able to be in one was just a great experience regardless of the result,” Valdez said.

This was also head wrestling coach Aaron Konitzer’s first appearance at nationals of the collegiate level. Being seen as a great success for the new head coach, he commented.

“There’s definitely that bigger feel of ownership and reflection on how to get the best out of your team.  I think we did a lot of things well, but there were definitely some growing pains that I will learn from to continue to build this program the right way,” Konitzer said 

With the final meet of the season coming to an end, Konitzer reflected on the season as a whole, describing the ups and downs the team experienced.

“I mean, obviously the dual meet record doesn’t reflect the ‘success’ of the year,” he said. “However, there was a lot of development and maturity that happened throughout the season, which I’m proud of the team’s effort with the transition.”

Konitzer said he will continue his goal of leading a national-contending team as a younger team takes over for next season.

“Next year it will be a mix of a few older guys and a lot of underclassmen.” Konitzer said  “I fully expect to build this team into a national contender, but it won’t happen overnight.”