The UW Oshkosh men’s wrestling team was led at the WIAC Championship Saturday (Feb. 17) by a fifth-place finish from Guyon Cyprian Jr.
In the 285-pound class, Cyprian Jr. took a bye in the first round and pinned Blake Flach of UW-Stevens Point in the second round. He was then defeated by Sloan Welch of UW-Eau Claire by pin. He moved on to face Koeppel but was taken down by a 2-1 decision. He then faced Flach again and took fifth place with an 11-3 major decision.
UWO’s JP Culver received a bye in the first round of the 125-pound class and moved on to be pinned by Izzy Balsiger of UW-Eau Claire. In the consolation bracket, he received another first round bye before being defeated by Chris Karbash of UW-Platteville.
In the 133-pound bracket, Oshkosh’s JoJo Mendoza was pinned in the first round by Tyler Goebel of UW-La Crosse and moved on to receive a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket. He defeated Wyatt Willey of UW-Platteville by a 11-8 decision before losing to Riese Thornberry of UW-Stevens Point by fall.
UWO’s Joey Spizzirri was beaten in the first round of the 165-pound competition after a 15-0 technical fall to Tristan Massie of UW-Eau Claire. He moved on to receive a bye and was pinned in the second round by Mason Hoopman of UW-Whitewater.
Oshkosh’s Gage Coppock participated in the 174-pound tilts where he received a bye first round and moved on to drop the match to Jared Stricker of UW-Eau Claire. Moving on, he received a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket and went on to medically forfeit against Camren Dennee of UW-La Crosse.
UWO’s Tyler Blanchard acquired a bye first round of the 184-pound class where he moved on to be defeated by 17-1 technical fall to Marcus Orlandoni of UW-La Crosse. He moved on to be pinned by Cal Ries of UW-Platteville. Also in the 184-pound class, Oshkosh’s Michael Loger defeated Rise by a 5-2 decision before being defeated by Connor Collins of UW-Eau Claire by fall. He went on to receive a first round bye and was defeated in the second round by a 16-0 technical fall to Sam Schwabe of UW-La Crosse.
Receiving a bye in the first round of the 197-pound competition, Oshkosh’s Matt Hanke was defeated by Ben Kawczynski of UW-La Crosse by a 17-2 technical fall. He moved over to receive a bye before losing by a 10-1 major decision to Logan Neitzel of UW-Stevens Point.
In the 285-pound matches, UWO’s Camden Harms picked up a bye in the first round and moved on to be pinned by Michael Douglas of UW-La Crosse. He went on to be defeated by Cadin Koeppel of UW-Whitewater by fall.
Hanke was also announced as part of the 2024 All-Sportsmanship team.
The Titans will return to participate in the NCAA Division III Upper Midwest Regional on Friday (Mar. 1) hosted at UW-Stevens Point.
