Wrestling
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 11 - 17
Tim Winker, Senior (Belgium/Ozaukee), 197 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Winker earned a win by a 7-3 decision over sixth-ranked Josh Holforty of UW-Eau Claire in UW-La Crosse’s 44-5 dual victory on Feb. 12.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Andy Miller, Junior, 133 pounds, Appleton (North)
UW-Oshkosh, Alex Mueller, Freshman, 141 pounds, Jackson (West Bend East)
UW-Platteville, Jesse Milks, Sophomore, 157 pounds, Rock City, Ill. (Dakota)
UW-Stevens Point, Craig Bollig, Senior, 197 pounds, Verona

Week of Feb. 4 - 10
Chad Gregory, Sophomore (Lawton, Okla.), 285 pounds of UW-Stevens Point
Gregory helped UW-Stevens Point to a 31-12 victory over No. 10-ranked UW-Whitewater on February 8.  He pinned No. 10-ranked Sean Evans with 15 seconds remaining in the first period to lead the Pointers to their sixth consecutive dual meet victory.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Nick Hoeft, Senior, 285 pounds, Merrill
UW-La Crosse, Jay Milz, Senior, 157 pounds, Loyal (Loyal-Greenwood)
UW-Oshkosh, Alex Mueller, Freshman, 141 pounds, Jackson (West Bend East)

Week of Jan. 28 - Feb. 3
Josh Holforty, Junior (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy), 197 pounds of UW-Eau Claire
Competing at UW-Eau Claire Invitational on February 2, Holforty took first place at 197 pounds, winning three matches and was named the invite’s outstanding wrestler. In his first match, Holforty defeated UW-La Crosse’s Zach Strickland 6-0, and followed with a 16-5 major decision over UW-Stevens Point’s Zach Ison. In the championship match, Holforty won 8-3 over UW-La Crosse’s Tim Winker. Holforty is now 24-5 on the season and is ranked sixth in the nation at 197 pounds.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Eric Seppelt, Senior, 149 pounds, Foley, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh, Kevin Luedtke, Senior, 165 pounds, Two Rivers
UW-Platteville, Carsten Carlsen, Junior, 165 pounds, Madison (East)
UW-Stevens Point, Chase DeCleene, Junior, 141 pounds, Ashwaubenon

Week of Jan. 21 - 27
Ben Engelland, Freshman (Neenah), 184 pounds of UW-Stevens Point
Engelland was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Border Brawl in Whitewater on January 26.  He was 4-0 at the meet and defeated fourth-ranked Gabe Youel of North Central College (Ill.), 7-3, in the third round.  Engelland also pinned Justin Lucas of University of Chicago (Ill.) in 2:00 and Garrett Washington of Elmhurst College (Ill.) in 3:46.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Tim Palmer, Senior, 165 pounds, Mankato, Minn. (West)
UW-Oshkosh, Bradon Welter, Freshman, 157 pounds, Merrill
UW-Platteville, Cory Zuberbier, Junior, 174 pounds, Appleton (Fox Valley Lutheran)
UW-Whitewater, Austin Bautista, Sophomore, 141 pounds, Des Plaines, Ill. (Maine East)

Week of Jan. 14 - 20
Ryan Higgins, Junior (Oconomowoc), 149 pounds of UW-Platteville
Higgins won the 149-pound championship and led UW-Platteville to the team title at the Spartan Matman Invitational in Manchester, Ind.  He won all four of his matches, including a 5-1 championship victory over Joe Massman of Concordia University (Wis.), who beat Higgins the previous weekend at North Central College (Ill.).  Higgins won his first match by pin and beat the next three opponents by a combined 19-3.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Andy Johnston, Sophomore, 149 pounds, St. Cloud, Minn. (Tech)
UW-Oshkosh, Kevin Luedtke, Senior, 165 pounds, Two Rivers
UW-Stevens Point, Ben Engelland, Freshman, 184 pounds, Neenah

Week of Jan. 7 - 13
Tim Palmer, Senior (Mankato, Minn./West), 165 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Palmer went 4-0 at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in helping lead UW-La Crosse to a second-place team finish. Palmer, ranked first in the country, improved to 25-3 on the season. He earned a win by major decision (12-2) over Lane Lunde of Concordia College-Moorhead (Minn.) in the Eagles’ 31-7 victory before defeating Ian Rammel of Heidelberg College (Ohio) by decision (6-2) in UW-La Crosse’s 24-12 win over the sixth-ranked Student Princes.  Palmer won by major decision (12-4) over Brandon Klukow of Augsburg College (Minn.) in the Eagles’ 26-12 win over the second-ranked team in NCAA Division III.  Palmer then defeated Adam Weber of Wartburg College (Iowa) by major decision (19-7) in UW-La Crosse’s 25-8 loss in the championship match.

Also nominated:
Lawrence University, Jack Peters, Senior, 197 pounds, Shiocton
UW-Eau Claire, Andy Johnston, Sophomore, 149 pounds, St. Cloud, Minn. (St. Cloud Tech)
UW-Platteville, Vinny Alber, Freshman, 141 pounds, Rock City, Ill. (Dakota)

Week of Dec. 31 - Jan. 6
Josh Chelf, Senior (Irma/Tomahawk), 174 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Chelf placed fourth at the Midlands Championships at Northwestern University on December 29-30 with a 5-2 record.  Chelf, seeded seventh in the tournament, opened with a win by major decision (12-0) over JT Miller of Cleveland State.  Chelf then won by decision (6-3) over Illinois' Ben Friedl before falling by decision (3-1) to second-seeded Brandon Sinnott of Central Michigan in the quarterfinals.  Chelf came back in the wrestleback to win by decision (6-3) over Michigan State's John Murphy and fourth-seed Nick Hayes of Northwestern (5-3).  He advanced to the third-place match with a major decision win (10-1) over fifth-seed John Dergo of Illinois.  Chelf and Sinnott then faced-off in the third-place match with Sinnott coming away with a win by decision (3-2).  Chelf then went 4-0 at the North-South Duals on January 5 with all four wins by fall to improve to 22-3 on the season.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Josh Holforty, Junior, 197 pounds, Bloomington, Minn.
UW-Stevens Point, Jake Calhoun, Senior, 125 pounds, Stevens Point (SPASH)

Week of Dec. 10 - 16
Sam Laes, Sophomore (Green Bay/Ashwaubenon), 165 pounds of Lawrence University
Laes went 3-0 in the Vikings' three dual meets last week. At the Lawrence Double Dual on Dec. 15, Laes defeated Pat Nagel of UW-Whitewater 8-7 and then pinned Scott Ison of the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2:33. It was Laes' second pin of the season, and he improved his overall record to 9-1. He opened his week with a 12-2 major decision Seth Hendricks of UW-Eau Claire on Dec. 11.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Ted Sikowski, Senior, 184 pounds, Appleton (West)
UW-La Crosse, Jay Milz, Senior, 157 pounds, Loyal (Loyal-Greenwood)

Week of Dec. 3 - 9
Andy Moore, Sophomore (Delafield/Heritage Christian), 197 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Moore went 5-0 last week. He earned a major decision victory (16-5) over Scott Jennings of Luther College (Iowa) in UW-La Crosse's 28-12 dual victory on Dec. 7.  Moore then won the 197-pound division at the Dick Walker Invitational at Wartburg College (Iowa) with a 4-0 record.  He was the number two-seed and opened with a win by fall (3:40) over unattached wrestler Phillips Hanes before a 8-2 win over seventh-seed Josh Pastor of Cornell College (Iowa).  Moore beat third-seed Wartburg's Nick Shandri in the semifinals in overtime before defeating teammate Zach Strickland 3-2 in the championship match. Moore is now 12-2 on the season.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Joey Miller, Senior, 174 pounds, Lake Tomahawk
UW-Oshkosh, Kevin Luedtke, Senior, 165 pounds, Two Rivers
UW-Platteville, Ryan Higgins, Junior, 149 pounds, Oconomowoc
UW-Stevens Point, Jake Wozniak, Junior, 165 pounds, Stanley (Stanley-Boyd)
UW-Whitewater, Sean Evans, Junior, 285 pounds, Richmond, Ill. (Burton)

Week of Nov. 19 - Dec. 2
Craig Bollig, Senior (Verona), 197 pounds of UW-Stevens Point
Competing at 197 pounds, Bollig took first place at the Wisconsin Open in Kenosha.  He defeated Jamelle Jones of St. Louis Community College - Meramec by a 5-3 margin in the championship match.  Bollig also earned the Sportsmanship Award at the tournament that featured 20 teams and 300 competitors.   Against Wartburg College (Iowa) on Nov. 21, Bollig upended top-ranked T.J. Miller, 5-3, to give Miller his first loss to a Division III opponent since the 2005-06 national meet.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Andy Miller, Junior, 133 pounds, Appleton (North)
UW-La Crosse, Matt Mauseth, Freshman, 149 pounds, Rochester, Minn. (Mayo)
UW-Oshkosh, Chad Leviner, Freshman, 125 pounds, Mukwonago
UW-Platteville, Vinny Alber, Freshman, 141 pounds, Rock City, Ill. (Dakota)
UW-Whitewater, Austin Bautista, Sophomore, 141 pounds, Des Plaines, Ill. (Maine East)

Week of Nov. 12 - 18
Jesse Milks, Sophomore (Rock City, Ill./Dakota), 157 pounds of UW-Platteville
Milks moved up a weight class and defeated UW-Oshkosh's Brad Welter 14-3 at 165 pounds, helping the Pioneers defeat the Titans 31-10.  Wrestling back at 157, Milks went 5-1 at the 22-team Concordia University (Wis.) Open on Nov. 17.  He won his first two matches by pins then fell 2-0 in the championship match to NCAA Division II national qualifier Craig Becker from UW-Parkside.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Josh Holforty, Junior, 197 pounds, Bloomington, Minn. & John Berlin, Sophomore, 285 pounds, Shell Lake
UW-La Crosse, Matt Mauseth, Freshman, 149 pounds, Rochester, Minn. (Mayo)
UW-Oshkosh, Jared Jaminski, Freshman, 133 pounds, Wisconsin Rapids (Lincoln)
UW-Stevens Point, Jake Wozniak, Junior, 165 pounds, Stanley (Stanley-Boyd)

Week of Nov. 5 - 11
Craig Bollig, Senior (Verona), 197 pounds of UW-Stevens Point
Bollig went 4-0 enroute to earning his first Pointer Open championship, capturing the 197-pound Gold Division crown on Nov. 10.  Bollig, who is ranked fourth in the country at 197, pinned his opponent in the opening round before winning by injury default in the second round.  He won a 2-1 decision in the semifinals before defeating UW-La Crosse’s Tim Winkler, 3-1, in the championship match.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Josh Holforty, Junior, 197 pounds, Bloomington, Minn.
UW-La Crosse, Dan Crone, Freshman, 141 pounds, Apple Valley, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh, Eric Coughlin, Freshman, 165 pounds, Columbus
UW-Platteville, Vinny Alber, Freshman, 141 pounds, Rock City, Ill. (Dakota)

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